Madden 09 News Post

Madden Must-Haves: 1up

12:05 AM - May 22, 2008 by hdaniel1

1up has posted a article called Madden Must-Haves.

Quote:


	"The storied franchise took huge strides from Madden 07 to 08, but for 09 to be a classic (or even just sports game of the year), it needs a heaping handful of not-so-obvious fixes before it hits shelves in August."

Game: Madden NFL 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
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Member Comments

# 1 RGiles36 @ 05/22/08 08:41 AM

That is an awesome list. Too bad most of it won't be addressed 09.

# 2 beau21 @ 05/22/08 10:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgiles36


	That is an awesome list. Too bad most of it won't be addressed 09.

agreed, an awesome doable list indeed.

hopefully EA will see that list and implement some of them for 2010

Quote:


	Blind Spots Every rookie Madden player does it, and it drives us nuts: They run back 15 yards with their QB before tossing a perfect strike to their wideout. While the backward scramble can't be stopped, there's a way to make it hurt. Either gray out the passing icons when the QB's back is turned, or have the icons go away altogether.

*favorite idea*... MLB 2k8 did something like that this year w/ fly balls

# 3 JBucc @ 05/22/08 11:26 AM

"No Need for More Speed
It's time to kill the speed burst. Nay-sayers may groan, but it revolutionized last year's hardcore sports game of the year, NHL 08. Everyone we know keeps the speed burst trigger pulled on every play, anyway, so what's the difference? It's time for Madden's makers to take the button out of the equation and make the speed burst contextual, so we can keep our focus on dodging tacklers."

I really wish they would do this. We've had analog sticks for the last 3 generations and still many games have us holding down or tapping a button to sprint. Not just sports games either, GTA IV is one of the biggest perpetrators of this ancient mechanic of the D-pad days.

# 4 ewto16 @ 05/22/08 11:33 AM

So when Madden 09 doesn't include ANY of those things (and 5 of them can already be confirmed as not included) will 1UP/EGM still give Madden 09 a great rating?

# 5 mdgoalie37 @ 05/22/08 11:33 AM

Missing the accelerated clock, but not a bad list.

# 6 ezekiel55 @ 05/22/08 11:54 AM

Considering that 1up is more of a "Broader" gaming site, unlike OS's sports centric crew, its good to know other people notice the problem with things like the 15 yard dropback perfect throw issue.

Good list though.

# 7 JBH3 @ 05/22/08 12:35 PM

Good list...I would like to see ALL of that in Madden too!

Another little tidbit which should be added is a face for created rookies/players. I hate seeing a silhouette of a CPU created rookie. After a few years in franchise you've got all of these faceless players. Can we get an animated face or something a la NCAA. C'mon.

# 8 yamabushi @ 05/22/08 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ewto16


	So when Madden 09 doesn't include ANY of those things (and 5 of them can already be confirmed as not included) will 1UP/EGM still give Madden 09 a great rating?

Havnt they always?

# 9 SteelerSpartan @ 05/22/08 01:39 PM

I would love to see that stuff they listed under the Passing game. Pocket passers should overthrow/underthrow a lot on the run.

Only Qbs like B-Roeth/Romo should actually be really effective outside of the pocket

# 10 ChuckMonts @ 05/22/08 02:43 PM

if a real pocket developed there would be no need to grey out the icons when a player ran backwards because he would run himself right into a sack as the speed rusher went around the corner of the tackle. A real pocket would also make rushing as a qb a little harder because you wouldn't be able to just take off to either side of the "pocket" for an easy 5-10.

Also inline with your idea of bad snaps and holds. Every player should get a hold rating and a long snap rating. Then they could also add Holder and Longsnapper to the Depth chart. This would make having a good longsnapper and holder a little more important and a bad one would lead to high snaps or bobbled holds.

# 11 BezO @ 05/22/08 02:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChuckMonts


	if a real pocket developed there would be no need to grey out the icons when a player ran backwards...

First thing I thought of. But maybe he's thinking like EA... cover up problems instead of addressing the real issue. Sounds like something EA would do.

That list needs more football stuff and less video game stuff.

# 12 Hawaii_Stars @ 05/23/08 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChuckMonts


	if a real pocket developed there would be no need to grey out the icons when a player ran backwards because he would run himself right into a sack as the speed rusher went around the corner of the tackle. A real pocket would also make rushing as a qb a little harder because you wouldn't be able to just take off to either side of the "pocket" for an easy 5-10. Also inline with your idea of bad snaps and holds. Every player should get a hold rating and a long snap rating. Then they could also add Holder and Longsnapper to the Depth chart. This would make having a good longsnapper and holder a little more important and a bad one would lead to high snaps or bobbled holds.

I would like to see weather also affect holders and longsnappers as well.

# 13 Crawi @ 05/23/08 03:34 AM

Great list. Something that is less important that I'd like to see is custom introduction entrances. Not every team uses a big inflated helmet like SF. Carolina has a Panther head.

# 14 MaddenMan @ 05/23/08 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grunt


	Some great ideas from a casual gaming site. Good article.

But at the same rate, if 1up reviews 09 favorably, many will bash the site as a "casual" game site because there are so many haters.

As for the list,

Divide and Conquer - the online leagues are a nice addition meant to satisfy the "hardcore" gaming crowd and will be a feature that 5-10% of actual players use the first couple of weeks but will slowly dwindle to the less than 1% crowd a month after the game has been released - Not necessary.

Cool Breeze

Too realistic with the wind gusts, no matter how much people want to play the real NFL on their tv, this is a video game and a fantasy for arm chair qbs, and having a feature like this would be another feature that pisses off the casual game crowd. You know the ones that automatically decline any offsides or false starts, ie most of the gamers. - Would be an interesting feature but once again aimed more at the hardcore crowd - Not necessary.

Update's too Late

Updated rosters for online play needs to be more efficient I agree, nothing like playing with the wrong players or injured ones, or even with a breakout player who hasn't been updated - Needed Bad.

Blind Spots

Agree with the blind spots argument, however making the icons disappear imply the QB doesn't know his WRs, how about just incrementally reducing the accuracy rating as the QB drops behind the LOS? Unless of course the real life counterpart does this as part of his game then he could be individually adjusted. Needed Bad.

Save Often

Would be a nice addition, but honestly if you jump into a 5 or 6 minute game (defaults) and don't have the time to play a game then play something else. Football really isn't made to be played in 10 minute sessions. I agree it would be a nice addition but really shouldn't be a focus. - Not necessary.

Franchise Tag

Once again would be a cool addition and aimed at the hardcore gaming crowd, but I don't see this being a priority until EA has worked out the more important kinks with the game on the current systems. - Not necessary.

Kicks Off instead of Kickoff

Bobbling the snap is another no-no in football video games, another thing that takes the control out of the users hands. Maybe making the actual kicks a little more difficult to accomplish are one thing but not even giving the player an opportunity to perform the game winning kick because of a ..... bobbled snap? That shouldn't be in the game. Not necessary.

No Need for More Speed

I think instead of getting rid of the speed burst button/trigger instead actually make those button mashers have some sort of penalty for using, ie the actual players get tired and subbed out or run the routes way slower. Speed burst needs to be kept in, if you take it out you take out user control. But I do agree something needs to be done about it in the case of people always using it. Not necessary (but revision is).

Injured or Hurt?

This comes back down to the quickplayer (ie one game, ie the masses or casual gamer) as opposed to the hardcore gamer who plays season/franchise online leagues etc. For quickplay or online play the system needs to be the way it is. For hardcore gamers it needs to be revised. EA will balk at the hardcore crowd 9x out of 10 simply because they represent the minority of gamers and the minority of people who buy their game. - Not necessary.

Conclusion: EA will always cater to the majority that buys their game (they are business), if hardcore football gamers truly want these changes to be mainstream then the mainstream gamer needs to change. And this is something that is slowly happening due to modern technology but will never be on the scale that most of the OS posters wish for.

The majority of gamers never even post on a game forum and simply buy games to play and enjoy and if they don't like them they trade them in w/o giving a second thought to supporting a company or any of the the console war shenanigans.

I'm glad that EA isn't sitting on their butts due to getting the NFL license but I think the good ol days of Madden vs 2K spitting out excellent games just isn't going to happen like we used to get. However I will say that this year's Madden looks very promising, but we will wait and see. Madden 08 was played by myself for 2 months and has been collecting dust ever since. I really want a Madden that is fun to play the entire year. I'll try to be optimistic but I won't hold my breath.

# 15 Skyboxer @ 05/23/08 12:35 PM

They's make my day if the did the icons stuff for the 15-20 yard dropbacks and got rid of the speed burst.

Also the addition or wind/weather is a must IMO. Lets have players slipping on the field and kicking in bad weather would be a very tense moment.

Weather you think it's what the casual gamer or not they should AT LEAST put it in as options.
Then everyone wins.

# 16 Vikes1 @ 05/23/08 11:54 PM

I think it's a great list.

However...I was kinda shaking my head reading it. Thinking..nah, too much "Sim stuff". The "Casual" gamer wouldn't want things like this in Madden. But then I started to wonder...what if we're all just assuming what casual gamers really want. Do we, the supposed "Hardcore" gamers really know what others want? Are we really that sure that being more of a casual gamer automatically means they don't want these games to play as realistically as possible? Maybe...just maybe, we're assuming wrong.

Maybe we're just a bunch of internet snobs. We think that just because we bother to post on boards dedicated to certain video games, that we know what "They" want. My point is...maybe we and EA/TIB underestimate these "Casual gamers". I've got a feeling the difference between what the more dedicated gamers want vs the "Casuals" may not be as big a difference as we believe. I doubt very many people who will buy Madden '09' will be thinking..."Gee...I sure hope this game plays unrealistically!"

Sometimes I think we're stuck on this mentality that we're just this small little voiceless group that want Madden to play as close to real as possible. When if fact....our numbers may be much greater than we think. I don't want to go too far off topic here but...with the decision that EA/TIB has made to make the Madden game more "accessible" to new customers...it in someways seems like their trying to sell the name, as much as the game.

Anyway...the things on the list I believe would be great adds to our Madden game. And added realism like this maybe welcomed by more gamers than we think.

# 17 SageInfinite @ 05/24/08 12:06 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vikes1


	I think it's a great list. However...I was kinda shaking my head reading it. Thinking..nah, too much "Sim stuff". The "Casual" gamer wouldn't want things like this in Madden. But then I started to wonder...what if we're all just assuming what casual gamers really want. Do we, the supposed "Hardcore" gamers really know what others want? Are we really that sure that being more of a casual gamer automatically means they don't want these games to play as realistically as possible? Maybe...just maybe, we're assuming wrong. Maybe we're just a bunch of internet snobs. We think that just because we bother to post on boards dedicated to certain video games, that we know what "They" want. My point is...maybe we and EA/TIB underestimate these "Casual gamers". I've got a feeling the difference between what the more dedicated gamers want vs the "Casuals" may not be as big a difference as we believe. I doubt very many people who will buy Madden '09' will be thinking..."Gee...I sure hope this game plays unrealistically!" Sometimes I think we're stuck on this mentality that we're just this small little voiceless group that want Madden to play as close to real as possible. When if fact....our numbers may be much greater than we think. I don't want to go too far off topic here but...with the decision that EA/TIB has made to make the Madden game more "accessible" to new customers...it in someways seems like their trying to sell the name, as much as the game. Anyway...the things on the list I believe would be great adds to our Madden game. And added realism like this maybe welcomed by more gamers than we think.

# 18 ezekiel55 @ 05/24/08 01:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MaddenMan


	Cool Breeze Too realistic with the wind gusts, no matter how much people want to play the real NFL on their tv, this is a video game and a fantasy for arm chair qbs, and having a feature like this would be another feature that pisses off the casual game crowd. You know the ones that automatically decline any offsides or false starts, ie most of the gamers. - Would be an interesting feature but once again aimed more at the hardcore crowd - Not necessary.

Perhaps the wind could only affect deep lobbed balls...That way it will also deter jetpackers online and prevent people from goin deep all the time.

# 19 Crawi @ 05/24/08 01:32 AM

Stronger wind effects on deep throws and the mentioned blind spots for the QBs that drop back 15 yards would be nice, but nothing on the list made me yell "preach it brotha" at my monitor like I was planning on doing.

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