Because I didn’t want to wait, I picked up Madden NFL Arcade for the PS3 last night – at $14.99 it’s one of the steeper prices for a downloadable game, but hey it’s football, right.

The game has limited options – you can play now, or play online. There’s no league, no tournament; it’s strictly a one-off game, which is too bad.

The good news is that cooperative play is allowed so you can have multiple players on the same team.

You play a 60 yard field, no first downs, so basically it’s 1st and goal. You have four plays to choose from on offense or defense: run (blitz on D), short pass, medium pass or long pass. You can control any player you like on offense or defense.

What is interesting is the slot-machine esque “game changer” award that is given before each play – you could get a dud, you could get nothing, or you could get a “gamechanger” like a turbo, a fast pass, a score flip, a molasses power up that slows down your opponent, or something along those lines.

There are no penalties, so while on D, make sure you hit those WRs before the ball gets to them – that is always fun

There is no depth to the game, but it is absolutely fun to play. Limited replay value, online is fun, and so is cooperative play. I enjoyed playing this game with my son a lot more than the regular Madden.

$15 seems high – I think if it were $10, it would be a very sweet spot, but I would much rather play this game than their really crappy NFL game they put out some time ago, whose name eludes me, mainly because it was complete crap.