OS Roundtable: Is Madden's Focus Where it Should Be?

[GiantBlue76]

Once again, I don't believe their focus areas have been bad - even in the past. The implementation is where it goes bad. Nothing really works right or it's sloppy or buggy. I'm not sure how anyone could be annoyed at what is being added to the game right now, but I certainly can understand why people are skeptical. We've heard things like this before, including last year with M25 on next gen. Pursuit angles, player sense, war in the trenches. Most of those things were "better", (somewhat), but they still didn't work right.

Personally, I'm impressed with Rex Dickson and a few of the other designers, but I am not impressed with the implementation each year. Higher quality and making sure the changes all work need to be just as much of a focus as the ideas that are going in.

[JKSportsGamer1984]

I'm all for the defensive improvements. They sound good on paper but let's be honest, Madden has been touting zone & man coverage AI improvements for years now so we'll see (although I thought last year was improved). On of the biggest improvements that seems to be flying under the radar is how both WR's & DB's will make an attempt to catch errant passes this year. This combined with the toning of QB accuracy can be a game changer. My biggest issue with Madden over the years is how they continue to sell us football in compartments. One year it's this, the next year it's that, etc...How about they just focus on getting the core fundamentals of football down 1st (strategy, player movement, weight & momentum being factors, penalties, etc..). Focus on getting the animations at a Next Gen level quality. The reason why 2K basketball is so successful & is quickly becoming the best selling sports game is because how realistic the game looks & animates. 2K has all of the players signature animations & mannerisms down perfect. Each player has a sense of individuality. Madden needs this to take it to the next level. I don't want to see all RB's carrying the ball the same way. All RB's should not be able to do the same jukes, cuts, moves, etc...If Madden would just prioritize by getting these things right then I believe they could be back on top.

[grodbetatted]

I see nothing wrong with EA's areas of focus.. And on the stiff robotic movement, I definitely don't see that. I feel that most people that speak on madden just want to seen a new NFL 2k. Even when 2k was out, yes it had great aspects of football, but it played a rather slow game of football. The speed and of the game and some animations just looked like overkill. That's just my opinion though

[BigBadTom]

Here is the reality: yes the direction is good but there isnt enough meat and potatos in the changes. To the round table, it sounded like a bunch of skeptical gamers (not unfair when dealing with Madden) but they did say that they addressed the WR issues and the exploits in out routes and curls claim to be fixed. Here is the thing everyone is forgetting, Madden 25 was put out in November and was patched through the year. That is 3 less months in the Dev cycle for this game and as a result we don't see a massive overhaul attempt like the past few years. I imagine that any major system or engine changes come next year as they likely realized any attempt to implement them this year would result in a disaster.

[Blue12]

My biggest problem with the game is that even with all-madden I can pretty much score at will, but I rarely stop the computer from scoring. I would think that if they fix the defense properly, moving the ball while on offense would be more of a challenge, and playing on the defensive side will be more fun.

Just because they focus on the defensive side doesn't mean it will affect the difficulty going up against the computer A.I., but I really hope that is the case. I also hope they greatly reduce the number on interceptions by the computer defense, as that was usually the only thing that ever stopped me.

As for controlling the defense while the computer has the ball, I just hope there's a balance where the controls are effective and responsive without being too effective. While I want playing defense to be fun, I still want to be challenged.

[Cre8]

Quote: Originally Posted by BigBadTom

Here is the reality: yes the direction is good but there isnt enough meat and potatos in the changes. To the round table, it sounded like a bunch of skeptical gamers (not unfair when dealing with Madden) but they did say that they addressed the WR issues and the exploits in out routes and curls claim to be fixed. Here is the thing everyone is forgetting, Madden 25 was put out in November and was patched through the year. That is 3 less months in the Dev cycle for this game and as a result we don't see a massive overhaul attempt like the past few years. I imagine that any major system or engine changes come next year as they likely realized any attempt to implement them this year would result in a disaster.

I still believe (as I did in November) that they should have delayed a Madden release on next-gen until this year. NCAA did this with 07 on 360 and it was a smart decision. Madden would have been better served to do it with 06 - I don't think anyone would argue with me on that point.

[bxphenom7]

All I know is there's absolutely no excuse this generation for Madden. There's no way you can't nail a realistic football experience when a game, NFL 2k5, did it on PS2. That's that.

[twogotwingz3]

Quote: Originally Posted by bxphenom7

All I know is there's absolutely no excuse this generation for Madden. There's no way you can't nail a realistic football experience when a game, NFL 2k5, did it on PS2. That's that.

E-mothafuggn-xactly!!!!!!! How is a game pretty much perfect built on xbox and ps2, but we have to give EA time....smdh madden been around 25+ years!!! Took Visual Concepts 5 years to make the perfect game!! That almost looks on par with next gen madden! Lol