What EA Needs To Do To Redeem the Madden Franchise.

[Briankbl]

I strongly believe that if EA ever plans on making the fans happy by overhauling their engine and animations, taking advantage of the ESPN License, and building a true game play simulation of football, EA NEEDS to skip a year of Madden. That's right, EA needs to make the next Madden within a two-year cycle.

"How will this help when they would be releasing a new game in two years anyway?" you ask??? EA puts out a new Madden every year with each installment adding a few new tweaks and additions, some of which work, many of which are broken. When their 1 year deadline comes up, they have to tie things off and move on.

When they pick up work on the next game, they are too busy fixing things from the previous installment to really add new content to the game. A two-year development cycle is what Madden needs more than anything. This would give the devs so much more time to work out all the kinks in the Madden tech, throw in all those new animations that Madden so desperately needs and FINALLY port over all the modes previous Madden's have had - a proper Owner mode, Create-A-Play/Playbook, Create-A-Situation, and maybe even put some much needed work into SuperStar mode...

Most non-sports games have a 2 year or more dev cycle. If Madden is to be fixed and returned to it's former glory, they need to take the time to actually put out a quality product.

When I play NFL 2K5 or APF 2K8, the animations really do change the way you feel while playing a football game. Look at the QB dropback, WR going "in motion" at the line, the Gang Tackles where one player wraps up the ball carrier giving time for another player to come in and help, and depending on where that player comes into hit, completely changes the way the ball carrier falls and the animation of the gang tackle. When I see the Gang Tackle in Madden, I immediately think "Mini-Game" and "Gimmick" instead of what I should be seeing/thinking..."Game Play Mechanic".

Sorry for the long post. I just really REALLY want Madden to be great again. But the last 5 years have really demorilized me, as well as many others. And it's funny...back in Madden's glory days, I remember everyone bashing 2K5 and Madden fanboys saying how arcadey and unrealistic it was. Now many Madden fans are FINALLY realizing either how brainwashed they were by EA or how blind they were to how great NFL 2K5 really was.

I just want to end with this - I bought into the hype of Madden every year. I always tell myself, "NO! IT'S A TRAP!" until I see the new trailer for Madden, then I just can't wait for the game because all the new features look sooo cool. Then the game comes out and it is so not what it was advertised as, lol.

Folks, just remember this - Madden 09 - 85 "all-new" features. And look at how great that game turned out... Never again will I fall for Madden's advertising...never ever ever...

[green94]

Quote: Originally Posted by Briankbl

A two-year development cycle is what Madden needs more than anything.

This will "never ever ever" happen.

[marktg30]

IBTL

[Briankbl]

***NOTE TO MODS***

Quote: Originally Posted by Millennium

RULES - No 2k vs Madden wars. You can be constructive with your criticism, even compare a feature from one game to another to make a point. But if you turn it into a flame or bash war

***The following views contain constructive criticism, thoughts and opinions. There is no malicious intent here-in. If someone wants to start a flame war, do so elsewhere. This thread is for constructive ideas and non-bias discussion. Thank you.***

Quote: Originally Posted by polamalu82

I'm with you man. All I care about is getting a great football game. I could care less if Disney makes the game. I just want a quality game.

The fact remains - this is NOT a Disney game. This is an EA Sports games. E. A. Sports.

Like a previous poster said, I don't believe there is a bias in the minds of most 2K fans against Madden. Many of us GREW UP playing Madden! For years, EA Sports was the be all, end all, sports video game brand. That is who you went to for all of your quality sports gaming needs! I remember when NBA Live '99 came out, featuring player facial expressions/attitudes. It was so amazing to see a PlayStation 1 game with that much real-time facial detail. It gave the game a life of it's own.

This was EA Sports. Realistic sports video gaming. Innovation. Fun!

Madden fans are where all the hostility brews. The only thing I can think of is maybe the Maddenites felt threatened by the new game in town, 2K Football. But then again, there are some Madden fans that are so damn loyal to the EA Sports brand that even if they were given a copy of NFL 2K for free, they would have never even given it a shot.

I was the exception, along with many others. I was bored to death on night, went out and rented NFL 2K2 for the PS2. Popped it in and was pleasantly surprised. I mean, the passing game sucked and Franchise was no where near as deep as Madden...but it had a sick running game, as well as amazing commentary. The game felt so different from what I was used to, but apart of me felt it was just right.

As each installment of both games came along, NFL 2K kept gaining separation from Madden, until finally NFL 2K hit everything right. It had it all. Great running game, passing game, defensive play. Franchise with in-depth contract signings, realistic Draft, SportCenter every week, Pre/Post-Draft Shows, Half Time/Post Game Shows with actual game highlights, week to week Preparation, and a realistic depth chart. Coaches and players showed real emotions between plays. Seeing a coach hurl a red flag onto the field in disgust at the referee's decision never got old. Animations and presentation to die for. And even though The Crib gets ripped on all the time, at least it was a fun way of unlocking things.

But the one key feature NFL 2K5 introduced was the VIP system, which now exists in most 2K Sports games still.

The leaps in innovation 2K took over Madden are truly what sets them apart, even to this very day.

Let me end this long *** post with this...because it basically sums up my point...

Quote: Originally Posted by TheWatcher

I don't think it's a case of bias at all. I think many people who became 2K fans "grew up" playing Madden. But at some point Madden stopped growing with us and 2K gave us what we were looking for. Madden has yet to take it back and fill the void. The other thing is, if people continue to ask a developer to reach the level of a game made 5 years ago on an inferior system, it's nothing more than an indication that the current developer has failed to reach excellence that would make this no longer an issue. For example, I loved Double Dribble and if you'd asked me what the best B-Ball game was for years I would've said Double Dribble. But better games came out eventually that made me forget about it because they played better and gave me more things than Double Dribble did, and I'm sure many others had the same experience. This hasn't happened with Madden. We've instead gotten less. So, the bar is where it is because the current developer has not surpassed it in the eyes of the many who hold that opinion.

[TDogg09]

They already said the 2 year cycle is not going to happen

[Derrville]

Quote: Originally Posted by TDogg09

They already said the 2 year cycle is not going to happen

Ya NFL wont let em.

[Boucher]

After hours of researching i have realized that we get one of these threads every 1.7 weeks

[roll2tide]

didn't we read this in another thread as a reply already? dude, seriously, it is NEVER going to happen. get over it. The NFL won't allow it, the bean counters at EA won't allow it. Move on.