How long can EA get away w/ the same basic engine - 10 yrs, 20 yrs, 50 yrs?

[cman321]

EA football games appear to be using the same basic movement schemes (no gang tackling, push tackles, suction blocking, etc) at least since madden 2001 and really I think the engine goes way back into the ps1 era......

We have seen madden next gen and we have the same basic engine. EA has told us that the engine won't change for next gen (another 5-6 years). That would already put the same basic engine at over 10 years old.

I wouldn't put it past EA to NEVER change the engine. Not even in 20 years. The Masses will still buy up their crap (couple of new marketing features each year) and EA will get away with their low development cost, maximum port mentality.

Sometimes I wish EA would just go bankrupt. BTW i haven't bought an EA game since the NFL cout de tat. If EA makes an actual good game, I just buy it used.

[Pappy Knuckles]

EA is lazy as ****, i dunno if we'll ever see a change. however, i'm a football fan and i'll buy the next Madden because i have no choice.

[koolbubbaice]

Quote: Originally Posted by cman321

EA football games appear to be using the same basic movement schemes (no gang tackling, push tackles, suction blocking, etc) at least since madden 2001 and really I think the engine goes way back into the ps1 era...... We have seen madden next gen and we have the same basic engine. EA has told us that the engine won't change for next gen (another 5-6 years). That would already put the same basic engine at over 10 years old. I wouldn't put it past EA to NEVER change the engine. Not even in 20 years. The Masses will still buy up their crap (couple of new marketing features each year) and EA will get away with their low development cost, maximum port mentality. Sometimes I wish EA would just go bankrupt. BTW i haven't bought an EA game since the NFL cout de tat. If EA makes an actual good game, I just buy it used.

As long as ppl keep buying it, they will never change it..

[Casino]

Quote: Originally Posted by koolbubbaice

As long as ppl keep buying it, they will never change it..

yup.

i think its just tiburon. let EA Canada handle the games. they at least were able to make one quality game (mvp) but the rest of their games suck too. what did it take them to change triple play? im guessing it was crappy sales and we got a new engine for mvp and that game was great. a few flaws but the core gameplay was good. madden has to many lemmings that always buy it. these lemmings are the casual gamers. they out number us so we will continue to get the crap they have been giving us.

[koolbubbaice]

Quote: Originally Posted by Buddy Knox

EA is lazy as ****, i dunno if we'll ever see a change. however, i'm a football fan and i'll buy the next Madden because i have no choice.

Thats a lame excuse.. We all have choices..I'm a huge NFL fan myself & I passed on Madden Xbox, & Madden 360..It sounds like you will buy madden no matter what, which is why EA is lazy. They don't have to work for your money..

[rudyjuly2]

Its true. People still buy the games in droves and so there is no reason for overhauls. The fact we get a new console every 5 years is also a problem in that they don't want to overhaul the basic engine after 3 or 4 years since they want to spend their development money on the new systems.

EA does improve a lot of features and some gameplay improvements every year imo. Some people consider the improvements not enough. If you buy the game, you must think it is. Madden has gotten completely stale for me and I haven't played it much anymore on current gen over the last three years. NCAA is where the fun is for me and I will buy NCAA 2007 as soon as possible.

[jake44np]

Why would they change?
Every year NCAA Football gets great reviews and for the most part the consumers give great feedback about the game. Heck on this board every year many of us claim it is the best game I have every played!
As for Madden every year more and more people buy it why would they risk changing it and people then not liking it?!

[spankdatazz22]

I think they can get away with it indefinitely, as long as they maintain the status quo. I fully expect them to retain the exclusivity rights when the various agreements run out. And EA just isn't held to a certain standard, to be honest. Both Madden and NCAA have benefited from softball reviews early on. I don't think Tiburon is lazy; imo it's a question of focus, and perhaps arrogance on Tiburon's part. I think it's funny that Madden changed it's engine significantly in 2004 - but for the worse. Then they changed significantly again with Madden 360 and it was so bad it made the current gen Madden actually look better in comparison. NCAA appears to be using a heavily tweaked version of the original Madden engine, and while it's really limited in terms of player interaction and maybe graphics, the NCAA team has made mostly good choices in pushing the overall gameplay forward.

I thoroughly hate the Madden 360 engine. Okay, not thoroughly because the stadiums look fantastic. But the fact that Tiburon has sort of arrogantly dismissed the need to address it's player interaction issues with this engine, and the game seemingly taking a step backwards in terms of gameplay (player movement is actually worse, goofy hunchbacked player models replacing the overly-roided up models of current gen Madden, etc.), doesn't bode well for NCAA next-gen in the short term imo.