Madden 12 vs. 13 (hear me out)

[Trackball]

Okay, the first thing you should know is that I have not owned a Madden game since Madden 2004, when Michael Vick was on the cover. Specifically, the GameCube version, since I didn't have a PS2 at the time--and yes, I did have to shell out the money for a better memory card.

Anyway, maybe it's just nostalgia talking, but I had a LOT of fun with that game. Getting to build a new stadium in the then-new Owner Mode? Setting food prices? Putting cup holders in the seats? Awesome!

I think part of the reason I liked it so much was because of something in real life: the length of the schedule. You can conceivably play all 16 games in a season, unlike 82 NBA games or 162 MLB games, by the time the new iteration of the series is out. The sports are awesome, mind (basketball is my actual sport of choice), but when you sim games, you don't play as well as when you actually play them with your controller, and sometimes lose games you should have won.

A shame I couldn't have the Football 101 feature from Madden 2003 (which I also had), which taught football newcomers (like I was at the time) the basics of what makes a football formation and play work. It was through that feature that I learned that the shotgun formation was almost exclusively a passing formation, for instance. I'm not a newbie anymore, but that was still a nice feature--training modes like that are important to me.

However, around this time, my game budget took a nose dive, and I was out of the Madden series for a while. And somehow, I missed out on the chance to get ESPN NFL 2K5, the last real competitor before EA got the exclusive license.

Since then, however, after getting another job, I got into the NCAA football games, and absolutely adored them. I personally found recruiting to be a lot more fun than looking for free agents and negotiating contracts in the pro game. Success is rewarded--the better you play, the better you recruit, and the better you recruit, the better you play. But recently, I've realized that that means that being a pro GM is that much harder, and therefore those that do it WELL deserve a lot more respect. After all, they have all these extra barriers to work around, like the salary cap.

Well, anyway, back on-topic.

Having not played this franchise since the 2004 edition, I understand that there is quite a difference between Madden 12 and Madden 13. For one, 13 has those Connected Careers--and that's what worries me. You see, no matter what I've done, for well over a year now, I have been utterly unable to connect to EA servers with NHL 12 and 13, or NCAA Football 12 (thus no Teambuilder! Argh!) on my PS3. Not even downloading that accursed Origin thing to my PC helped me.

Plus, given the SimCity debacle, I fear having to be connected all the dang time just to play a game. Sometimes I just want to be alone! I don't want anyone else bombarding me with messages while I play!

Which is why I turn to you. Keeping in mind that I don't care AT ALL about online components, is there a big enough difference between Madden 12 and 13 to justify me purchasing 13? Yes, I have read the OS reviews of both games, but I'd like your opinions, just to be sure.

(One last note: I hate that you can't do a fantasy draft in Madden 13. Seriously, WHY? I love that feature in pro sports games...at least it has legendary players and coaches, which I admit having a soft spot for.)

[CM Hooe]

Foremost, fantasy draft was added into Madden NFL 13 with a post-release title update, so if you can download PS3 title updates and patches you may rest easy to that end.

I enjoyed Madden NFL 12 when it was relevant, and I continue to enjoy Madden NFL 13. I also had NCAA Football 13 before playing Madden this year. For me, the addition of real-time physics has made a huge difference on how much I enjoy the game, as I literally have not touched NCAA 13 since Madden was released last August (neither Madden 12 nor NCAA 13 have the Infinity Engine, which adds real-time physics to ball-carrier collisions with other players). To me Madden 13 feels significantly more organic and unpredictable with this addition. I also enjoy the reworked lead passing controls of Madden 13, and the Madden 13 commentary team of Jim Nantz and Phil Simms is implemented much better than Gus Johnson and Cris Collinsworth of Madden 12.

With regard to the online nature of Connected Careers mode - CCM can be played offline with no (intended) loss in functionality; you'll still play as a player or a coach, still work through multiple seasons, the draft, free agency, etc. etc. The one thing I would be immediately concerned with is that I am aware there were bugs in the mode which were fixed differently for the online and offline CCM modes, and I don't know for a fact if the two are synced up. That is, offline CCM may still have bugs in it which were definitely fixed for online play, one of which involves the salary cap and cripples the mode if said bug manifests itself in your game save. I do not know for certain whether the bugs are still present offline, however; I'm simply being cautious here.

If you can't play online and career modes are important to you, it may be worthwhile to stick with Madden 12, understanding that your user experience will change with the next Madden game you purchase. If the career mode experience is less important to you and you simply want to play the best 11-on-11 game of football, or (ideally) if you can find some way to play EA Sports games online, between the two I'd go with Madden 13.

[Stafford2Johnson]

Quote: Originally Posted by lejia

Apparently, I did not know this before making this trade, but I had traded for Aaron Hernandez in my CCM

Wrong thread?

Anyway, I would take Madden 12 if your going to be playing offline. Just get some updated rosters from the Roster section and play franchise. M13 has too many bugs and doesn't include fantasy draft without a downloaded patch (which I don't know if you will be able to get), in my opinion.

[CM Hooe]

It was just brought to my attention that fantasy draft was only patched in for online CCMs, as well.

I still personally think CCM is a superior offering to Franchise mode, but without the title updates and without the ability to play online to ensure the smoothest experience I am a tad hesitant to recommend it over a known offline commodity in Madden 12's franchise mode. Certainly it should be more polished for online and offline next August, however.

[JagsFan58]

Every madden game had something better than the newer ones. Personally i liked madden 12 franchise mode better than CCM on madden 13. And i mostly play offline in madden games and like doing fantasy draft but i just dont really like how they did it in madden 13, especially with it having to be online only. If they had the physics and the new jerseys in madden 12 then i would more likely be on that than madden 13

[gr18]

If you just want a fix till the new one comes out buy Madden13 to get yourself acclamated.If you want to play for the foreseeable future since you don't buy Madden often then Madden 12 is the easy choice.With the editor and draft classes available you can update indefinitely.The A.I. is much better and far less buggy game.The hope is that the game will be far more polished this year.We'll see.

[Trackball]

I get the feeling I should clarify.

Whenever I try to use something that requires an EA account (such as Madden/Hockey Ultimate Team, or NCAA's Teambuilder), and I try to make an account with an email and password, I get the dreaded "EA servers are not available at this time. Please try again later" message.

Except this has been happening for over a year. And I haven't been able to connect to EA's servers at all.

That's the only grade-A problem I have with these games. As long as I don't need to connect to EA servers to use 13's equivalent of Superstar or Franchise mode, I'm all good.

Then again, my connection speed really, really sucks. That's probably the problem right there.

[Cleveland Rocks]

Madden 12 without question It's by far the deepest, Madden on this gen console. Full player editing in and out of the Franchise, importing NCAA players, Pro Bowl, 32 team control in Franchise, realistic sim scores in franchise, NFL transaction log, working sliders, no franschise breaking salary glitch, kick meter that work, competive cpu late game play calling, none of the above are in Madden 13. The graphics aren't even better on 13 plus 12 is cheaper. Read the Amazon customers reviews. Buy 12 skip 13, thank me later.