Why are people so sensitive and personally invested?

[Tyrant8RDFL]

Quote: Originally Posted by ryan36

Ok, every year I want to love Madden. I enjoyed 10 more than 11 for whatever reason- even though I will concede that most think 11 is a superior title. Before that, I played last gen. I'm pretty excited for M12 I understand there's only one choice for the NFL. I understand that people think there was a better title over half a decade ago. I want to love every game I play, and am disappointed when I don't. But my question is, why do people take Madden so seriously??/!!! Over the years, this has been the most heated forum- many posts sounding like someone insulted your mom or wife or something. In the end it's just a video game, right? And I spend A LOT of time playing video games... so what do you attribute it's "hot button " game status to? Please, be civil... and try to go deeper than "EA is corrupt and screwed gamers with the exclusive, etc." Think along the lines of "What made this game a cultural icon to begin with... and when did it happen?"

Speaking for myself, and maybe others might feel as I do. Madden to me was more than a game in terms of entertainment.

madden back in the days was the game that got all the homies together, and have a great tournament. So much pride was riding on each match. Everyone swears they are the best of their group, or neighborhood.

For us back then Madden did a lot for us in terms of bonding, being competitve, and bragging who is the best.

Madden was getting better and better. Then next gen came and Madden got worst and worst. They destroyed what we built when Madden was fun. No longer tournaments are being played. No longer get togethers are happeneing. All of the fun things that was done in the past with Madden was gone when next gen Madden came to life.

I for one was very upset about this, and tore Madden up every chance I had, and in this very forum. Some in here know this.

I just think in the end Football has a very strong following, and a very strong love from it's fans. Madden once help capture that in our homes with the video game, and then lost it.

That is what had me so upset, but I really feel and hope Madden 12 will change that, and bring back those days.

[cullen2k1]

Madden is a part of pop culture. You go into the barber shop and people are playing Madden and betting money on it. They made a reality show about people who play Madden at a high level. How many games have Gamestop opening at midnight because of the huge demand? Some people have played every Madden for the past 20 years. That's a lot of time which is a huge investment wouldn't you say? I think that alone would answer your question.

[Pringles]

i think it has to do with since the next gen came out they as a company had no direction on where they would be instead they re hire new people with vision that never comes to a head instead they rehire this is the first year we seen them as a company have a larger budget due to the nfl giving them a yr free and as a result we are seing the best madden to date on display so that tells you the anser to this problem is the developers are asked to do more than the dollar will cover the problem is the suits not giving them the right amount of funds to get the product where we as consumers thinks it should be every year.

[Skyboxer]

Well for me:
Only one choice, The arrogance of some of the EA staff. (One in particular). The, for years, the devs telling us what we wanted and not listening to our suggestions. The constant adding of 'features' that were not done for any reason other than to try and hide a flaw, instead of fixing the flaw.
These are the main reasons I stopped listening to the hype and let the game speak for itself.
I for one could care less about the exclusives IF EA had actually improved the game. I'll never change my stance that if there was another NFL game Madden would be way further along than it is.

So the frustration of getting the same flawed game year after year just leads to negativity.
Of course I realize it's just a video game so it's not an end of the world event each year but rather I let the $ I spend speak for me.
Give me a game I like and show me you're trying to improve and I'll be supportive.
I think too many people have gotten so used to the mediocrity that any bit of improvement, whether it was something that should have been there already or taken out and re-added, is touted as some great upgrade.

I like what I'm seeing so far in 12 but I still want to see what They have planned for online.

[sniperhare]

Quote: Originally Posted by cullen2k1

You go into the barber shop and people are playing Madden and betting money on it.

Man, my Supercuts doesn't even have a TV.

[RedZoneD25]

The "cultural icon" aspect was EA-created, IMO. All the hype teasers, making the cover announcement coincide with the NFL Draft, allowing fans to help rate rookies, cover vote tournament...Also, I feel it became an "icon" back in the early-mid 2000s, when it was arguably the best sports game on the market. What we have today is a brand that is still trying to feed off of that hype, and a lot of people have turned the opposite cheek because they don't feel the same.

For me, I have a love/hate relationship with Madden. Every year I always get excited for August...Last year, for the first time, I wasn't excited. I still went to a midnight release, but that's to keep my streak alive. For the first time since I had started playing Madden, I knew going in that it wouldn't be what I had hoped, and that really made the "stock" of the game drop for me. Madden 11 is the first Madden I've owned that I have traded in BEFORE the new game came out, and it was simply because I felt they didn't care. After two years of playing essentially the same game, I had given up on my trust in ANYONE at Tiburon getting an NFL game that met my standards. Luckily, I quickly came back to Fantasyland after the Franchise Mode blog, which is where 95% of the people who know me know that is where I spend nearly every minute of my free time.

I think the personal aspect comes from a lot of things. I feel like some people feel like they are forced to buy Madden, as you said. I think some people are just cynical and refuse to like any product that isn't called (you know what game I'm talking about), which you also said...At the same time, there are those who can discuss things without a personal tone or agenda versus a company they may not like. I think another part you didn't discuss could be the sense of entitlement people have because of developer interaction on these boards. I don't think for one second that the developers "need" our help when creating games. They stop in because they care about the fans and want to know about any little things that could improve a users experience. We are absolutely 100% lucky to even have the opportunity to have direct contact with the people who decide our late-summer enjoyment.

Also, it seems everybody has a six-pack on the internet. Majority of the negative people would not have the will inside them to talk to a developer in person about it, because a lot of people who complain about the game don't know what they would do to fix it, they just know that it's not good enough for them at the current moment. Liken it to a three year old who won't eat his vegetables, but doesn't know what he wants in place of it...he just knows green beans are not an option.

Unfortunately, a lot of the buzz is also created by these negative reactions, which brings wars over who is right, which makes Madden a hot topic.

I don't want to come off as a guy who doesn't enjoy Madden, as I absolutely love the series as a whole. I do wish it was geared more towards the people who already know the series inside and out as opposed to newcomers (and it seems they have been working on that as well), but at the same time you can't increase sales without drawing in new buyers.

In general, I'm so personally invested in Madden because I love football. I've played every football game, be it college, pro, arena, anything I can find. Now that it is the only pro option I have on a yearly basis, I find myself desiring more and more to make up for that.

Just my take.

[Gotmadskillzson]

I think it really depends on your age and exactly how long you been playing the series. For those of us that are in our 30s and beyond, we grew up playing Madden.

Madden really was the 1st sports video game. I remember growing up everytime there was a family BBQ or social gathering, all the males would pile up in the basement or the bedroom playing Madden until the food got done.

Then after you ate and socialized for a tad bit, you went back to playing Madden until it was time to go home. Hell I remember going to barbershops and the barbers would be talking about Madden.

Funcoland......which is now called Game Stop, use to have Madden tournaments every August just to win a copy of the new Madden on release day.

Granted you have those who go over board with their frustrations. However I think most of the frustration comes from looking at other sports games and seeing how they made strides in realism and you left wondering well how come Madden and NCAA can't do the same thing.

And when the 360 and PS3 1st came out, I think most people expected a lot more realsm out of sports games in general considering how powerful these systems are.

We all see the big strides MLB The Show, FIFA, NBA 2K and NHL series have made over the past 3 years. But then Madden and NCAA series have always lagged way behind.

This year Madden 12 seems to have finally made a huge stride forward...NCAA 12 not so much.

But then at the end of the day those 2 games are still behind the other sports games.

[TDKing]

Add up all the money everyone has spent on Madden games over the years and here we are in 2011 still asking for the same crap year after year after year... they add things, take them away, then add again ,tells us one thing and give us something else, unfinsihed modes, broken features.... I mean I can go on and on and on... yet every year we hand them 60 bucks and hope we will get what we want the next year. lm at the point now (actually started last year) I can't even stand to hear them speak in the interviews any longer. Its the same bull over and over. IMO of course. We have invested years and a bunch of $$$$ in Madden.