Are there definitive answers to these questions?

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by KCsFinest5

The vibe of this thread is telling me to walk away. *hand-washing motion*

Yup.. The direction and intent of this thread, along with the usual suspects showing up, screams "Eject".

Quote: Originally Posted by mrprice33

Developers started receiving 360 dev kits around march or April before release, IIRC. Madden went gold in early October for the November launch. That's about 6 months to do mostly brand new code, new hd art, etc. It's not a lot of time. I think it was a mistake to release 06 at all, and I do feel like they should have built for 07 instead of shoving 06 out of the door and being behind for 07 (the two games released within 9 months of each other). If they instead took 16+ months to develop 07, I think we'd be in much better shape. Hopefully they've learned their lesson.

Agreed. Rushing to get Madden 06 out the door for launch day was a huge mistake and led them down the wrong path. I don't have a problem with them rebuilding the game, as I freakin' hated previous gen Madden, but unfortunately their alternate path was no better if not worse.

That being said, starting with 09 I like the direction the game was headed, it's just franchise mode was so bland, it failed to keep my attention. 12 appears to be more up my alley, but we'll have to see once it drops this weekend.

[bucky60]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrprice33

Developers started receiving 360 dev kits around march or April before release, IIRC. Madden went gold in early October for the November launch. That's about 6 months to do mostly brand new code, new hd art, etc. It's not a lot of time. I think it was a mistake to release 06 at all, and I do feel like they should have built for 07 instead of shoving 06 out of the door and being behind for 07 (the two games released within 9 months of each other). If they instead took 16+ months to develop 07, I think we'd be in much better shape. Hopefully they've learned their lesson.

Why not port the PS2/XBOX over to the new Hardware with some added features. I believe it was a bad decision on there part for Video Gamer's. But having the exclusive license, it wasn't a bad business decision. It gives them the opportunity to reintroduce already existing features. Keeps people buying.

[mrprice33]

Quote: Originally Posted by bucky60

Why not port the PS2/XBOX over to the new Hardware with some added features. I believe it was a bad decision on there part for Video Gamer's. But having the exclusive license, it wasn't a bad business decision. It gives them the opportunity to reintroduce already existing features. Keeps people buying.

Hey look, it's a conversation we've already had! Isn't it exciting?!

I wonder if people would have been as smitten with fight night on 360 if it just looked like the xbox/ps2 version.

[bucky60]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

Yup.. The direction and intent of this thread, along with the usual suspects showing up, screams "Eject".

No comment, except how ironic this is.

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

Agreed. Rushing to get Madden 06 out the door for launch day was a huge mistake and led them down the wrong path

Agree

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

I don't have a problem with them rebuilding the game, as I freakin' hated previous gen Madden, but unfortunately their alternate path was no better if not worse.

I don't have a problem with it either, if they don't completely strip out all the robust features in order to do it.

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

That being said, starting with 09 I like the direction the game was headed, it's just franchise mode was so bland, it failed to keep my attention. 12 appears to be more up my alley, but we'll have to see once it drops this weekend.

I haven't had a this gen madden because the game had been missing to many things that previous versions had. I'm definitely getting 12.

[kjjnesb]

Learning the next gen consoles especially the PS3 which was running at 30 fps for a while is a huge factor as to why Madden is lacking now. I think the biggest thing though is the exclusive NFL license is probably costing EA a arm and a leg and that weighs on the development cost which is a shame considering this 360 and Ps3 development is already expensive as hell.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by bucky60

No comment, except how ironic this is. Agree

Why? I have no agenda, and merely shoot for some level of objectivity. Those that don't know who they are.

Quote: Originally Posted by bucky60

I don't have a problem with it either, if they don't completely strip out all the robust features in order to do it. .

What robust features? Maybe it's because I really didn't enjoy the previous gen Madden, but robust features is not what comes to mind when thinking of those games.

[Big FN Deal]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrprice33

Developers started receiving 360 dev kits around march or April before release, IIRC. Madden went gold in early October for the November launch. That's about 6 months to do mostly brand new code, new hd art, etc. It's not a lot of time. I think it was a mistake to release 06 at all, and I do feel like they should have built for 07 instead of shoving 06 out of the door and being behind for 07 (the two games released within 9 months of each other). If they instead took 16+ months to develop 07, I think we'd be in much better shape. Hopefully they've learned their lesson.

Ok, I will try to word my question differently for, hopefully, better clarification.

If this reasoning about the "kit" timing causing next-gen Madden to have less features and being behind where most admit it should/could be, is true, shouldn't next-gen Madden have been 6 months to a year behind, not 3-6 years?

Going back and reading about previous next-gen Maddens, it seems very likely, a simpler, gimmicky Madden, to attract casuals while staying core to certain Maddenism, like running straight backwards with the QB, for long time Madden consumers, was by design.

It seems to me, if what some are saying was true, Madden 08 should have been the fruition of this "rebuilt next-gen Madden" some allege EA intended Madden 06 to be, if not for the late kits.

I have also often seen it stated that it's Ortiz's fault and when Ian was promoted, things began to turn around. I have stated myself that I didn't believe Ortiz was trying to make a sim game and I have nothing personal against Ian but I don't understand how it's supposed to be Ortiz's fault when he was heading the team but the "suits" fault when Ian has the job.

I personally choose to believe the day EA "invested" all that capital into the exclusive license bundle pack, was the day the "suits" began to dictate what direction Madden would go.

It took around 6 years but there finally seems to be a "suit" in charge of EA football, that believes simulation and authenticity makes for both a good football game and good business. Best news I have heard about Madden this entire generation of consoles.

[spankdatazz22]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrprice33

Hey look, it's a conversation we've already had! Isn't it exciting?! I wonder if people would have been as smitten with fight night on 360 if it just looked like the xbox/ps2 version.

Actually a few Tiburon devs have admitted it would've been better to take the route The Show and NBA2K took in putting in a lot of the foundation late last gen and porting over/improving once they made the next gen jump. While the first Fight Night had people buzzing w/the graphics, overall it was a pretty shallow offering.

I remember when we were discussing why Madden wasn't making more significant improvements during the 04-06 years, people were theorizing it was because they were preparing for next gen. In retrospect I guess they weren't. People forget, but last gen many were complaining the engine Madden was using last gen was dated and couldn't be changed enough to account for improved player interaction, presentation aspects, etc. For the most part a lot of that first wave of next gen games struggled. But across the board all the initial EA Sports games were poor compared to their previous gen offerings. It took several years for FIFA, Live, NHL, etc. to hit their stride and they apparently weren't rushed.