Phil Frazier is Leaving EA Sports Tiburon

[kjcheezhead]

Good Luck to Phil.

Ps2 madden was great, current Madden... not so much. 10, 11 and even some of the vids of Madden 12 show a tired worn out franchise that needs a spark. Hopefully the new blood can provide that.

[BlueNGold]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings

No, again, Madden was moving right where we wanted it to be when I left. My personal choice was really about a change of scenery and really wanting to spread my wings as a game maker. Finding out Phil was leaving today was just as much of a surprise to me as it was to you guys...so he's got his own reasons that I don't yet know (though I'm going to lunch with him tomorrow. ) The leadership team, which was Cam, Phil, Mike Young, and myself - we were all pretty much 100% on the same page about what we wanted out of Madden for the future (and I think you'll see that vision in all of Cam's interviews). Whereas NBA you could see the major disconnect between the stuff Mike Wang thought was important vs. what the EA NBA management peeps were saying.

Good to hear. Thanks for answering.

I'd hate to see the work that's been put in since 09 get tossed aside again. Just like NBA Live, Madden seems like it's finally on the cusp of being great again.

[Steve_OS]

Quote: Originally Posted by at23steelers

REALLY good post Noah!! It's probably a first I have agreed with everything you have stated!! I got to ask though, did Ian let you win that one game??

Ha, it was one of my better comeback wins, we'll put it that way.

[big_larry]

I hope they hire some 2k Sports people now.

[Ian_Cummings]

Quote: Originally Posted by RememberMe12

I am curious Ian........if Madden is going in the right direction now (which I think it is, whether we disagree on why) why switch companies? I would assume that EA would be paying you more. Is it the long hours or the overall community response you receive or another reason why you switched? If I was with a company and we started going in the right direction and finally getting some respect from the community, I would keep doing what Im doing.

For me it was about doing something different. I worked on one game IP for 10 years. Though there were things we could have done differently in hindsight, I felt like after taking the reins (with Phil) I had gotten the Madden ship at least facing in the right direction of trying to build a true sim and getting away from rings and weapons and virtual trainers and all that other bullsh!t, and I felt like I had a lot more ideas in games that I wanted to try and work on.

Also, define 'respect from the community' lol. A simple search on my name will return nothing but venom, whether it's the mainstream industry giving me no respect because I work on a sports game, or dudes making youtube videos about how I was a liar, or pinning all of the problems in their life on me. I was sick as hell of that sh*t too.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings

No, again, Madden was moving right where we wanted it to be when I left. My personal choice was really about a change of scenery and really wanting to spread my wings as a game maker. Finding out Phil was leaving today was just as much of a surprise to me as it was to you guys...so he's got his own reasons that I don't yet know (though I'm going to lunch with him tomorrow. ) The leadership team, which was Cam, Phil, Mike Young, and myself - we were all pretty much 100% on the same page about what we wanted out of Madden for the future (and I think you'll see that vision in all of Cam's interviews). Whereas NBA you could see the major disconnect between the stuff Mike Wang thought was important vs. what the EA NBA management peeps were saying.

This is somewhat encouraging. Are there people inside ready to step up and take the reigns or do you feel(your opinion) someone may crossover from NCAA , NHL, or FIFA?

[Ian_Cummings]

Quote: Originally Posted by Steve_OS

Ha, it was one of my better comeback wins, we'll put it that way.

I blocked that out of my mind. I'll never forget Jacobs running wild all over you in that first game though.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings

Also, define 'respect from the community' lol. A simple search on my name will return nothing but venom, whether it's the mainstream industry giving me no respect because I work on a sports game, or dudes making youtube videos about how I was a liar, or pinning all of the problems in their life on me. I was sick as hell of that sh*t too.

Now you know how LBJ feels, lol.