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

[FaceMask]

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

The problem with the Radio Guy is that his presence didn't make sense. Listening to the radio about a football game while watching a football game on TV was a disconnected concept that didn't ring true to life, and came across to many as Tiburon cutting corners and/or being lazy. I realize some liked it, but most hated it. I despised it, especially coming off the brilliant commentary produced in the games by the company we dare not mention. It was just a joke compared to that.

Bringing that back would cause major backlash, and rightfully so. My message to Tiburon and any other AAA sports developer attempting to produce a sim: It's either proper broadcast or GTHO at this point. No going back to failed ideas.

[life4eva]

When the players just pop up on the field before a kick off or change of possession really looks awkward.....

Also after every play the camera pans around the stadium and fans and that just drives me crazy.....

I sold the game, but overall just really poor imo

[DaSmerg]

I agree that the team conintues to move the 'Madden' product in a forward direction and as a whole, presentaion is part of it and has also improved in the strictest sense...that is...it is better than last year.

But Madden still doesn't match the presentation of other genre leaders and when talking audio commentary, when compared to "gaming" as a whole, the entire sports genre is still just stuck. While not an apples-to-apples comparison but to illustrate...SW:TOR (Star Wars: The Old Republic) released December of 2011 and "...beyond the main dialogue, thirty-thousand lines of alien-speak were recorded...To put this in perspective, [that's] more than the entire script for Mass Effect or both KOTOR games combined. Just in aliens...".

Now I'm not saying we need an anthology novel on tape for commentary but thousands and thousands of hours of commentary is the norm in most AAA games today yet we still settle for bargin bin in our sports games. How long you think that's gonna last for?

A couple pages back a poster suggested going no-names and a whole new approach to commentary. That might be a plan cuz I totally agree with another poster in this thread, nobody is buying Madden cuz Nantz & Simms are the game's commentators LoLz.

[rtkiii]

I agree with hiring some good Voice Actors. I thought it would be neat to have varying commentators throughout the season just like FOX or CBS having more than a pair of commentators. That would alleviate alot of the "Same lines" being spewed out.

Also fix the accuracy...I threw a pick 6 on the 1st play from scrimmage and Phil went on and on about what a long drive it was for the offense(even though the D scored) and how it is really going to boost the QBs confidence. It was horrible.

Visually they are moving the right direction..I'd like more stats on the bottom of the screen, longer amount of time to read said stats and more variety at the beginning of the game in regards to players being shown.

Also I think the stats and leaders in the seaosn menus need to overhauled...seems tedious to scroll through stats...or maybe it just look old.

[dakidjr23]

The commentary doesn't affect my enjoyment of the game. to me that should be the last thing to worry about i think madden should address the gameplay first and game modes second for to get my full enjoyment out the game.

[zonadrk]

My issue is with the intro. They NEVER should have removed the the teams coming out of their tunnel and replaced it with Nance and Simms. AWFUL! I don't care what a rendered Nance and Simms look like. But to see the Patriots come out of the helmet, or the Falconss with the flames! That is what I miss.

[xsdfhstuh]

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

What they really need to do is partner with ESPN and get Tirico and Gruden in the game.

[sticks323]

What they really need to do is partner with ESPN and get Tirico and Gruden in the game.

This is a great idea.

[blackadder33]

Good article Chris, thanks. For me - and many of my friends agree with me on this - all the little presentation improvements and minutia details you mention on how Madden has improved (or not) mean nothing. It wouldn't matter if Madden 15, 16, or indeed Madden 33 is the greatest NFL simulation of all time. The crux of the matter will always be that Madden is the only choice and this situation needs to end. The NFL clearly isn't listening to us so, until the NFL do start listening; that is, until they finally drop their ridiculous exclusive rights license with EA, then I and many others have decided to never buy anything from EA again, not just Madden but a total EA games boycott for as long as it takes. For anyone who missed it, Mike Florio agrees with us and wrote an interesting article about it, here: http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/20/ea-has-exclusive-license-from-nfl-for-a-couple-more-years/

[statum71]

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.

I still have to disagree. I don't read a whole lot of negative comments about the guys now. Just a few here and there like in this very thread. There's no commentators that everybody will like. But I remember these threads from that radio guy like it was yesterday.

This isn't NEARLY as bad.

But you're right about Gus and Collingsworth. The forums blew up over them.

[statum71]

The commentary doesn't affect my enjoyment of the game. to me that should be the last thing to worry about i think madden should address the gameplay first and game modes second for to get my full enjoyment out the game.

Sigh!!!!!!!!!!!

This article is about presentation. Gameplay gets plenty of write-up and attention.

[Demoncrom]

I would be happy if they would just deliver proper surround sound support. The game is in a stadium, is it too hard to place audio on the back channels to make it sound right?

[dfyuu]

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

They need to hire a dozen no name (see: cheap) voice actors and record a TON of commentary. No one buys Madden because Simms and Nance are in it.

[FaceMask]

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

I don't quite get the point of this weird repeat-a-post spam. It's about as weird as the guy years ago online who used to go around boards constantly saying "We take this very seriously and are looking into it deeply." What was he talking about? Who knows.

Strange world. Stranger people.