People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

[GiantBlue76]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

I think spank said it best when he used the word "frustration". A lot of people don't realize that a lot of us (myself included) are old enough to where we were playing football games for the Atari 2600. I had every Madden game from 89 to 2001. Then 2k came out and I decided to take a chance on NFL 2k3. I was wowed at the game. Then 2k5 came out and it was all over. Real penalties, (ALL OF THE PENALTIES), an actual challenge system that worked, sideline catches, momentum and physics, realistic ball physics, perfect blend of inaccurate throws based on pressure and body position. You have to realize, all of us were Madden fans at one point. I would love more than anything for Madden to have all of these things. APF 2k8's gameplay is even better. I am not a fanboy of any company. In fact, EA makes some really good games. However, when it comes to sports gaming, football is king. There is nothing like it. I work in software too. Making excuses for shoddy products is not acceptable. Your customers aren't interested in hearing that, because you are not giving them the product for free. The issue is that at this point we want to be "wowed". We want to play the game and not want to go to work the next day so we can play it some more. We want realism. It's like any other product you buy. You are always going to go a step up. If you have a 50" plasma TV right now, but then a deal came out where only Sony could make TVs, and decided to release only 13" CRT televisions, would you be happy going from the 50" plasma to the 13" CRT???? That's what this is like for alot of us.

The bottom line is, EA knows the position they are in. If you don't have the competition, you can do whatever you want. Sure, the devs have some pride in their work, but really, there is very little risk. As long as the game sells, they succeeded. Knowing that having the exclusive license of the most popular sport in the US is all EA needs to know. They will NEVER give that license up, I promise you that. They will spend their last dollar before they do. Only the NFL can change that, and it's not going to happen.

Most people on here are saying they want EA to catch up to 2k5. I think that;s silly. EA should be leading the world in innovating the most realistic, mind blowing football game ever. This madden is a decent game, but there is nothing in it that screams great. There is no innovation. Everything in it has already been done and in many cases, been done better, and there are still a lot of things that still aren't even in it. Reading the blogs all offseason got me excited, until I played the demo. Now, not so much. It was even worse when I popped in APF. I'm not going to say that 2k makes better games than EA. That isn't true. However, so far, when it comes to football, the gameplay on the field is not anywhere close right now. There is still a canyon between the 2. If Madden 10 tanks after a month like 09 did, and people shelve it, not much will change as long as EA has the license. If they lose the license, they lose a lot of sales. Simple as that.

I'm giving Ian and the devs at Tiburon one more chance after this season. This is the first Madden I will have bought since 2002, so I don't really mind. This was a 1.0 in my mind. They have had to fix years of ****ed up stuff that has piled up into a mess. If next year isn't the mind blowing game we should have had by now, EA will have failed.

[bigsmallwood]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

I think spank said it best when he used the word "frustration". A lot of people don't realize that a lot of us (myself included) are old enough to where we were playing football games for the Atari 2600. I had every Madden game from 89 to 2001. Then 2k came out and I decided to take a chance on NFL 2k3. I was wowed at the game. Then 2k5 came out and it was all over. Real penalties, (ALL OF THE PENALTIES), an actual challenge system that worked, sideline catches, momentum and physics, realistic ball physics, perfect blend of inaccurate throws based on pressure and body position. You have to realize, all of us were Madden fans at one point. I would love more than anything for Madden to have all of these things. APF 2k8's gameplay is even better. I am not a fanboy of any company. In fact, EA makes some really good games. However, when it comes to sports gaming, football is king. There is nothing like it. I work in software too. Making excuses for shoddy products is not acceptable. Your customers aren't interested in hearing that, because you are not giving them the product for free. The issue is that at this point we want to be "wowed". We want to play the game and not want to go to work the next day so we can play it some more. We want realism. It's like any other product you buy. You are always going to go a step up. If you have a 50" plasma TV right now, but then a deal came out where only Sony could make TVs, and decided to release only 13" CRT televisions, would you be happy going from the 50" plasma to the 13" CRT???? That's what this is like for alot of us.

The bottom line is, EA knows the position they are in. If you don't have the competition, you can do whatever you want. Sure, the devs have some pride in their work, but really, there is very little risk. As long as the game sells, they succeeded. Knowing that having the exclusive license of the most popular sport in the US is all EA needs to know. They will NEVER give that license up, I promise you that. They will spend their last dollar before they do. Only the NFL can change that, and it's not going to happen.

Most people on here are saying they want EA to catch up to 2k5. I think that;s silly. EA should be leading the world in innovating the most realistic, mind blowing football game ever. This madden is a decent game, but there is nothing in it that screams great. There is no innovation. Everything in it has already been done and in many cases, been done better, and there are still a lot of things that still aren't even in it. Reading the blogs all offseason got me excited, until I played the demo. Now, not so much. It was even worse when I popped in APF. I'm not going to say that 2k makes better games than EA. That isn't true. However, so far, when it comes to football, the gameplay on the field is not anywhere close right now. There is still a canyon between the 2. If Madden 10 tanks after a month like 09 did, and people shelve it, not much will change as long as EA has the license. If they lose the license, they lose a lot of sales. Simple as that.

I'm giving Ian and the devs at Tiburon one more chance after this season. This is the first Madden I will have bought since 2002, so I don't really mind. This was a 1.0 in my mind. They have had to fix years of ****ed up stuff that has piled up into a mess. If next year isn't the mind blowing game we should have had by now, EA will have failed.

I am starting to believe EA Sports taking over the NFL exclusive license was/is an EPIC FAIL:

1. They have yet to come close to producing what NFL 2K5 has done in terms of presentation, animation engine, and commentary etc.
2. The Commentary for 2K5 is so spot on and especially during dynasty mode....I have trouble even playing a Madden game in dynasty mode because it is not nearly as captivating.
3. Madden has had 5 years to get it together and 2K5 is still being mentioned...(not to mention I still see animations I had not ever seen in 2K that I have yet to see in Madden and I have played both since their inception)

Madden 10 should have buried 2K5...instead they have an okay halftime show....they still have a variety of bugs/oddities in their game and they seem like they have no intention on fixing it. I hopefully will get my Madden 10 tomorrow and will go through it thoroughly and hope that there is at least a glimmer of hope....but then again this is the same EA who says ESPN powers their game, but you see nothing close. 2K5>Madden

[boooey]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

how many years have they been on next gen now, and they still do not have features that were in last gen madden's?

how can you guys even think that this is ok?

And I have never seen Ian come put publicly and THANK the community for contributing so many great ideas for this game.

But I have seen a lot of marketing video of the DEVS patting themselves on the back, saying how there are so many "Firsts" in Madden now, which isn't even technically true.

We had to tell them what to fix. They were so arrogant for years after the exclusive deal went down, they would not even acknowledge 2k5 and try to implement the best parts of that game.

Now they start to sprinkle in 1 or 2 features that were in previous Madden's, and actually call them "NEW" and we are supposed to be so thankful for this?

I am sorry man, I am not that guy.. Call me a ***** i guess. I really don't care.

But we don't owe these DEVS anything. EA owes us an apology, if anything.

flame away boys..

[baa7]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

But we don't owe these DEVS anything. EA owes us an apology, if anything.

People owe themselves an apology for buying the game year after year. That's not EA's fault.

I agree we don't owe the developers anything. They're doing what they need to save EA money, meaning not investing in an actual next-gen engine and game. Continually patching and fixing what remains a last-gen game engine is not IMO "trying to improve the game." It's cost-reducing, cost-effective game development, nothing more.

[boooey]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

People owe themselves an apology for buying the game year after year. That's not EA's fault.

I agree we don't owe the developers anything. They're doing what they need to save EA money, meaning not investing in an actual next-gen engine and game. Continually patching and fixing what remains a last-gen game engine is not IMO "trying to improve the game." It's cost-reducing, cost-effective game development, nothing more.

i agree.. dam, 10k posts? impressive

[baa7]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

i agree.. dam, 10k posts? impressive

10,000 empty opinions ain't all that much, really.

[HolyCrap]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

isnt it the Dev's job to make the game better

[MattIntellect]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

isnt it the Dev's job to make the game better

Not exactly. They could have continued the franchise on the same path as Madden 06-09. No one gets fired if the game doesn't cater to the SIM crowd or any crowd for that matter. The direction this franchise is headed looks very bright and promising.

[baa7]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

isnt it the Dev's job to make the game better

It's a ways down the priority list:
1. Make money for the stockholders.
2. Keep costs down and profits up.
3. Cut costs wherever possible (meaning higher profits and more money for stockholders).
4. Look for ways to save money (see 1., 2. and 3. for reasons and motivations).
5. Make game better (as long as it doesn't cost too much).

[HolyCrap]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

It's a ways down the priority list:
1. Make money for the stockholders.
2. Keep costs down and profits up.
3. Cut costs wherever possible (meaning higher profits and more money for stockholders).
4. Look for ways to save money (see 1., 2. and 3. for reasons and motivations).
5. Make game better (as long as it doesn't cost too much).

Last one is the most true without real competition what motivation does EA and Tiburon really have to make the best game ever when they are gonna sell high numbers regardless

[boooey]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

I have got to say that they have really set themselves up for the next few years by removing all the features of last gen..

Now they can slowly implement them back, and call them new features again, and claim how much progress was made.

Just look at all the positive feedback this year, and this is just for getting halfway back to where they were in last gen.

EA are truly marketing geniuses, i have to give them credit there.
Whether you fall for these shenanigans or not, well thats up to you.

[MattIntellect]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

Last one is the most true without real competition what motivation does EA and Tiburon really have to make the best game ever when they are gonna sell high numbers regardless

The best motivation they have is to:
1. Compete with other genres
2. Compete against the NCAA team
3. Try to make a game that isn't heavily criticized
4. Make a game that is crowned the best football game ever and become embraced by the community
5. Keep the NFL satisfied to maintain the NFL exclusivity license

Most of the guys on the Madden team worked on last-gen Maddens and want to bring most of the features from last-gen over to next-gen/current-gen. Everything does boil down to money and sells, but this Madden team seems as if they want to make the best game possible, not ONLY because of sales, but so that they can play a great game and no longer be compared to games such as 2k5.

[baa7]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

I have got to say that they have really set themselves up for the next few years by removing all the features of last gen..

Now they can slowly implement them back, and call them new features again, and claim how much progress was made.

EA's been doing that for a lot longer than the past 3-4 years. Madden 98 had custom CPU playbooks, for example. And the ability to set up custom conferences. Those features were long gone before next-gen gaming arrived.

[baa7]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

The best motivation they have is to:
1. Compete with other genres

That's not a motivation. Madden doesn't even compete with EA's other games. They developed next-gen engines for their NHL series and FIFA series. Why is Madden still a last-gen game? Because it would cost money to develop a next-gen engine, and there's no motivation to do that.

[Bulldogs78]

Re: People give the DEVELOPERS of Madden props for TRYING to make the game better.

Man, who is the TC, our daddy? We will give props when props are due mmmmkay? this thread wasn't worth of creation. Same league with "I JUST PAID OFF MY GAME, WHO HAS ALSO?"