What does the NBA Elite 11 postponement mean for Madden?

[davjaffe]

Quote: Originally Posted by adembroski

Does a game being stale mean necessarily it can't be made unstale without rebuilding from scratch? There is nothing about Madden that is locked in stone that can't be changed. I think the modular system replacement approach makes much more sense than rebuilding from the ground up.

I respect your opinion as a "VIP" member of the Madden community, and, in general, I agree with what you have to say. I think that what they accomplished this past year shows promise for the "rolling upgrade" approach. However, to use a bit of a stretched (also, a bit strange) metaphor, Madden 11 is kind of like your favorite pair of boxer shorts: you like them because they're familiar and comfortable. and you've broken them in. But after a while, they start to wear thin and become threadbare. And at some point you have to say, "Hey, I've sewn these things up enough times, and I can't sew them any more. It's time for a new pair of underwear."

[miaturne]

This has absolutely no effect. NBA Live faces stiff COMPETITION from the NBA 2K series and that's just a fact (regardless of which game is objectively better: that's not the point). Madden, on the other hand, simply has to do the absolute minimal amount of work to make their game appear "new" annually, since there is no competitor to keep them honest.

[Rocky]

This is a better question, imo. Would accept Madden 11 getting delayed to ensure a better franchise mode, much better gameplay tuning (like adding defense), and better presentation/audio?

I think asking $60 dollars for Madden 11 in its current state is unacceptable for what that game was.

[Segagendude]

Nothing. EA believes Madden isn't "broken" or "unfinished". Patches will correct whatever bugs are found.

Sounds like Elite was pretty unfinished,to the point where no amount of patches would fix, and the devs realized this and decided to delay the release till 2011.

Besides, NBA 2k11 will fill the BB gap for fans till then, even though it's EA's competition. What other NFL game will do the same? Oh, right...........

[marktg30]

Why would they change anything in Madden? The sales for that game are fine because people have no backbone to just say no to buying the game brand new.

NBA Live (Elite) has been terrible for years and they finally realized that no one would buy the game.

[LiquorLogic]

Absolutely nothing, NBA Elite has 2k basketball to worry about. EA knew they couldn't release Elite in the condition that is was in because everybody would simply purchase 2k11. That's the beauty of competition; I'd love that dynamic in football games, but we'll have to wait three more years, or longer, for that to happen.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by Rocky

This is a better question, imo. Would accept Madden 11 getting delayed to ensure a better franchise mode, much better gameplay tuning (like adding defense), and better presentation/audio? I think asking $60 dollars for Madden 11 in its current state is unacceptable for what that game was.

Sure, but it's not possible with the license. The NFL mandates a yearly release. And if 11 is delayed, what about 12?

Would that be a shorter cycle?

[Lieutenant Dan]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Sure, but it's not possible with the license. The NFL mandates a yearly release. And if 11 is delayed, what about 12? Would that be a shorter cycle?

Roadman is wise.

EA has to release a new game of Madden each year, so the rolling/modular upgrade system is the only way for now. I don't know that I'd want to try a total scrap/rebuild product with barely a year's dev time. I don't think EA has the resources to start building from the ground up for Madden 13 (let's say) in the background while developing Madden 12 concurrently, in an effort to deliver Madden 13 as 'all new'.