Madden's Current Gen Has Not Been a Success

[bukktown]

Quote: Originally Posted by hitstreak13

Sigh- I remember the days of having to choose between gameday, madden, NFL 2k, and blitz. Each game brought on a unique perspective/experience. I highly doubt we will ever see that again. Good analysis by the way.

Amen to that!

[ernie07]

Quote: Originally Posted by Eski33

Nice blog but this whole topic has been beaten to death. You didn't mention anything new that has not been said or written in the past five years. From my standpoint and a longtime gamer (have played every rendition of Madden since its Apple II days) Madden isn't a failure. To gamers, yes, the game has not lived up to a certain level of expectation especially on consoles that are to have more power. From an economic standpoint, people are still buying Madden. If Madden is so bad, how is it making so much money? Simple -- There are people out there who find the game fun. I am on the fence. When the 360 / PS3 era came about, my expectations mirrored everyone else's. I couldn't wait to see what EA would do with more graphical power and with consoles having HDD as a norm, EA was sure to break out all the stops. Instead, what we got was a stripped down game that didn't have nearly the features the PS2 / XBox versions had. Since that time, the Madden series improved little by little each year. Madden 09 and 10 were great games with Madden 10 taking visual leaps over its predecessor. The problem with Madden is that there are people want it to fail that they spend every waking moment looking for bugs, glitches, issues, etc. and blogging, writing in forums and recording videos that go straight to YouTube for all to see. I understand why people do this. They want competition back which is a great thing. In looking at what the NCAA 11 team did, this has to push the ante for the Madden team because NCAA 11, although not perfect, is one of the best console football games to date. It is visually pleasing as well as the online dynasty has to be one of the best multi-player features ever (outside of BAP in NHL). To compare Madden to a game like Backbreaker is almost criminal. First, to say a developer with fewer resources created a revolutionary physics engine is a tad slanted. Keep in mind that the developer of Back Breaker developed the physics engine first THEN creaeted a football game as a way to show it off. They aren't a football game developer who created a great physics engine. Also, your blog makes it seem as if they created this physics engine in one development cycle which isn't the case. NatualMotion was working on that physics engine for years and it took almost as long to release BackBreaker. I have no issues with the physics engine that is currently utilized in Madden and NCAA. Only those that cannot get past the simple fact that these are games and they will never fully emulate reality will continue to be "unhappy" with the state of Madden and other games.

all i want is signature styles like NBA2k11....they do it well with the qb's but no one else. i continue to see animations in madden that have never happen on a football field, its pretty pathetic

[shyvoodoo]

Quote: Originally Posted by bukktown

Amen to that!

Don't forget about NFL fever also was a good game for the XBOX on the early 00s


ben
voodoo

[droopizzle34]

Until EA has competition,someone to push them to innovate,I am afraid Madden will always disappoint us. I truly believe the problem is they have no competition. I miss the days of choice,being able to choose between games. And competition always makes u want to be better,be the best. Madden needs a challenger,and if they had one, i bet it would push this game to new heights.

[unfriendlyghst]

The problem has to be the marketing team. Imho, I believe that the madden franchise is the only game on the planet where marketing comes in and dictates what it is that they think will sell the most gamess, (ie. Gameflow,strat pad). Where as almost everyother dev team for every other game will have a vision and begin to develop it. As the game nears completion the meet with marketing and dictate to them what it is that they think are the most sellable parts of there game. I think the opposite is true for madden, thus the product is marketings vision and not the dev teams. Also let's not forget that the Nfl has a heavy hand as well, removing vicious hit animations and any and all tatoos from players. Those still shots of both teams squareing off at the line are a joke, no tatoos, what is the purpose of that kid friendly move? Claerly not something ian and co.. had in mind.

[buckeye02]

Franchise has been dull and they have completely forgotten about imported draft classes. They have gotten terrible as well. QBs have bad ratings, equipment and player color is randomized. They should allow you to edit your own draft classes like NBA 2k does. Its that simple. Just another area that 2k is killing EA. The allowance of customization. Also record books. 2k has every award winner, record, and champion for you to view and carry on in its association. Madden needs to take notes.

[pietasterp]

Quote: Originally Posted by unfriendlyghst

The problem has to be the marketing team. Imho, I believe that the madden franchise is the only game on the planet where marketing comes in and dictates what it is that they think will sell the most gamess, (ie. Gameflow,strat pad). Where as almost everyother dev team for every other game will have a vision and begin to develop it. As the game nears completion the meet with marketing and dictate to them what it is that they think are the most sellable parts of there game. I think the opposite is true for madden, thus the product is marketings vision and not the dev teams. Also let's not forget that the Nfl has a heavy hand as well, removing vicious hit animations and any and all tatoos from players. Those still shots of both teams squareing off at the line are a joke, no tatoos, what is the purpose of that kid friendly move? Claerly not something ian and co.. had in mind.

I think you might be on to something, although I would extend your argument to beyond just the marketing team (although they are a huge problem). Madden is just a case of too many cooks in the kitchen and corporate groupthink taken to an extreme. The product is so dilluted and over-homogenized for easy consumption by the masses that it no longer has any clear direction or "soul", the way a game does when it's designed from the heart by a sports-loving design team with minimal meddling from outside influences (see: Visual Concepts circa 2001).

The game could be great again, but it probably never will be because it is no longer a game for sports fans, it's a franchise flagship product that exists to promote the NFL and EA in general. Honestly, the comparison is no longer between Madden and NFL2k; the proper foil to Madden is something like the iPhone or Air Jordans...name-recognition consumer products. That's all "Madden" is at this point.

[yount19]

Let's face it; EA only sees the revenue totals as the ultimate goal. With no competitors in the way, they know that they will still make their money with the aid of one of the most lucrative licenses on the planet... the NFL. There is nothing to compare the Madden franchise to anymore. That is the single biggest reason that football video gamers have to revert to comparing the next-gen Madden to NFL 2K5.