Madden Should Bring Back Its PS2 Era Substitution System

Feature Article

Submitted on: 06/05/2015 by Jayson Young

Last Thursday, EA Sports released a long list of improvements that football fans will find this August in Madden NFL 16's Connected Franchise mode. But for the hardcore, simulation-minded gamers, the biggest news of the day might have involved an item that EA left off their list.

That afternoon, several posts surfaced from Game Informer editor, Matt Bertz, EA Sports Game Changer, Casey Mosier, and Madden designer, Clint Oldenburg, all suggesting that Madden NFL 16 won't be making any changes to its current substitution system.

If this turns out to be true, then gamers will once again be forced to make all of their formation subs from inside the huddle in Madden NFL 16, while the play clock is winding down. In a sport where one drive is often the difference between a narrow victory and a heartbreaking loss, having to sacrifice several delay of game penalties at the start of every Madden match just to set up all of your offensive substitutions is terrible game design. Plus it can take multiple drives to finally complete all of your defensive substitutions, because the formation selection screen automatically disappears a few seconds after the offense picks their play.

What makes this potential omission all the more irksome, is that Madden used to handle formation-specific substitutions so well. If you own a PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, or PC, you can fire up Madden NFL 08's Franchise mode, click on the "Coach's Corner" option, and easily set up substitutions for any formation in your playbook, including all of your special teams. And unlike in Madden NFL 15, these changes will save permanently, instead of being reset after every game.

Madden NFL 16 Videos

Member Comments

# 1 Jet Sufferer @ 06/05/15 10:21 AM

Even the Genesis features would be better than having to try and sub before the snap. I remember we had the hands package, the big package, the speed/fast package if I'm remembering right. And the little sprites would run on and off the field.

# 2 asu666 @ 06/05/15 10:28 AM

Agreed, seems like an easy thing to implement and adds a lot of value.

# 3 BSchwartz07 @ 06/05/15 10:56 AM

Madden really peaked feature-wise two consoles ago. Now it is all about pumping out a $60 roster update with new "ultimate team" features so you can pay more money to collect digital cards.

It has also always blown my mind that you can't split time at any position. Say I have 2 RB's, like I dunno EVERY TEAM IN THE NFL, that I want to share the load equally, can't do it... but I can pay $20 to get Barry Sanders on a fictional team with random guys... so there is that.

# 4 snc237 @ 06/05/15 11:19 AM

That was the golden age off virtual football. Yes 2k got shot down but it wasn't a horrible thing cause madden was amzing back then..... Until the horrible 360 maddens came. Even to this day madden isn't what it use to be compared to the Xbox/ps2/GC days. I wish they would of ported that version to the 360 and built off that cause the game still struggles in so many areas.

# 5 KOYO78 @ 06/05/15 11:23 AM

I'm usually online gaming and after every roster update you can go into file manager and update your roster permanently. I believe the confusion is you can't do it during a game but the same task can be handled in file manager

# 6 KOYO78 @ 06/05/15 11:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KOYO78


	I'm usually online gaming and after every roster update you can go into file manager and update your roster permanently. I believe the confusion is you can't do it during a game but the same task can be handled in file manager

I'm not here to defend EA....just making a comment. After watching the video l see ur point quiet well for individual formation. Well like the guy above said the golden age. Then again the ppl that work for EA back then are probably not the same folks in the new installments of Madden...lime any organization framework will always change over time just wished they could carry over from year to year.

# 7 CM Hooe @ 06/05/15 11:42 AM

I'd rather they scrap the depth chart and do personnel packages, but absent that then yes absolutely they should bring back formation substitutions.

# 8 kjcheezhead @ 06/05/15 12:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snc237


	That was the golden age off virtual football. Yes 2k got shot down but it wasn't a horrible thing cause madden was amzing back then..... Until the horrible 360 maddens came. Even to this day madden isn't what it use to be compared to the Xbox/ps2/GC days. I wish they would of ported that version to the 360 and built off that cause the game still struggles in so many areas.

If madden 16 came packaged with the ps2 game as a bonus, I'd be in line at midnight for it. That would get me more excited than any addition to the current game as sad as that sounds.

# 9 bad_philanthropy @ 06/05/15 12:06 PM

I can dream.

# 10 Datninja619 @ 06/05/15 12:31 PM

I'd just like an explanation for why wanted and needed features cannot be implemented in the game.

I'm going to compare apples and oranges here, but devs like bungie at least tell the community WHY a feature will not be implemented. If it is not in their vision, fine, just let the community know we've been heard.

There might be a very very very good reason why the substitution system hasn't been improved, but if developers don't express the reason the community will continue to yell "They don't care about the community" "They just want the money"

# 11 Pokes404 @ 06/05/15 12:37 PM

Not to take things off topic, but speaking of incredibly useful features from the PS2 era, does anyone else remember the on the fly audible system?

Basically, in the play selection screen, if you held down R1 and pressed the corresponding icon, that play was now one of your formation audibles. I used to set 2-3 new formation audibles before calling a play. Then, once I got up to the line of scrimmage, I could read the defense and either run the play I called, or check to one of the formation audibles that I had just set up. I used it a lot in NCAA when trying to mimic the college no-huddle system. A lot of those offenses were based on the idea of lining up quickly, taking a look at how the defense was set, and then getting the final play call in from the sideline.

It was great because maybe I didn't always want a WR screen as an audible, but if it was 3rd and 1, it was great to quickly set a WR screen as a formation audible and then call a dive up the middle. Once I got to the line, if the defense was stacked to stop the run and the corner was playing off at all, I could check out to the screen and flip it out to my WR for a conversion (hopefully). I tended to play with average-good teams, but not great or overpowering ones, so I had to be creative sometimes.

To get back on topic though, Madden and NCAA had substitutions right on the PS2. I don't know if the change was made to cut down on people putting WRs at TE, their fastest player at QB, and all kinds of other crazy substitutions simply because of the amount of time it takes to do all that (especially while the playclock is winding down). Other than that, I really can't figure out any reason they would have changed it from the PS2 setup.

# 12 DeuceDouglas @ 06/05/15 12:47 PM

I think we're pretty much past the point of just basic formation subs. This would still be a good edition compared to what we have now but outside of special teams it really wouldn't do much for me and I'd still want more. I'd rather see the ability to create custom package sets for each formation.

# 13 DeuceDouglas @ 06/05/15 12:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Datninja619


	There might be a very very very good reason why the substitution system hasn't been improved, but if developers don't express the reason the community will continue to yell "They don't care about the community" "They just want the money"

I think it's already been stated on a few occasions that it's not a big enough gripe to incite change but most people won't and don't look at that as an acceptable answer. A lot of people don't care about formation subs and if they view those people as the majority, which they probably are, then there's not a whole lot of reason to change it for them.

# 14 Don Jon @ 06/05/15 12:54 PM

Just a question, do the higher ups at EA visit this site? Because i've seen so many great ideas like this, and yet madden doesn't seem to feature any. If EA would take at least a couple ideas from the wishlists posted on this site each year, then Madden would be a must buy every year for me.

# 15 CM Hooe @ 06/05/15 01:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbostic92


	Just a question, do the higher ups at EA visit this site? Because i've seen so many great ideas like this, and yet madden doesn't seem to feature any. If EA would take at least a couple ideas from the wishlists posted on this site each year, then Madden would be a must buy every year for me.

Define "higher-ups".

I have seen Rex Dickson - creative director for Madden NFL, I think? - and Andrew Johnson - Madden NFL community manager - on this site with some frequency (relatively speaking).

# 16 Don Jon @ 06/05/15 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CM Hooe


	Define "higher-ups". I have seen Rex Dickson - creative director for Madden NFL, I think? - and Andrew Johnson - Madden NFL community manager - on this site with some frequency (relatively speaking).

Ya that is what I meant. Because i've seen the people with light blue names, and I didn't know what type of control they had over the madden process. But hopefully the guys you mentioned at least take into consideration these ideas

# 17 CM Hooe @ 06/05/15 01:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jbostic92


	Ya that is what I meant. Because i've seen the people with light blue names, and I didn't know what type of control they had over the madden process. But hopefully the guys you mentioned at least take into consideration these ideas

Ah, I understand.

The light blue names are EA Sports GameChangers. They are basically (someone correct me if I'm wrong on this) recognized names in the Madden NFL community who have special access to see the game early, release details (after NDAs expire), and gather feedback from their audience to deliver to developers for said developers to action upon as they see fit. GameChangers do not directly work on the game.

Pink names (a different shade of pink from banned users) are people who are game developers, designers, community managers, or otherwise employees of a major sports video game developer. The most visible such person I can think of on OS is Russell_SCEA, a community manager for MLB The Show (presumably) employed by Sony San Diego who posts frequently in the MLB: The Show forums here, but the Madden NFL developers are also here and do show up in posts from time to time.

# 18 MAGboyswifT27 @ 06/05/15 01:42 PM

Good old days with the good old EA.. Well hopefully things get better.. I actually enjoyed last year's title. It's just the small things that need to be fixed..

# 19 Datninja619 @ 06/05/15 01:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeuceDouglas


	I think it's already been stated on a few occasions that it's not a big enough gripe to incite change but most people won't and don't look at that as an acceptable answer. A lot of people don't care about formation subs and if they view those people as the majority, which they probably are, then there's not a whole lot of reason to change it for them.

Well that sucks. I need to see survey results!!

# 20 RogueHominid @ 06/05/15 01:52 PM

This is a significant omission from a realism standpoint, I think, because today's NFL is so heavily based on sub-packages on both sides of the ball. So I don't see this as a matter of convenience; I see it as a fundamental strategic part of the game that's not well represented by Madden.

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