Madden 17 developer interview series

[howboutdat]

Great interview first off!

Its cool of Rex to be open and just tell us the truth about situations.Refeshing even. However , at the same time, when I hear about ( and already knew basically) that the suits basically seem like they dont want realistic football represented in the game as much, it only makes me feel like, theres not much real hope. i mean , we know Rex will fight for what should happen, but how long will he keep fighting them on those aspects until he gets feed up with them ( the suits) like we are? I hope he dont, but i would totally understand if he did too.

I really do like what Rex has been trying to achieve there, i do. I commend him for it. But at the end of the day, it sounds like the little kids have ruined the market for this game. It will always be held back because , they gotta keep them casuals happy. There has always been an answer for it, but for whatever reason i guess the suits refuse to let them do it. Give us option for game style to play. Then you satisfy both sides. I really wish the suits would just let it happen, but i know they wont.Which is sad.

Either way, appreciate the interview and Rex for doing it. Just a hard spot to be in , in his shoes. Hate that for him.Wish there was a real company that wanted to focus on a sim football game, that could hire him , and he could take his devs that have the same mindset to and show EA it can be profitable.Dreams .....

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by howboutdat

Great interview first off! Its cool of Rex to be open and just tell us the truth about situations.Refeshing even. However , at the same time, when I hear about ( and already knew basically) that the suits basically seem like they dont want realistic football represented in the game as much, it only makes me feel like, theres not much real hope. i mean , we know Rex will fight for what should happen, but how long will he keep fighting them on those aspects until he gets feed up with them ( the suits) like we are? I hope he dont, but i would totally understand if he did too. I really do like what Rex has been trying to achieve there, i do. I commend him for it. But at the end of the day, it sounds like the little kids have ruined the market for this game. It will always be held back because , they gotta keep them casuals happy. There has always been an answer for it, but for whatever reason i guess the suits refuse to let them do it. Give us option for game style to play. Then you satisfy both sides. I really wish the suits would just let it happen, but i know they wont.Which is sad. Either way, appreciate the interview and Rex for doing it. Just a hard spot to be in , in his shoes. Hate that for him.Wish there was a real company that wanted to focus on a sim football game, that could hire him , and he could take his devs that have the same mindset to and show EA it can be profitable.Dreams .....

What gives me hope is his approach, and how he has presented it to his bosses. He said that while they may lose thousands of casuals with how hard the game may be this year, it is better for the long term success of the game and he is okay with it. He also mentioned that he has pushed to show his bosses that it is retention not necessarily acquisition that is the most important aspect.

I think we are in a good position as long as Rex is at the company.

[howboutdat]

Quote: Originally Posted by T4VERTS

What gives me hope is his approach, and how he has presented it to his bosses. He said that while they may lose thousands of casuals with how hard the game may be this year, it is better for the long term success of the game and he is okay with it. He also mentioned that he has pushed to show his bosses that it is retention not necessarily acquisition that is the most important aspect. I think we are in a good position as long as Rex is at the company.

Yeah , i agree , its better off with him there.But it sucks he has to fight them on these things really. After a while , that wheres you down . If he leaves , then i feel like the suits would make sure they hired a "yes man" in his place. Then everything he has been working for , goes out the window.Thats what i dont like.Rex has done well to get done, what they have , in his time there so far, no doubt, and as i said, i commend him for that and for keeping up the fight. i just hope he dont grow tired of that battle anytime soon.

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by howboutdat

Yeah , i agree , its better off with him there.But it sucks he has to fight them on these things really. After a while , that wheres you down . If he leaves , then i feel like the suits would make sure they hired a "yes man" in his place. Then everything he has been working for , goes out the window.Thats what i dont like.Rex has done well to get done, what they have , in his time there so far, no doubt, and as i said, i commend him for that and for keeping up the fight. i just hope he dont grow tired of that battle anytime soon.

No matter where he goes he will always have a boss. If not directly than threw investors/share holders. The bosses at the top will always look at the financial side of things first. I think he understands that, but has a good enough track record they trust him to truly lead the path creatively for the most part.

[OhMrHanky]

Yeah. Many have said this before, but really, they could continue to cater to all crowds with a sim/arcade option. They could really do this RIGHT NOW!! Lol. With the sliders they have, they could crank down the tackling to allow for more crazy special moves. Of course, they already have rookie/pro/etc, so those options can always help 'casuals'. And, I understand the 'suits' deal, too, and it's unfortunate. I have always been of the mind that no matter what u r doing, u should create the best product, period. When u create the best, the people will buy. Now, while I guess we can argue on 'what is the best football game' and get into sim vs arcade all over again, the reality, imo, is that a sports video game should strive to be sim based, first, simply because that's the initial goal. If u want to create a sports 'arcade' game, u create NFL blitz or NBA jam. But, if you're going for authenticity which madden is striving for, u create the most sim based game u can, and if it's too sim, u add an arcade mode. Anyways, that's just my opinion. Glad madden is where it's at. Glad Rex is there. And, I think his vision will provide the suits the best deal, anyways. And, that's the real issue.


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[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by jfsolo

I recognize the reality of things, but him having to lobby hard for realistic football elements is a tough pill to swallow. Having to lobby for gap play, having to sneak in off-ball injuries is crazy to me.

This part is crazy to me as well and was also confusing. It seemed to contradict what he told us just 3 years ago.

Quote:

Rex said one of the main misunderstandings about the dev process, is they do not get the direction from executives. They come in for reviews and review the software. Not one time did one of the execs come in and tell them "I want you to do this." It doesn't come from marketing either, the marketing and PR dept doesn't come in and tell them to do something because it will sell to the masses. It comes from the millions of gamers, community forums, game changer program, etc.... Rex addressed the Madden team being lazy, said it couldn't be further from the truth, team is committed to doing whatever it takes to get it done. Understands they are under scrutiny due to the exclusive license. Realizes it's going to take another year or two to get where they want to go. Wants to encourage people to look at the direction of this franchise since Cam Weber came here. New leadership team, new direction. Rex said it will be another year or two before we get this fully turned around. Look at the gameplay improvements this year and last year, trying to cover legacy issues, double down and focus on gameplay. Cover new features and new innovations like the IE last year. Hope to keep seeing a improvement in Metacritic rating, want to be a 90+ rated title every year.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...68&postcount=2
If that is the case, then why would you have to lobby or "sneak in" core elements of football that make it what it is?

[bucky60]

Quote: Originally Posted by GiantBlue76

This part is crazy to me as well and was also confusing. It seemed to contradict what he told us just 3 years ago. [/b]http://www.operationsports.com/forum...68&postcount=2 If that is the case, then why would you have to lobby or "sneak in" core elements of football that make it what it is?

Rex might have been a bit intimidated earlier in his Madden career and now being more entrenched is feeling more at ease speaking about this.

This may be a reason why some major game developers didn't stay with Madden very long.

[T4VERTS]

Quote: Originally Posted by GiantBlue76

This part is crazy to me as well and was also confusing. It seemed to contradict what he told us just 3 years ago. [/b]http://www.operationsports.com/forum...68&postcount=2 If that is the case, then why would you have to lobby or "sneak in" core elements of football that make it what it is?

Rex has to pitch his plans to his bosses like everyone else. When you are talking about allocating resources it has to be signed off on at some point. I am sure he has meetings where they want to know what is being worked on, progress, etc. If he says he is allocating X development hours to something they want to know what kind of ROI they will get on it. Remember this is a business. Will they tell him specifically to do something, probably not aside from them wanting to ride the e sports wave. Will they question his allocation of resources? Sure, that's what the guys at the top tend to do.