Madden NFL 07 On The Field Interview (gametrailers.com)

[Moostache]

One thing for many people here and in other fan forums to begin realizing and accepting is this :
WE ARE SMALL POTATOES IN THE TOTAL PICTURE.

The hardcore fans of Madden or any other now defunct NFL series have to realize that when they say things like "the developers don't care about what we really want" they are totally incorrect. The developers may care just as much if not more, but those developers cash the checks, they don't write them. And the people who DO write those checks realize this - the "casual" gamer, the ones who play a game for a month or two at most and then move on to another title, makes up 80-90% of the overall gaming market.

If you want to sell 6-7 Million copies of a single game, you spend the majority of your time making sure that people with the attention span of the average tse-tse fly (many casual gamers will fit this description aptly) are the ones who will buy your game no matter what. You throw as many (cheap) bones as you can each year to the hardcores; but the focus is on a mass-market appeal game. The development resources go to what this majority sees and understands - shinier graphics and "useless features", these things are visually distinct from the previous releases, and will always be tops of that list of things to do before releasing a 17th iteration of the same franchise.

Think about it in business terms instead of in jilted-lover/fan terms - we do not have the numebrs to be "important enough" to force wholesale change on the game. Seriously, how many memebrs of the online-Madden community are registered site users? 100,000? 200,000? Combined from all sites? Stack that up against the 5,000,000 + copies of the game sold in 2005 and what percentage of total revenue do the hardcores really represent? Frankly, I am amazed that EA even offers to LISTEN to the hardcore community; to say nothing of the fact that some of the development team passionately fight for things only to be vetoed by forces beyond their control.

Is that fair? Not at all, but my dad told me when I was 4 that life's not fair...Does that excuse EA Sports from not putting the hardocre fans wishlist in the game? Well, when they say things like "the most authentic" or the "most realistic" football available - then no, the economies of scale involved do not excuse them and they ARE hypocritical in that regard.

Is that going to change? Depends on how naive you are....I guess if you are altruistic to the core, and believe that companies should actually do what they say, and be truthful in their marketing and efforts to live up to that marketing, then yes, you could be waiting for that hypocrisy to end and for EA to add the missing touches of realism which many hardcore fans clamour for. However, if your altruism only runs so deep and then realism and pragmatism take over, you will realize it is not about passion or loyalty or desires or wishes - it is about sales and costs and profit margins and raw numbers.

Folks, we are (and always will be) outgunned in that fight. We are fighting on horseback against helicopters here, and we will always be crushed. Raging on about it constantly like a bunch of 4-year olds who don't want their nap won't change it.

To those who would defend their decisions to post repetitively about the shortcomings of the game, and attribute those shortcomings to developer ennui, do us all a favor and translate some of that passion into action and talk with your wallet and not your keyboards....stop buying the games if they don't live up to your expectations! If you do buy them anyway, then take notes on some of your more level headed and sane bretheren here - post intelligently about ways to fix things instead of continually going off like Dennis Miller on another one of his show opening rants. Otherwise, you make it too easy for people to ignore the things of real substance that are on forums like this one.

[sroz39]

^^^

Just did do something about it this afternoon. I cancelled my pre-order on Madden for the 360. I instead will rent both the PS2 version and the 360 version, and decide which I like better. Once I'm positive that either is worth a buy, I will buy it used, so as to do my part to show I'm not pleased with the direction this series is heading.

As recently as yesterday, I was pretty gung-ho about this game. Then something hit me. After watching more and more videos of this game, I'm seeing the same things in Madden that I saw in NCAA a little less than a month ago that made me stop playing the 360 version. Poor collision detection, mario running, way too much 1-on-1 play and just some lacking attention to detail in the gameplay. I'm actually more optimistic about the current gen game then I am about the 360 version.

Am I gonna slam anybody for liking this game and being extremely hyped up as the release date nears? NO WAY! I'll have this game on the same day as the rest of you. I just won't buy it new. I'm trying to make a point, and as corny as it sounds, it will help me sleep better at night knowing that I'm trying to prove a point, as ill-fated an idea as that is.

[PacMan3000]

Quote: Originally Posted by Moostache

One thing for many people here and in other fan forums to begin realizing and accepting is this : WE ARE SMALL POTATOES IN THE TOTAL PICTURE. The hardcore fans of Madden or any other now defunct NFL series have to realize that when they say things like "the developers don't care about what we really want" they are totally incorrect. The developers may care just as much if not more, but those developers cash the checks, they don't write them. And the people who DO write those checks realize this - the "casual" gamer, the ones who play a game for a month or two at most and then move on to another title, makes up 80-90% of the overall gaming market. If you want to sell 6-7 Million copies of a single game, you spend the majority of your time making sure that people with the attention span of the average tse-tse fly (many casual gamers will fit this description aptly) are the ones who will buy your game no matter what. You throw as many (cheap) bones as you can each year to the hardcores; but the focus is on a mass-market appeal game. The development resources go to what this majority sees and understands - shinier graphics and "useless features", these things are visually distinct from the previous releases, and will always be tops of that list of things to do before releasing a 17th iteration of the same franchise. Think about it in business terms instead of in jilted-lover/fan terms - we do not have the numebrs to be "important enough" to force wholesale change on the game. Seriously, how many memebrs of the online-Madden community are registered site users? 100,000? 200,000? Combined from all sites? Stack that up against the 5,000,000 + copies of the game sold in 2005 and what percentage of total revenue do the hardcores really represent? Frankly, I am amazed that EA even offers to LISTEN to the hardcore community; to say nothing of the fact that some of the development team passionately fight for things only to be vetoed by forces beyond their control. Is that fair? Not at all, but my dad told me when I was 4 that life's not fair...Does that excuse EA Sports from not putting the hardocre fans wishlist in the game? Well, when they say things like "the most authentic" or the "most realistic" football available - then no, the economies of scale involved do not excuse them and they ARE hypocritical in that regard. Is that going to change? Depends on how naive you are....I guess if you are altruistic to the core, and believe that companies should actually do what they say, and be truthful in their marketing and efforts to live up to that marketing, then yes, you could be waiting for that hypocrisy to end and for EA to add the missing touches of realism which many hardcore fans clamour for. However, if your altruism only runs so deep and then realism and pragmatism take over, you will realize it is not about passion or loyalty or desires or wishes - it is about sales and costs and profit margins and raw numbers. Folks, we are (and always will be) outgunned in that fight. We are fighting on horseback against helicopters here, and we will always be crushed. Raging on about it constantly like a bunch of 4-year olds who don't want their nap won't change it. To those who would defend their decisions to post repetitively about the shortcomings of the game, and attribute those shortcomings to developer ennui, do us all a favor and translate some of that passion into action and talk with your wallet and not your keyboards....stop buying the games if they don't live up to your expectations! If you do buy them anyway, then take notes on some of your more level headed and sane bretheren here - post intelligently about ways to fix things instead of continually going off like Dennis Miller on another one of his show opening rants. Otherwise, you make it too easy for people to ignore the things of real substance that are on forums like this one.

You are right to an extent. But on the other hand--whether they pander to the hard or soft core gamers--it's absurd to STILL have those "run into each other and we both collapse" tackles in the game. It's ridiculous to have that cannon sound for deep balls.

And frankly, improving aspects of the game doesn't necessarily mean casual gamers can't and won't get into it. And I'm sure a lot of it, like the vision cone, could be made to be optional (whether we are talking TV style prsentation or a deeper, more difficult franchise mode). They simply choose not to address these issues.