Stealing features.

[Champ24]

The MWS is holding their National Tournament in Miami this weekend and they interviewed a programmer at EA. The programmer stated EA did hire one of the creative directors from Visual Concepts and he helped them on the 2006 version of the game. You can hear it for yourself once they archive the broadcast, it will be listed under "Nationals Round Robin Saturday" coverage.

[jrivera34]

I think Maddens presentation will get a major upgrade once they implement ESPN into their games.

What I think would really be cool as far as the broadcasts go, have Madden do the Monday night games and have the ESPN guys do the rest. It may be hard to push since the game uses Madden's name, but I think it would be nice to hear different guys for different games.

I would also like to see an upgrade in the running game as well as QB's not being able to drop back 20 yards (which is better this year in NCAA IMO, so hopefully Madden will get better as well).

If the best features of both games are combined, we ALL win!

[Nza]

From what I hear, there is a weekly preperation feature that actually requires you to practice in real time (not "on paper" like in ESPN) - I think it suggests certain plays against particular weaknesses in your upcoming opponent's defense. I'm not sure what impact it will have though - it's probably nothing more than a system that suggests which plays to become familiar with (i.e. no affect on ratings or anything).

It would be cool though if, say, you were allowed to choose a few plays each week and after running them so many times in practice, running them in the real game would increase player awareness for that play. Sure, it would endorse gamers to run the same plays over and over again, but if EA are telling the truth this time about their CPU adaptive AI, running the same plays over again may become a redudant strategy.

[Beantown]

I konw NCAA stole espn's "break tackle button mashing feature thingy" where the defend grabs you and whoever hits the button more gets the upper hand, so hopefully they'll transfer that into Madden.

I wouldn't expect presentation to take a big jump until the ESPN deal goes into affect(Madden 2007) and I'm sure they'll use the ESPN deal to full affect because so many people loved that most about the 2K games.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by Longhorn6

I wouldn't expect presentation to take a big jump until the ESPN deal goes into affect(Madden 2007) and I'm sure they'll use the ESPN deal to full affect because so many people loved that most about the 2K games.

That's a misconception. Why not expect improved presentation in Madden now instead of later? Attribute 2K5's presentation to the people that deserve it - the developers themselves. Sure, having Berman giving highlights or the ESPN logo pop up is cool. But it's [whoever's in charge of development at VC and the programmers themselves] who made it what it was. I read a Madden developer interview where they said they worked with the guys at Monday Night Football for advice on camera angles, etc.; working on improving presentation in the game. But it looks like the game will still have the weird between play cutscenes, same commentary, same lack of a halftime, etc. I think NCAA will turn out to be better presentation-wise than Madden, which is saying a lot. Instead of making excuses expect more. Perhaps then they'll step up and deliver. They don't need Berman doing halftime shows to make the presentation better. They could have Joe Nobody doing commentary at halftime, long as the person doesn't completely suck it'd add to the overall atmosphere of the game. Everytime I play NCAA I think how even a half-azz halftime highlight package would add to the overall presentation of the game.

I don't mean to come off as confrontational, but I just don't get this mentality that it's going to take years to implement this or years to implement that. They wanted to be the only game in town, now they are - they need to step up and act like it. I don't want this to come off as an anti-Madden rant, because it isn't. I'm quite impressed with what they do to tweak the current game engine as much as they can. But just like NBA Live and it's totally disproportionate players, at some point somebody has to look at the game and say "we need a new direction". Maybe that's the problem - the direction the game's being taken in. Either way, it's not like we have choice now. So I'm looking for them to step up.

[LSUFan2004]

aren't custom soundtracks mandatory on XBox 360? We could see the ESPN style music options on next gen.

[Rickster101]

I'd like to see them use that Gamecast feature with a few improvements on it 2K5 did a decent job with it and I'd rather use it as opposed to the normal sim for games because it lets you see the game like they use on their site at ESPN its a great feature that somehow has flown under the radar and could find new life if the guys at EA are smart enough to jump on it.

Anything that worked great in 2K5 should be salvaged because for the most part the stuff used was actually fun for some of us gamers who enjoy that stye and presentation.

I think EA had something simular but it wasn't "Gamecast"...that was original and I'll miss it myself it made Franchise mode kinda interesting and in my experience using it the games were fun and those long seasons were worth the time watching and seeing teams other then my own.

Now that they're hooked up with the exclusive deal along with those ESPN deals and rights you'd think they'd take full advantage of whatever features the could get into the game and really show that they're serious about what they've done in setting themselves up for the long haul. (Lenght of the deal)

Holla Back y'all
Rickster101

[countryboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jimplication

This adds nothing to the thread, come on. Enough threads turn into flamewars on their own accord, without instigating and setting up the confrontation. It's discouraging to see quality posts turn into flamewars, ultimately being locked, and the initial post going unanswered. In regards to EA stealing idea, I tend to agree. They can now steal at will, and ideally they will. In the videos I've seen it seems EA is using a "higher" ball camera on throws, much like ESPN did last year. I am not sure how "flexible" EA will allow their music playlists to be, due to them having EA Trax so deeply imbedded in their games. It would be nice to have situational custom music, but I don't think that will be something that EA will come around to including for years, if ever. I imagine they spend a lot of money signing on popular bands to feature in game, and I honestly don't think they want the user to be able to replace them with something better too easily.

I was just kidding