THE Problem With 09...

[AlexBrady]

Quote: Originally Posted by GTheorenHobbes

Me, too.

Ditto for me as well.

[datruth]

Quote: Originally Posted by CowherPower

He never said presentation was more important than gameplay. The "eye candy" as you like to call it....(which is missing) is believe it or not a BIG part of NFL football. This is a company that has "all access" to anything and everything regarding the NFL,and yet year in and year out SOMETHING is always missing. I can guarantee you....if this game had kick-a$$ NFL style atmosphere and presentation,the complaints about gameplay would be about 1/2 of what it is now. Is this meaning that the gameplay is good?...no,(imo) it's average at best (again,imo). Bottom line.....this game is still a LONG way from becoming the NFL "sim" it claims to be. It's been 20yrs....what makes anyone think that the ship will be "righted" anytime soon?

The point I was trying to make is that they can't even get realistic, basic Football gameplay right. Fatigue is non-existent, (only) offensive players can move in two speeds, (run and sprint) 190 pound QBs can truck 300 pound DT, WR and DB do spinning 360's when trying to catch the ball down field, HB run out of bounds and back in to catch the ball, playing man to man D is the #1 way to guarantee Every receiver will be wide open.....etc....etc....etc

Your telling me that commentators and stat overlays are more important than these things?

[FootballDetails]

Quote: Originally Posted by CowherPower

This is a company that has "all access" to anything and everything regarding the NFL,and yet year in and year out SOMETHING is always missing.

Yep. This idea that the NFL exclusivity agreement was going to take access to a new level is downright farcical. How has the "access" made the game better?

I enjoy the gameplay in Madden 09, but the overall experience is still lacking. EA consistently underachieves, and that's the problem.

NFL 2K5 went beyond what people were expecting back in 2004. It was amazing. I thought, "If it's this good now, imagine what NFL 2K6 is going to be like! It's just going to keep getting better!"

Except it didn't.

[Kramer5150]

Quote: Originally Posted by datruth

The point I was trying to make is that they can't even get realistic, basic Football gameplay right. Fatigue is non-existent, (only) offensive players can move in two speeds, (run and sprint) 190 pound QBs can truck 300 pound DT, WR and DB do spinning 360's when trying to catch the ball down field, HB run out of bounds and back in to catch the ball, playing man to man D is the #1 way to guarantee Every receiver will be wide open.....etc....etc....etc Your telling me that commentators and stat overlays are more important than these things?

Nobody is arguing what you are pointing out (everybody knows these issues)
But,like I was saying...if this game had the atmosphere and presentation of an NFL football game,the complaints would be minimized.

IMO,this game has a LONG way to go (gameplay,atmosphere and presentation) in becoming the "sim" it claims to be.

Like I said earlier.....for a company having "access" to everything NFL,this is ridiculous. Hell...they can't even get the uni's correct.

[ausar72]

I agree with the OP on this one. This is and always has been the problem with EA/Tiburon/Madden games.

Being the flagship (read: exclusive) football video game, they are severely lacking when you compare them, presentation and atmosphere-wise with the other sports video game industry leaders (NBA 2K and MLB: The Show). One of the main things that you look at to judge and compare these games is the level of presentation and atmosphere, the little things, that the game adds to help take the game over the top.

Madden, has the technical, purely graphic, aspect down. It literally is THE best looking video football game to date. BUT, where EA/Tiburon, drops the ball year after year is with how the game displays itself after the whistle blows the play dead. What you visually see on the game is NOTHING like what you see on Sundays. They seem unable to implement any type of personality to the players, coaches, refs (LOL!), the crowd and of course the commentators. The PACING of a Sunday NFL game is not there at all.

Gameplay quickly devolves into the mundane lather/rinse/repeat cycle. It's the SAME routine after every single play. No wonder it so easy to get bored with the game. When you go from playing the other two flagship sports titles (NBA 2k/The Show), back to playing Madden, it just doesn't compare, in fact, it makes Madden seem worse.

I'm not sure what they can do at this point to fix this, though,, short of buying Take Two and absorbing their developers/production team. But the scary part about that happening is that I'm not too confident that they would even use those teams properly, if at all.

[Kramer5150]

Quote: Originally Posted by ausar72

I agree with the OP on this one. This is and always has been the problem with EA/Tiburon/Madden games. Being the flagship (read: exclusive) football video game, they are severely lacking when you compare them, presentation and atmosphere-wise with the other sports video game industry leaders (NBA 2K and MLB: The Show). One of the main things that you look at to judge and compare these games is the level of presentation and atmosphere, the little things, that the game adds to help take the game over the top. Madden, has the technical, purely graphic, aspect down. It literally is THE best looking video football game to date. BUT, where EA/Tiburon, drops the ball year after year is with how the game displays itself after the whistle blows the play dead. What you visually see on the game is NOTHING like what you see on Sundays. They seem unable to implement any type of personality to the players, coaches, refs (LOL!), the crowd and of course the commentators. The PACING of a Sunday NFL game is not there at all. Gameplay quickly devolves into the mundane lather/rinse/repeat cycle. It's the SAME routine after every single play. No wonder it so easy to get bored with the game. When you go from playing the other two flagship sports titles (NBA 2k/The Show), back to playing Madden, it just doesn't compare, in fact, it makes Madden seem worse. I'm not sure what they can do at this point to fix this, though,, short of buying Take Two and absorbing their developers/production team. But the scary part about that happening is that I'm not too confident that they would even use those teams properly, if at all.

Excellent post