OS Roundtable: Looking Back at Football Edition

[KingV2k3]

Quote: Originally Posted by Trojan Man

Man, what a sad commentary. I think the lesson is that Tiburon isn't capable of making an elite game, period. This was definitely a generation of disappointment for football gamers. Madden went nowhere, NCAA doesn't exist anymore, and APF gave us one tantalizing installment but no more.

This pretty much sums it up...

I'd simply suggest to EA that they:

1) Use the prodigious amount of unused disk space to simply give consumers a "greatest hits" version of the game where ALL of the features that existed or worked at one time or another were FINALLY together "under one roof"...I'm looking at YOU Auto Subs / Sim Stats / Formation Subs / Coach Philosophy / Player Editing in CCM / Build and Design Stadiums / Full complement of responsive sliders / etc.

2) To extrapolate on what wordtobigbird suggested: Crib ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING from the "carcass" of both 2k Football and NCAA...

3) "Lower the bar" by replicating The Show's development, by focusing on refining the core characteristics, instead of trying to reinvent itself over and over, which has lead to "sideways" progression...

I'm no programmer, but the above "to do list" doesn't seem to be that daunting...

As my post history will indicate...I LOVE football and console football gaming, so it's frustrating to experience (year after year) how far superior so many of the other sports tiles are, and continue to be, in comparison to Madden...

[Armor and Sword]

What is there really left to say?

Underwhelming is the word I would use.

When I consider how much of a leap baseball and basketball gaming took....as well as hockey, tennis and even boxing (can't stand soccer as a sport sorry).

Madden and NCAA fell short.

But despite that it is my feeling that I am playing the best both series has to offer in M25 and NCAA 14.

But it was underwhelming compared to what I get out of MLB 13 and NBA 2K14.

Hopefully the PS4 will give me a superb Madden game.

[Cletus]

I just dusted APF off. When I first bought it, I didn't really enjoy it but that was mostly it being different from the madden style of play, which I enjoyed on the ps2. It does play like a football game is supposed to play. I had Sammy Baugh throwing into triple coverage on a dime to Dwight Clark who caught it in stride. The other team had no stars in their secondary. It's player separation like APF that is missing in Madden. It's sad that it was in Madden (not on the level of APF) in the ps2 days.

This generation actually turned me away from football gaming and maybe football in general. In NCAA 05 or 06 I actually got all the way through a dynasty. I think it was 75 seasons or so. This generation I haven't gotten through 20 seasons and have only played a handful of games. It's missing the fun factor and none of the games seem like a finished product. Coupling that with NHL series being stellar (especially for EA's standards) and it's the end of football gaming. I have 4 different football games to play and I buy them cheap thinking I might enjoy them but I still play a thousand more games of NHL than NCAA and Madden combined. It's just sad that every football game seems like a WIP instead of a worthy attempt to earn our business.

[kjcheezhead]

It's sad that madden can't compare to any current sports game. I can look up awesome highlight and fan made vids of Apf, nba 2k and the show. The most memorable madden vids are glitch and cheats like these...

http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_uri=%2F#/home


http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_...?v=1P0yfq2wDvU
(Nsfw language)

http://m.youtube.com/index?&desktop_...?v=Ov1JNMu1CnI

[gr18]

Madden '10 may have been the best received Madden at release because of the garbage before it,but compared to '12 or 25 at this point it really suffers.

I don't think Madden was as good in the ps2/Xbox days as many want to believe either.If you like rb's doing the running man behind the o-line and receivers running routes out of bounds then sure.2k did better in nearly every gameplay category.I'd still be playing 2k8 if they had a franchise and 2k5 if it didn't look bad on a nice t.v.I still like to pop them in every now and then though.

[Big FN Deal]

It's funny to read that write up and think about how some people claim that Madden isn't as bad as others make it out to be, lol. Football gaming this gen has been a video game tragedy, if there is such a thing and the worst part is there is nothing anyone can do about it. Just a bunch of what ifs and wasted potential, 9 years we can never get back.

That said it's always darkest before dawn, so hopefully a new day is on the horizon in March 2014. In this new console gen maybe it won't take long for a new studio to give football gamers a viable alternative if the NFL exclusive expires. I think there is no question there is a strong market for a non-EA Tiburon football simulation video game. Frankly, I'd pay double, a $120+ tax, for any new NFL sim video game in 2014 not made by EA Tiburon.

[infemous]

I don't know about you guys but I'm incredibly bored of waiting for WA to make a good football game.

If I had the money for a PS4 I'd probably get it but as I don't I think I'm just gonna keep on playing GTA and avoiding computer games until I can afford a PS4.

I'm also getting tired of discussing Madden now because it feels so pointless. I just feel like I could spend my time so much more rewardingly.

Venting about madden when I see a vid is nice but I can't keep it up until the next release IMO.

[elgreazy1]

I would love to spout of long lines of eloquent verbiage about my disdain for this past generation of football, but I no longer have the energy.

Instead, I'll just sit here and cry.