Presentation Needs to Tell the Story of the Game

[RGiles36]

Quote: Originally Posted by ajb3313

They don't need to "get rid of" them, but like most things, they should set it on a toggle. You should be able to turn television presentation on/off. If you have it on, there would be more cut scenes that would show these types of banners, and if you have it off, it wouldn't. In other words: players should never be forced to sit through the extra presentation if they don't want, but there should be a mechanism that makes it so that those people don't have to frantically click buttons to skip these every time they happen. By having a toggle menu for presentation, you can please both the casual and hardcore player.

If there's something disappointing about the presentation this gen, it's has to be the lack of options as you're alluding to. Let's be frank for a second: it's 2013 and you can't toggle on/off instant replays. Seriously. Why is a NBA2K so much more customizable than Madden? If I don't want after basket cuts, I can turn them down or completely off. This is elementary!

Instead, we've gone through an entire generation where Tiburon has decided how you will take in presentation. "Some like presentation, some don't, so let's hit in the middle?" That doesn't make any sense.

On this board and in person, I'm a very reasonable guy. But there is NO excuse for the lack of [presentational and/or general] options in this game, especially when you consider how diverse Madden customers are.

[Big FN Deal]

Quote: Originally Posted by RGiles36

If there's something disappointing about the presentation this gen, it's has to be the lack of options as you're alluding to. Let's be frank for a second: it's 2013 and you can't toggle on/off instant replays. Seriously. Why is a NBA2K so much more customizable than Madden? If I don't want after basket cuts, I can turn them down or completely off. This is elementary! Instead, we've gone through an entire generation where Tiburon has decided how you will take in presentation. "Some like presentation, some don't, so let's hit in the middle?" That doesn't make any sense. On this board and in person, I'm a very reasonable guy. But there is NO excuse for the lack of [presentational and/or general] options in this game, especially when you consider how diverse Madden customers are.

This post right here settles it, you have a Ghost Writer or various people posting on your OS account. The bold pretty much sums up EA Tiburon's entire approach for creating Madden and is what people like myself have been "town crying about" to anyone that will listen, especially any EAGC.

Now that I have the reasonable "Rgiles" at the moment, let me share something with you before that "other guy" comes back. I know you can't make them do anything but the every time you happen to be down at EA Tiburon, please express the bold every chance you get.

[at23steelers]

It comes off as "we know better than you do approach" where they don't give us any options and try to make it what they think is best for them. What they fail to realize is everyone's different. How long did it take to get a few different camera angles to play the game, meanwhile other games have had customizable cameras for the past 5 years. Everything in Madden screams it's our way or the highway type of feel. Sliders are the exception, but even those have a limit to how sim they can become, especially the penalty sliders.

[EAGLESFAN10]

If EA is going to have a CBS type Presentation the they NEED to make it just like CBS from the Intro to the end of the ... to everything in between

NCAA Football is almost their Presentation wise because one they have took advantage of is the ESPN Licence

[TreFacTor]

Fact: EA has the exclusive license

Assumption1: The first priority of Madden should be to expand upon 11 on 11 football and replicate the NFL as close as possible in all aspects up to and including presentation because they also own the ESPN license. Even if they can't match television quality, it should be a reasonable facsimile.

Assumption2: Simulation should take president over arcade gameplay considering there's already an NFL arcade game.

Reality: Madden lacks in presentation and basic football fundamentals. Other than looking good ( all the teams and players)...it really does nothing better than other games even older Madden titles.

Culprit: Making football fun. I don't know about anyone else, but I love football. My team didn't make it, but I still paid attention to the rest of the NFL because I love football. I will watch the Browns play the Cardinals to a 3-3 double overtime tie simply to see things like offensive and defensive adjustments, coaching decisions, the hits, technique, see who my team could use, watching the emotion of the players, the coaches, the despair in fans faces and the joy...football is beautiful to watch even when it's ugly...Making Madden fun and taking out the struggle that football represents is the worst thing to happen to it. The game has no soul.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by TreFacTor

Fact: EA has the exclusive license Assumption1: The first priority of Madden should be to expand upon 11 on 11 football and replicate the NFL as close as possible in all aspects up to and including presentation because they also own the ESPN license. Even if they can't match television quality, it should be a reasonable facsimile. Assumption2: Simulation should take president over arcade gameplay considering there's already an NFL arcade game. Reality: Madden lacks in presentation and basic football fundamentals. Other than looking good ( all the teams and players)...it really does nothing better than other games even older Madden titles. Culprit: Making football fun. I don't know about anyone else, but I love football. My team didn't make it, but I still paid attention to the rest of the NFL because I love football. I will watch the Browns play the Cardinals to a 3-3 double overtime tie simply to see things like offensive and defensive adjustments, coaching decisions, the hits, technique, see who my team could use, watching the emotion of the players, the coaches, the despair in fans faces and the joy...football is beautiful to watch even when it's ugly...Making Madden fun and taking out the struggle that football represents is the worst thing to happen to it. The game has no soul.

Making Madden Fun = increased revenue and happy stock owners.

This is sort of what AJ touched on.

[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by EAGLESFAN10

NCAA Football is almost their Presentation wise because one they have took advantage of is the ESPN Licence

I disagree about NCAA; though the in-game updates are a great idea, I thought that Rece Davis' commentary for those games was very repetitive, disjointed, and robotic. Further, I think that, while the use of licensed properties in their presentation for authenticity and immersion is commendable, the game doesn't consistently use broadcast camera angles for its instant replays, it has a very tired commentary duo of Brad Nessler and Kirk Herbstreit (tired moreso because they appear to lack the programmed logic to tell the story of the game, rather only being able to tell the events as they happen), a ton of unfortunate dead air, and so on.

One other thing that NCAA's presentation does do a decent job of is keep a player informed of exceptional player storylines, whether it be a player earning Heisman consideration, approaching All-American merits, or closing in on school records.

To the topic, the more cues Tiburon can take from real life and some games which are the pinnacle of sports video game presentation - namely NBA 2K and, to a lesser extent, MLB 2K, which I've always thought has had some of the best commentary of any sports game despite the title's other shortcomings - the better.

Tiburon at least has it in mind that they want and need to catch up to their peers in this regard, and I think Madden NFL 13, though obviously not close to the sports-gaming presentation torch-bearer, was a starting point for better things in the future for the series. I think the first iteration of the Nantz - Simms commentary duo is reasonably well-done, notwithstanding Simms' apparent inability to properly read man vs zone coverage, and the musical score in particular is fantastic, consistent, and IMO an underrated component of the experience. There are also actually stat overlays this year; for a while this console cycle, these simply weren't there (small victories!). There obviously needs to be plenty more done, however, and RGiles to this point has done a tremendous job of putting forth some overlay and stat-tracking ideas for the future.

[at23steelers]

While I disagree about you and RG about other aspects of the game, you guys hit the nail on the head with presentation! I feel confident our thoughts will be heard towards presentation / commentary improving. It made strides (besides worse replays) but there is still so much that needs to be done.