Madden 2005 beta impressions

[Kodos]

I guess this guy is known for being a big Madden fan, but he seems to prefer the presentation aspect in ESPN.

From Operation Sports forums

I will be brief but wanted to share some thoughts after 4 5 minute qtr games on All-Pro.
The build isn't final, it's Beta, and the collison detection was the biggest flaw we found. (aside from the awful camera angles on replays, and RIDICULOUS FILM GRAIN, on the instant replays. I know they are inspired by NFL Films, but the INSTANT REPLAY, doesn't need film grain.)

The game was much more challenging than last year, we both had very tough times throwing completions when moving around, or throwing off our back foot. Receivers were not catching everything, and overall it just felt more realistic in terms of credible receptions. The tackle animations and hits are really improved and give a DEFINITE sense of momentum. Diving and swatting at a ball carrier will trip him up and usually knock him over. Last year the hurdle would make a lot of long TD's happen, this time, it was MUCH less, and we liked it. No hurdle this year, and I'm not sure what the Y/triangle button does. The D matchup option was great, having Ty Law on TO all day, is helpful.
The big hits, were just great. There were some serious fumbles caused by a good hit, but it didn't feel cheesy, the hits looked like they SHOULD cause fumbles. Gang tackling looked good also, when 2 or three guys bring a ball carrier down. The running game felt challenging to me, while my opponent lit me UP with Clinton Portis.

Defensive hot routes really improve the game. Making those last minute adjustments give you a level of control that has been missing on D. I got caught trying to hot route a blitz after the snap only to see Rodney Harrison fall face first on the turf because i was pushing down on the stick during a play.

I hadn't quite figured out the details of all the D changes, but it just felt good. The games were challenging, and exciting but NOT as satisfying as ESPN. Let me say that ESPN's presentation adds ALOT to the feeling of excitement when playing the game. There was so little going on in Madden in terms of ambience. I know many will say they don't care about ambiance, just give them a good game, which is fine, i'm just saying it's like watching a game on a regular TV compared to a HI DEF tv. It's that big a difference.

Aside from the real time sunlight, and the nice detail on the player models, this game has not been upgraded a whole lot graphically. A bit, but not leaps and bounds. The 4 fans they give you to customize helps eliminate the HORRIBLE home fans cheering opponent touchdowns, but it FEELS like a band-aid. Meaning, they cut to these fans, so you don't see the whole stadium more than a bit. The stadium crowd still feels VERY un-connected to the game (aside from your 4 custom fans) The best part of the WHOLE FAN THING, was when I was getting toasted in my last game, after the 3rd fumble (more on that in a minute) 2 of the fans were like, that's it, where outta here and they made their way past the other fans to leave. That was great. However, the stadium never got emptier, that sucked.

There weren't a whole lot of penalties called, a few but not many.

The kickoffs are imrpoved in that when the camera spins around, you have time to set up some blocking, although the AI blockers weren't any better overall than ESPN. I returned my second kickoff for a TD with Bethel Johnson, after getting a couple of solid blocks.

The kick meter is hokey and new and will take some getting used to, lots of shanked punts today.

The squib kick is a joke and will ruin online games in the hands of crafty glitchers.

The play by play was so insignificant, about 3 games in i said, have they said ANYTHING i haven't heard before or even remotely drawing me in to the broadcast??

The franchise i checked out a bit, and began "leveling up players", but it was the storyline central i particularly enjoyed. Here is where Madden kind of gets one up on ESPN. When dealing with your franchise, story mode has Tony Bruno's radio show on, which is very cool since I am a daily Bruno listener (where is Steve Czaban>!?) It just adds to the whole franchise process. Add in the local and USA Today newspapers and you have a pretty cool upgrade for those who play franchise. How repetitive and redundant that all gets after the first season we'll have to wait and see.

One of my bigger annoyances is the decision to not offer half time and end game highlights. ESPN does this so well, I dare say it's worth the 20 bucks just for that and the entire game replays.

But what really irks me is the decision to upgrade the cheerleaders with huge boobs. So while ESPN has a halftime show with highlights from Chris Berman, MAdden has a bunch of scraggly haggy fake titted cheerleaders.

Oh and the few coach faces i saw all looked like they were dead, i'm not kidding, almost dawn of the deadlike. Weird.

Gameplay of course is king, and if you are a Madden player, the gameplay is pretty much what you expect and for that I can't say it's good or bad, it just is.

I think the new route chooser that allows receivers to pick 1 of 3 routes is great because it allows more variation on the part of the AI receiver, and allows miscommunication to occur like it does in the real game.

The playbooks feel repetitive, and frankly, the Patriots playbook sucks. I like the 3 TE formations as they will probably use Watson for some of that this year, but they just don't seem as creative as ESPN's playbooks.

Overall, I kept feeling like ESPN was more "fun" "exciting", Madden felt like Madden, and while I am VERY happy to get it on Xbox Live and hopefully HD/Widescreen support, it just isn't even close to as pretty as ESPN's game.

I think that the GAMEPLAY gap between the two has closed so much, that for 20 bucks, and all that amazing presentation, highlights, online leagues, etc. etc. I don't know how people can skip on ESPN.

Im gonna play some more over the next week. I'm taping a Madden Challenge preview show for G4 in a few weeks so we'll see if I find anything new between now and then.

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by Kodos

The squib kick is a joke and will ruin online games in the hands of crafty glitchers.

Wow...if true, this "little" thing will cause me not to buy the game.

[RPI-Fan]

Kodos - Thanks for posting!

This guy, needs to, learn, how to, use, commas.

Seemed like a very nice, objective review - was more observations than opinions, which is good.

Originally Posted by Review Guy

Aside from the real time sunlight, and the nice detail on the player models, this game has not been upgraded a whole lot graphically. A bit, but not leaps and bounds.

This is a very good thing, I think. The less time they waste on cheesy graphics, the more they're spending on getting the engine right (presumably/hopefully).

Would like some more details on the Newspapers/Talk Show stuff - i.e. what kinds of things do they say/talk about.

Again,
Thanks!
~rpi-fan

[Surtt]

I was checking out the pre order for the pc version.
Its not due to ship until Sept 8th !
The day before the season opener !
they must be having some real problems with it.

[Kodos]

An interview from MaddenMania. I know some guys around here will be happy to see that Coach mode has been added to the console versions of Madden. (see #20)

MaddenMania's Madden 05 Questions & Answers
1. Is there any info you can give us on cheerleaders or sideline reporters?

MF: For cheerleaders, we have completely new models this year that are
greatly improved over last year. As far as a sideline reporter, we now
have Jill Arrington, who replaces Melissa Stark from last year.

2. Each year create-a-team gets more detailed. Can you tell us what, if anything,
is new about this feature. Also, will create-a-stadium be more detailed?

MF: Create a team has some cool new features such as: new gloves with
NFL equipment logos, new shoes, and cool new visors. (check out Koren
Robinson) Not really any additions to create a stadium this year.

3. Why has the PC version of the game been pushed back?

DB: The expectations of the PC audience are more in depth, so we are
taking the extra time to fine tune the simulation aspects and tweak the
new graphical enhancements to take advantage of the latest video card
chipsets. Another reason is for our online community, we are trying to
ensure that all of the online cheating issues are resolved for a better
experience online. We’re gald we can continue to provide a great game
for the PC market.

4. What can PC gamers look forward to that console gamers miss out on,
if anything?

DB: PC-specific features are largely in the online and graphics
categories; such as: online leagues, online clubs, bump-mapped players,
and 3-D field surfaces.

5. Can PC users finally input our own custom .bmp files for player faces instead
of having to choose from the computer generated ones in the custom player
feature (e.g., NBA live allows for the pathing of players faces)?

DB: Unfortunately no, this is something we investigated but didn’t get in
for this year’s game.

6. Can we expect headtracking of the ball from wide receivers this year?

MF: No they do not. We decided to wait on this until we develop a more
robust head tracking system.

7. We have heard that there are going to be weekly practices in franchise mode
this year. What will we be able to accomplish in these practices?

JL: These aren’t used to train your team as a unit for the upcoming
week’s game, it is designed to just let you practice with your current
franchise team.

8. How many plays can a custom playbook hold? Are custom playbooks available
for online use?

MF: It’s the same as last year, 81 plays and 11 formations. We have
always decided not to allow them online this year for the sake of being
fair. Possibly in the future, in unranked games, you could be able to use
a created playbook.

9. Will CPU controlled teams better manage their depth charts and rosters
as opposed to in the past?

JL: Yes. One of our new additions this year is allowing teams to evaluate
their rosters, adding free agents when needed or cutting players that
shouldn’t be on the team any more. Depth charts are decided by position
battles now, so the depth chart logic of the past has been removed.

10. Are we finally going to be rewarded properly for winning a Super
Bowl? Will we feel a different atmosphere in the game come playoff time?

MF: Absolutely, we have a completely new celebration sequence for the
Super Bowl victory, not to mention a completely new exciting intro to the
Super Bowl. We have some great new special graphical effects and a
much bigger pay-off here than even before.

11. Is there a "create-a-coach" option this year?

MF: Not this year, good idea, but we did add a new “create” feature
called Create-A-Fan in which you can actually get your fan to show up in
games in the crowd.

12. Are we going to see more diversity in ratings of imported players from
NCAA? (For instance, the rating difference between Roy Williams(round 1) and
P.K. Sam (round 5))

JL: Yes, there will be more diversity, but you have to remember that we
are importing the best players from NCAA. This year we added changes
to accurately reflect the transition of players like Eric Crouch to the pros.
He may be a 99 in NCAA, but when he’s imported into Madden, he
becomes a 60 instead of an 85 QB.

13. What improvements, if any, have been made in mini-camp mode?

JL: We added a two player rushing attack drill where both players swap
sides and try to gain the most points. This is online as well and is
EXTREMELY addictive for quick games.

14. Will we see more busts in the draft, and conversely more players coming
out of the later rounds to become pro-bowlers?

JL: That all depends on performance, just like it does in real life.
Progression allows low rated players to shoot up quickly in franchise, so
if your starting running back gets hurt and the rookie behind him rushes
for 1500 yards, that will be reflected in his ratings. Conversely, if your
rookie QB is thrown into the fire right away and proceeds to throw 25
picks per year for 5 years, he will be a bust and his ratings will reflect
that.

15. Can we listen to Tony Bruno while doing other tasks, e.g., scouting
opponents, setting simulation strategies, trading players, etc.? Will Bruno
make comments during the offseason as well, or just the regular season?
Do you have an idea of the number of hours of audio footage Tony Bruno
recorded?

JL: Yes, the show plays while you are doing your normal franchise tasks.
The Tony Bruno Show will start by default as you enter into each new
week of the season. The show will be completely different each week but
will only last the length of that weeks allocated time slot, before
switching over to EA Trax music selections. All regular tasks (trades,
lineups, scouting) are available while the radio show is taking place
during each week. Tony takes a vacation after the pro-bowl, but is back
with the user at the start of training camp the following year. We
recorded over 30 hours with Tony this year…he is a great addition to the
game.

16. Are currently traded draft picks in the game? Such as the Chargers getting
the Giants first pick next year.

JL: No, good idea though.

17. Can new rivalries develop, and old rivalries fade, or do you have some
fixed set of rivals from years 1 through 30? What exactly is involved in rivalry
games? Do players step up their play, does commentary change, what else?

JL: New rivalries don’t develop in franchise yet. Each team has three
rivals, ranked from #1 to #3. Just because that team is their #1 rival
doesn’t necessarily mean that the rivalry is reciprocated. From a
commentary perspective rivalries are firmly established from the outset.
Users will most often hear John and Al talking about this at the
beginning of the game, and Tony will mention it in his radio show from
time to time if that rivalry game is considered big news.

18. Any news on the PC System Requirements?

DB: Here is where we are for min. specs. -
CPU: PIII or AMD Athlon 800MHz
RAM: 128MB (256MB for Windows XP)
Video: 32MB supported Direct3D capable video card with DirectX 9.0b.

19. Will the CPU occasionally go for more 4th downs, like, 4th and 3 from the
opposing 38 for example? Or 4th and short on the goalline, depending on the
situation?

MF: Yes, situational playcalling now takes more into account the
aggressiveness ratings of the coach. You will see them go for it on 4th
and short, try fake punts, as well as even try some nasty play action and
trick plays on the goal line.

20. Is there a coach mode for the consoles?

DB: Yes, we added the same coach mode that has been in PC. Enjoy!

21. Will we see underthrown balls and "wet-duck" passes, as opposed to just
overthrows?

MF: You will definitely see some underthrown and lame duck balls,
especially when throwing off of your back foot. Gone are the days that
can you sprint directly to your right and throw it to a receiver all the way
across the field.

22. Will there be an option to turn relocation off with owner mode?

JL: Not this year.

23. Will the CPU "use" the hit stick on the user as well?

MF: Yes, they will use it, so you better be ready!

24. Any info you can give us on the weekly gameplan our coordinators give us?
How detailed will this be, and will it change from team to team? Or is it a more
generic feature?

JL: It’s really detailed based on your opponent. It takes the strengths
and weaknesses of your team and your opponent into account, providing
tips to the game. It does change from team to team.

25. Will All Madden be ranked online?

MF: Yes, we will have a “hardcore” game type, in which fair play is
turned off and all madden is turned on. It will be treated as a ranked
game just like the regular all pro, fair play on ranked game.

26. Can we do player formation substitutions at the beginning of the
game..beside packaged subs. For example single back 3wide is T.Barber at HB,
singleback 2 wr is R.Dayne at HB and singleback 4wr is D.Joyce at HB pre-set?

MF: If you are talking about online, yes, subs are back. You could always
do this off-line.

27. How are the online tourneys going to be different this year? I hear we can
finally finish them in 1 day, will there be any EA OFFICIAL Tourneys online with
prizes ect? If so how do you qualify for them?

JP: This year we will have two different modes "Online Events" and
"Quick Tournaments." Online Events include last year's tournaments
(with improvements), but also include sponsored tournaments and web-
based tournaments. Some improvements to all those include setting the
number of hours between rounds, tournaments auto-advance when
everyone has completed their games, letting the host create news, and
auto-adding of your next tournament opponent to the EA Messenger. We
are talking to some of our partners about sponsoring tournaments for
prizes, but nothing is official right now. If we do have sponsored
tourneys, they will probably be private and password protected, with
users receiving invites via e-mail.

Quick Tournaments are just that -- tournaments where the games are
played back-to-back. There will be four- and eight-player Quick
Tournaments. You can't create them, you can only join them, like the
"Play Now" or "Quick Match" feature. You can't leave the tournament
room once you've joined, but it’s a great way to get some guaranteed
action when you have time for a only a few games.

28. Online roster, can we import our custom rosters for online play unranked
games this year? If no, why? Is it possible to implement this feature as a patch
or upgrade in madden 05? Like if we named a roster save "unranked", could EA
pull that in?

JP: Unfortunately, you cannot import rosters into unranked games this
year. The problem with rosters is we have to make sure both players
have the same one, even for unranked games. So if I play you, and you
want to play an unranked game with your roster and I agree to it, we
have to transfer rosters between both of you and then transfer back to
standard online rosters for regular ranked games. In short, it's a
technical and gameplay nightmare. We might consider implement
something like this for elite users in next year's games, but we won't
have this ability for this year's games.

29. At E3 we were told about pressure FG kicking...on game winning kicks the
screen would go "Tiger Woods going to the green" style, the analog controller
would shake ect. Will this be in 05, and also online? And can you elaborate it for
us please?

MF: Yes for 05 and yes for online. What happens is when you get down to
the last minute or so of the game, and you are lining up for a field goal,
you will get a new view. The camera will be on the ground behind the
kicker looking up at the goal posts and when it’s kicked, it goes in slow
motion and the screen goes to a letterbox format. You also feel some
“heart-beat” effects on your controller. It’s a pretty cool presentation.

30. Will there be online leagues? If yes, what type of stats will they track? If no,
is it possible to have a EA Tech PHP Guru put something together for console
users? Like a stat program zip that they can download then unzip to their
personal website in order to insert,update, and display league stats?

MF: As of right now there is no announcement of online leagues for
Madden 2005.

31. Who can we contact to get NCAA and MADDEN 05 Challenge tournament
info? Will it start on the EAST coast again? Higher admission fee/bigger prize?
Settings ect..

MF: Keep an eye on EASPORTS.com for information – coming soon.

32. How will the scouting/feedback online player feature work? Whats to stop
people from spamming you with bad feedback due to being a soreloser ect? Will
feedback roll off after a period of time?

JP: The Scouting Report and Feedback are two entirely different systems.
The Scouting Report is a screen that surfaces a set of stats we feel is
indicative of your play style. Stats like favorite playbook and formation,
how often you no-huddle, scramble on a pass play, hot routes, audibles
and others are shown here. We let players' stats speak for themselves.

The feedback system will have its own checks and balances. If someone
gives negative feedback on you, we take a look at their history as well. If
you have no feedback or positive feedback, and someone complains
about you yet they themselves have a history of offering constant
negative feedback, then we will be inclined to throw this out as "sour
grapes." Plus, if someone abuses the Feedback system be offering
multiple or constant negative feedback, we can throw out their reports.
Likewise, if you try to offer constant positive feedback on your buddies
(especially if you never even played a game with them!) then we can
take action against your account for abusing the Feedback system.



Answers by:

MF = Matt Frederick, Assistant Producer
DB = Damion Banks, Assistant Producer
JL = Josh Looman, Assistant Producer
JP = Jim Preston, Assistant Producer

[Noop]

The grammar police is here....

Am I the only who seems bothered by the countless asking of small and unimportant details of a game? I mean I read the first question and thought why do they care about cheerleaders....

[VPI97]

Originally Posted by Kodos

12. Are we going to see more diversity in ratings of imported players from
NCAA? (For instance, the rating difference between Roy Williams(round 1) and
P.K. Sam (round 5))

JL: Yes, there will be more diversity, but you have to remember that we
are importing the best players from NCAA. This year we added changes
to accurately reflect the transition of players like Eric Crouch to the pros.
He may be a 99 in NCAA, but when he’s imported into Madden, he
becomes a 60 instead of an 85 QB.

LOL...they get 500 bonus points for taking a shot at Crouch.

[rkmsuf]

Originally Posted by Noop

The grammar police is here....

Am I the only who seems bothered by the countless asking of small and unimportant details of a game? I mean I read the first question and thought why do they care about cheerleaders....

What does that have to do with grammar?

Anyway, I hear the cheeleaders look so good you'd hit it.

[Noop]

Originally Posted by rkmsuf

What does that have to do with grammar?

Anyway, I hear the cheeleaders look so good you'd hit it.

Hmm... I could care less for videogame cheerleaders bro... Grammar police is in reference to someone saying the guy who wrote the article should use comma's... Now if were talking about real cheerlearders then I would say yes I would hit behind the the away teams bench...

[Hammer755]

I liked their dodge of this question:

- Will their be a Create-A-Coach option?
- No, but look for your Create-A-Fan in stadiums around the league!!!

[rkmsuf]

What are the percentage of Jets fans that create that stupid fireman guy?

[Maple Leafs]

Originally Posted by Kodos

The kick meter is hokey and new and will take some getting used to...

ARGH!

Memo to the game companies: STOP redoing the kicking game every year! We hate the kicking game! Punting and kicking should be minor parts of the game! We hate having to relearn it every year! We hate playing with friends and having them not be able to kick right because you switched it up again! Just pick a system, any system, and then leave it that way for the rest of the series!

(There, filled my exclamation point quote for the month.)

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Maple Leafs

ARGH!

Memo to the game companies: STOP redoing the kicking game every year! We hate the kicking game! Punting and kicking should be minor parts of the game! We hate having to relearn it every year! We hate playing with friends and having them not be able to kick right because you switched it up again! Just pick a system, any system, and then leave it that way for the rest of the series!

(There, filled my exclamation point quote for the month.)

I agree with this, also if they would make it so the meter doesn't go 9000 MPH on all-madden that'd make my day.

[Kodos]

I particularly hate ESPN NBA's free-throw system.

[Tigercat]

Originally Posted by Chubby

I agree with this, also if they would make it so the meter doesn't go 9000 MPH on all-madden that'd make my day.

I agree with this 100%. This is a problem with Heisman level of play on NCAA too. Making PATs should be automatic or damn near it at any level of play, I hate missing one because of high wind and because the game developers thought it would be cute that every aspect of the game is harder.

[Kodos]

30. Will there be online leagues? If yes, what type of stats will they track? If no, is it possible to have a EA Tech PHP Guru put something together for console users? Like a stat program zip that they can download then unzip to their personal website in order to insert,update, and display league stats?

MF: As of right now there is no announcement of online leagues for Madden 2005.


This kinda makes me think that they may be planning to announce something later. If not, why not just say "There will be no online league for Madden 2005"?

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Kodos

I particularly hate ESPN NBA's free-throw system.

If it's the same system as in ESPN College Hoops, I hate it too. More Complicated != Better. It's horrible. Everytime I go for a free-throw, I pause, make my team computer controlled and let it shoot them for me. After going 1-14 in a game on the highest difficulty (and losing by 3 points), I had enough of it.

And on the FAQ...so many questions could have just been answered with a simple "No." He should be a politician.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by Kodos

30. Will there be online leagues? If yes, what type of stats will they track? If no, is it possible to have a EA Tech PHP Guru put something together for console users? Like a stat program zip that they can download then unzip to their personal website in order to insert,update, and display league stats?

MF: As of right now there is no announcement of online leagues for Madden 2005.




This kinda makes me think that they may be planning to announce something later. If not, why not just say "There will be no online league for Madden 2005"?

I agree. Their answer is clearly worded to allow for the possibility of online leagues for Madden

Also, I'm very excited by the possibility of doing a franchise in coach only mode

Hopefully, this mode works appropriately in this version.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Eaglesfan27

I agree. Their answer is clearly worded to allow for the possibility of online leagues for Madden

Also, I'm very excited by the possibility of doing a franchise in coach only mode

Hopefully, this mode works appropriately in this version.

I look forward to this as well, as long as it works. I hate having to spend weeks trying to find the perfect sliders (or wait for others to come up with them). Besides, stats are always out of wack when I play the games myself (except for NHL 2004)

[Scholes]

20. Is there a coach mode for the consoles?

DB: Yes, we added the same coach mode that has been in PC. Enjoy!

I've been waiting for this!

[wade moore]

Originally Posted by Kodos

30. Will there be online leagues? If yes, what type of stats will they track? If no, is it possible to have a EA Tech PHP Guru put something together for console users? Like a stat program zip that they can download then unzip to their personal website in order to insert,update, and display league stats?

MF: As of right now there is no announcement of online leagues for Madden 2005.


This kinda makes me think that they may be planning to announce something later. If not, why not just say "There will be no online league for Madden 2005"?

I wish they would freakin' decide.. this could really be my decision on whether I primarily play ESPN or Madden.. I know you have told your concerns on on-line leagues (i.e. they are too difficult to manage), but I love them..

This combined with the "presentation" aspect of ESPN... this is huge for me.. ESPN does some things I thought we would NEVER see in a video game (sports center, halftime highlights, etc)... If the gameplay has improved (i have never liked the sega engine) this could be a serious moment for me.. I have been dedicated to madden for 15 years and it would be a shock to the system to switch...

EA REALLY needs to get on the ball with the presentation..

[Anthony]

keep in mind this Q & A was for the PC version only.

reading thsi interview i noticed there were a lot of "no" being answered in terms of "will this feature be in the game?". Almost like 60/40 with "no, it won't be in this year's version", probably even worse than 60/40. it doesn't make sense that they don't have some of the stuff they said isn't in 05. we're getting to the point where video game football is reaching it's limits in terms of what it can do. they just seem to be leaving out feautres so they can include them in future versions.

i like the feedback/scouting report on online players. nice touch.

[Galaril]

I hope this means that they will finally pay some attention to the PC version as opposed to being an after thought.

3. Why has the PC version of the game been pushed back?

DB: The expectations of the PC audience are more in depth, so we are
taking the extra time to fine tune the simulation aspects and tweak the
new graphical enhancements to take advantage of the latest video card
chipsets. Another reason is for our online community, we are trying to
ensure that all of the online cheating issues are resolved for a better
experience online. We’re gald we can continue to provide a great game
for the PC market.

[Yossarian]

question 4 seems to imply that there WILL be online leagues.

question 30 implies otherwise.

[RawIsDan]

Originally Posted by Kodos

An interview from MaddenMania. I know some guys around here will be happy to see that Coach mode has been added to the console versions of Madden. (see #20)


20. Is there a coach mode for the consoles?

DB: Yes, we added the same coach mode that has been in PC. Enjoy!

Sweet ! That was the one reason I never purchased it for the console as I'm not a button pusher.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by Galaril

I hope this means that they will finally pay some attention to the PC version as opposed to being an after thought.

3. Why has the PC version of the game been pushed back?

DB: The expectations of the PC audience are more in depth, so we are
taking the extra time to fine tune the simulation aspects and tweak the
new graphical enhancements to take advantage of the latest video card
chipsets. Another reason is for our online community, we are trying to
ensure that all of the online cheating issues are resolved for a better
experience online. We’re gald we can continue to provide a great game
for the PC market.

Which really means either:
a) There's no competition on the PC so we can release it whenever we want.

or

b) We care about cheating in the PC versions but not in the console versions.



I think it's A.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Chubby

Which really means either:
a) There's no competition on the PC so we can release it whenever we want.

or

b) We care about cheating in the PC versions but not in the console versions.

How would people cheat on a console? I'm sure it's possible, but I'd imagine it'd be far more easier to do it on a PC.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by sabotai

How would people cheat on a console? I'm sure it's possible, but I'd imagine it'd be far more easier to do it on a PC.

By cheating I'm assuming they really are referring to glitching/exploiting/cheesing. Besides, the PC market is tiny vs console market for Madden. Based on their past record of doling out crappy PC releases of games I find it incredibly difficult to believe that they're holding the PC version for and QA reason. Otherwise, one could say they don't care about the quality of the console versions by shipping it early. EA PC games are often a direct and crappy port of the console version.

[sabotai]

Originally Posted by Chubby

By cheating I'm assuming they really are referring to glitching/exploiting/cheesing. Besides, the PC market is tiny vs console market for Madden. Based on their past record of doling out crappy PC releases of games I find it incredibly difficult to believe that they're holding the PC version for and QA reason. Otherwise, one could say they don't care about the quality of the console versions by shipping it early. EA PC games are often a direct and crappy port of the console version.

They could also mean 3rd-party hacks. And why is it hard to beleive they need to test a PC game more than consoles? There's only a few console configs to worry about. With the PC, the combinations are endless. Of course PC games need more testing.

[Chubby]

Originally Posted by sabotai

They could also mean 3rd-party hacks. And why is it hard to beleive they need to test a PC game more than consoles? There's only a few console configs to worry about. With the PC, the combinations are endless. Of course PC games need more testing.

Have you played any of the PC EA games? Not exactly bug free. The console versions have consistently been riddled with fewer bugs than the PC version because they can always patch the PC game.

The console versions are getting bumped up due to Sega plain and simple. They aren't bumping up the PC versions because they don't have to. They don't need to spend the extra money to move up the date for PC like they do for console.