Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

[Segagendude]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

2k is still the truth...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwwW20Qi6ww

I smell a troll attempt...

And even that game had repetitive commentary. "He didn't want to be the spam in the kicking game's sandwich."--Must've been said almost everytime I fair caught a punt.

[Desolationmike]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

I would say they need to tone down the replays a bit, I don't need to see the replay of a 3 yard run on first down, I also find that they won't show other more important replays such as a sack. I hate that the intro to halftime is basically always a tackled guy eventualy getting to a celebration animation, and they still don't put any emphasis on what makes a play good. For instance if my CFM linebacker sacked the QB and forced a fumble that was picked up for a TD, it will only show the guy running into the endzone, with no context to why it was play of the game. Obviously the commentaryis terrible, and I think it's completely fair to say it's four steps back, the simple programming of the commentary is basically broken. I don't know how many times I've heard Simms say a pass was placed perfectly for a first down when in actuality it was a pass that lead the receiver out of bounds and now it's fourth down. I mean the overly enthusiastic guy was kind of a joke but at least he was interesting. Even last year which still had ho-hum simms and nantz the commentary wasn't so misplaced. Infact I'd say everything about the presentation lacks the polish I'd expect from a AAA title.

Don't get me wrong, I'm enjoying the game dispite all of this. I just wish I didn't need to mash A in between plays to skip over the constant replays of nothing interesting, especially in a player CFM. I've had some intense games and been really immersed in the game but not because of the presentation at all. I agree that this madden is better than the last few but that hardly puts it on par with FIFA or NBA2k as far as presentation goes.

[NYBorn81]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

We clamor for realism but have no issue with make believe guys on play-by-play? Keep Nantz & Sims, just develop a more suitable way to have the announcing seem legit and seamless. Do what 2k is doing with the new WWE game, have the two record their lines simultaneously, in the same recording booth, while watching gameplay, and recording their legit reactions to what they're watching.

[dfwrazorback]

i made it through one drive before I turned the commentary off...and there were several repeated lines in that one drive.

Jim Nantz is fine but I just cannot stand Phil "Captain Obvious" Simms. Even when he's calling an actual game I switch to some other commentary option so I don't have to listen to him.

I would rather have Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth back....Hell, I'd rather listen to Buck and Aikman than another line out of Phil Simms' mouth...

Actually to take it further...I'd rather have Ian Eagle (the worst NFL commentator ever) do solo commentary on Madden than listen to Simms again.

right....that's out of my system now...lol...

I too am not a big fan of Simms, so I turned off the commentary a few games in. Like a few others here I would prefer Michaels/Collinsworth or Tirico/Chucky, but having the option to either listen or not listen is fine.

What is going to drive me away from this game within a month is not having the option to turn off or at least quickly zip through the interminable cut scenes - the team huddles before kickoff, lining up for the kickoff, the halftime show and the replays between plays. There really needs to be an option to turn this crap off.

[Big FN Deal]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

After giving commentary some thought, I think the trick to it is taking the unavoidable repetitive nature and make that its' identifier. Think about Madden back when actual John Madden was commentating in-game and Peter/Dan in NFL2k, all that stuff was repetitive BUT it was packaged as "catch phrases" which gave the commentary personality.

[headzapp]

I'd like for replays to be like real broadcasts instead of the zoomed in magnet cam. Have it out like it's on wires. Have an "announcer" mark and circle on replays like they block here and here having lines drawn on, and it opened up this lane for a 8 yard gain.
Halftime show plays and info on other games played if you're in franchise show more games that matter to you.

[Acts 4 12]

I honestly acknowledge that the visual aspect of the presentation has been advanced but that really doesn't say much. They're finally doing subtle things that should have been in Madden games years ago. The lack of a real halftime show which shows highlights of other games (or at least scores) is head scratching to me at this point. The only way the audio will be improved is to allow for custom sounds much like every other sports title does.

[statum71]

No more atrocious than Jim Nantz is right now lol. At least the radio guy sounded like he was alive lol. To each's own though. That's why we all have opinions

Yeah you're right. We all differ in our opinions.

But its safe to say there's a reason that radio guy lasted one year. The backlash was enormous. EA figured out pretty quick that it was a bad bad idea.

[HealyMonster]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

Make the overlays stay up longer and fix the announcing, I don't think there would be much holding it back

[statum71]

Make the overlays stay up longer and fix the announcing, I don't think there would be much holding it back

Yes indeeed.

The stat overlays are a great addition. But they are entirely too quick. Maybe another 4 to 5 seconds each.

[Wista5]

They need to add a NFL live mode like nba2k and mlb the show. When you can play games as they happen with the season it keeps the commentary not as stale & really adds to the presentation element.
EA needs to get on board and have this in all there sports franchises.

[T5063]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

No kidding about the stat overlays...

1) They're great but there isn't enough time to read most of them.

2) Why are we seeing the player rating at the beginning of the first cfm game?? If you can't get previous season stats up there at least show the players height weight, college, years in NFL, etc etc. Showing player ratings KILLS immersion.

3) What happened to percentages? I have yet to see a banner that show the teams 3rd down conversion stats or redzone %.

4) The stats bar that show a teams season rank (passing defense, rushing defense, etc.) vs "today's game" is pretty useless. Ex. it says so and so team is 2nd in the league in rushing defense and that it allowed 124 yards rushing today. That doesnt really tell me anything. Is it a lot, is it a little. It should show the average yards per game allowed with league rank in () and then the total for today.

[jwilphl]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

I haven't played M15 so I can't comment specifically on its presentation, but I always thought that just as real video footage should be used for intros, stadium flyovers, cut-scenes showing outside the stadium, commercial break B-reel, perhaps even the commentary team ala NHL '15, real audio should be used to supplement what they record in-house. Pull lines from real broadcasts. These are tremendous time-savers as you don't have to render all that extra video, only edit it in, and it would be the same for the audio.

Two separate commentary teams should be the standard at this point. However, as others have said, the underlying code dealing with the commentary probably isn't up to snuff to make multiple teams worth it. Once they fix the code, get a Monday Night Football broadcast with Tirico and Gruden, a CBS broadcast, and add one more graphical variant, either FOX or NFL network. I know they don't have the FOX license, but I imagine they have the latter, so no extra money spent.

It would be great if they just went all out and got three commentary teams minimum. I know it is possible; FIFA has two English commentary teams plus those for other languages. It really comes down to a matter of resources (time, money). Unfortunately, I don't expect to see this anytime soon. EA has never really gone all-out on presentation. They probably don't see spending a ton of time on it worth the return. That and there isn't much incentive to make such improvements with no competition.

[Pezell04x]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

I just wish the overlays weren't so quick to go away. I'd like to read them.

[Sheba2011]

Re: Madden NFL 15: Why The Presentation Hasn't Quite Arrived into Primetime

Yeah you're right. We all differ in our opinions.

But its safe to say there's a reason that radio guy lasted one year. The backlash was enormous. EA figured out pretty quick that it was a bad bad idea.

The backlash over Gus Johnson, Chris Collinsworth and the present clowns is a lot worse than anything from the Radio announcer.

The problem with the radio announcer wasn't that he was bad, it was that for the first time in a long time, Madden wasn't in the game. If they added a color guy and introduced him today instead of Simms/Dr. Robot the presentation would be a 100x better.