Madden NFL 19: The Full Interview With Producer Ben Haumiller

[bucky60]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

A full-fledged weekly recap show with (in a single-player context) dynamically generated highlights from out-of-town games is "basics"? Seriously?

I don't think he demanded a full fledged weekly recap with highlights and called it basic. But we have been missing some basic football elements for a very long time that other team oriented sports video games have done, and using the current hardware.

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

How that feature was built in 2004 doesn't work in 2018 for a litany of reasons, that was literally Ben's entire point. And he's right.

Sure, you can't take a feature as is from a previous gen to the current hardware. But if it could be done on weaker hardware, common sense says it should be very possible on much better (current) hardware.

[tyberious4now]

Be like me lower your expectations and you want be disappointed every year..

Try it it works and it will also save you from a ton of headaches. ..

[GiantBlue76]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

A full-fledged weekly recap show with (in a single-player context) dynamically generated highlights from out-of-town games is "basics"? Seriously? You work in software engineering too, I can't possibly believe you don't understand and appreciate all the technical challenges of something like that, particularly in the modern age of AAA gaming where graphical fidelity is paramount. How that feature was built in 2004 doesn't work in 2018 for a litany reasons, that was literally Ben's entire point. And he's right.

I don't want to argue... But I will answer this part of your response.

Of course I appreciate the technical challenges. They've had 14 years to build a weekly wrap up/halftime show of some kind. Some sort of realistic/immersive half time show. Not only that, but they have had 2 additional console upgrades to work with. You obviously don't play NBA 2k because you'd see that they've been able to do some nifty things to add to the immersion. Even with Basketball where there are a lot more games. Is it perfect? Absolutely not. Is it difficult? Absolutely, but at some point, you need to create something and build on it. You seriously can't tell me that features in software can only be introduced if they've boiled the ocean, right?

Take the extra point from Madden 10 - wasn't perfect, but it was the start of something pretty decent. It was impressive that they were able to do it in one year too. Imagine what that would be now had they built it up? So using this logic, we should have nothing at all because we can't blow it up all at once? I'm all for fleshing out features as much as possible before incorporating them. Something like this that has to do with immersion/presentation will never be fully "done", but it has to have a start. In 14 years, they could have created some very cool things, especially since other games have already done it so we know it's possible.

[Other Guy]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

Only on OS will "we don't want to fake it like other games built in 2004 running on weak hardware did" get twisted into "we don't ever want to do this" or "we aren't capable of doing this". Sheesh. Frankly I thought Ben's response to that question was quite insightful and honest. It's unfortunate that this community doesn't appreciate that.

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

Oh come on, let's be honest with ourselves. No one on this forum would be happy with a weekly wrap-up show without out-of-town highlights, especially single-team franchise users. It is simply not true that anything at all is better than nothing.

Ok, I should have mentioned that I greatly appreciate Ben being so forthright about the situation. He clearly wants to have something in the game, and laid out the reasons why it's a challenge. I love that openness, and kudos to him for that.

In no way did I ever intend to bash the guy for his creativity or abilities. Maybe I am in the minority but, yes, I would love some type of recap feature even if it lacked highlights. Highlighting key matchups, playoff pictures, and scores would go a long way, imo.

[canes21]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

Oh come on, let's be honest with ourselves. No one on this forum would be happy with a weekly wrap-up show without out-of-town highlights, especially single-team franchise users. It is simply not true that anything at all is better than nothing.

We literally just had all of the replies before this say they would be happy if there weren't any highlights. I don't care as much about a fake highlight, I care about the news around the league. Show me the box scores of each game, then show me any key injuries that happened, then move onto any key transactions. Kick up some trade rumors, show what milestones are nearing. As the season progresses you can show races for divisions or the wild card.


Highlights are the last thing I want included in a wrap-up show.

[The Gunslinger]

If EA's logic is fans wanting improved presentation only means wanting live highlights from other games, then they're completely missing the point.

At the very least, EA could improve presentation by re-incorporating stuff that has worked for previous Madden games (e.g. Tony Bruno show, Extra Point show, newspaper headlines, etc.) or other EA Sports titles like NCAA Football (ESPN presentation, score updates from Rece Davis, on-field graphics showing conference standings, Brad Nessler talking about how the outcome of another game is going to affect the outcome of this game), or NCAA Basketball (DUAL ESPN and CBS presentation!).

What made the presentation so great in NFL 2k5 and College Hoops 2k8 wasn't just the highlights from other games, but how both games tried to present authentic weekly wrapup shows. How cool was it to watch an actual Selection Show in College Hoops 2k8 with all the slow buildup and anticipation of Greg Gumbel revealing each team that made into the tournament while Clark Kellogg occasionally chimed into about the matchup or how this was SoandSo University's 3rd tournament appearance. Contrast that to NCAA Basketball 10 in which the "Selection Show" consisted of pressing a button and seeing a list of all the teams that made the tournament.

Over a decade has passed since NFL 2k5 and College Hoops 2k8 and presentation on Madden hasn't improved much since Madden 05 for the PS2.
Fast forward 14 Madden titles and two next gen console systems later and EA thinks this is the best they can do for presentation on Madden 19??

I fail to understand EA's logic...

[frostbyt]

Quote: Originally Posted by scitychamps87

I can't believe a 2k5 style wrap-up show got completely shot down. We don't need the highlights. Just give us pre-made snapshots or Larry Ridley talking about box scores, trades, playoff pictures, and league leaders. ANYTHING. Sent from my XT1650 using Operation Sports mobile app

Yeah like they always do they miss the point of what made the weekly wrapup show so great. The IMMERSION of knowing what else is going on in the league! Ug..

[frostbyt]

Quote: Originally Posted by jmurphy31

Very disappointing to hear his thoughts on a weekly halftime show and even pregame. 1. Not everyone wants to get on the field as soon as possible. If they do hit x ot whatever button to skip it. Or how about talking about the league or game in the loading screens instead of showing me xp goals for my players.

YES! YES! YES! I have always stated why in the world are they taking this time to show XP goals in the loading screens vs showing actual stats for the season. You you can pull data in for what XP is needed you can show us how the QB stats rank up this year or RB or WR or DL, etc.

XP status means nothing to me when I am getting ready to load my game. I looked at all that already in my roster section.