What Are You Guys Thoughts On The Maddenation Interview?

[Sully]

Quote: Originally Posted by dunelly

next year always next year

I edited your post, and strongly suggest that you refrain from using such terms in the future.

[cheddabob7502]

Quote: Originally Posted by Graphik

For the most part, all I ever wanted out of current gen Madden is a graphical facelift and a decent presentation. It looks like my prayers have been answered with the 360 version so with that I'm appreciative. The gameplay has always been there, it just needed a cosmetic touch up. One thing that disturbs me is the lack of features. I know, I'm probably the first guy to cry about EA gimmicks but its not like the gimmicks were bad to begin with. They just needed to be expanded upon. I dont know about many of yall but its hard for a game to keep my interest without a few out of game features. Franchise mode sounds promising with the stat tracking but what it needs is more variables. Variables found in the likes of practice mode or player development. Of course I want the ratings of the players to play out well but it could'nt hurt if a few out of game experiments played a role in my teams sucess. I guess I'm asking for to much for this years iteration. I expect 07 to be more indepth.

Agree, the gameplay has always been there but it always needed to be tweaked with the sliders. thank god for those. Your not asking to much, EA should just incorporate that Coaching game to madden 07. The 360 has the hardware but does EA have the will power?

[Graphik]

Quote: Originally Posted by baa7

Well I’m standing firm myself. Absolutely NO WAY I’m buying Madden… until I get an Xbox 360 first!

I cant lie. If I did buy a 360, I'd probably get Madden first for a few reasons.

1. I dont see any other game that suits my interest.

2. First game I need to get is a multiplayer game. No one will want to be patient enough to sit and watch me defeat the 6th level boss on Gun. Everyone will be foaming at the mouth to get their hands on a controller.

3. I live with 3 EA fanboys. They will like Madden no matter what they put out and I'm pretty sure we'll have a good time playing some multiplayer.

[baa7]

Quote: Originally Posted by Graphik

3. I live with 3 EA fanboys. They will like Madden no matter what they put out and I'm pretty sure we'll have a good time playing some multiplayer.

Wow... Larry, Curly and Moe are still alive?! Unbelievable

[Nza]

First of all, it is sounding good, but i'm very picky about my football gaming. I have 06 PC with sliders right now that I consider as perfect a football game, realistically, that i've had in a long long time. Of course, realistic in the sense of stats and game outcomes as well as AI and feel, not stuff sliders can't change like mario running and Robot QB Syndrome. If Madden Xb360 turns out like ESPN 2K5 - all visuals, with lacking AI - i'll bore with in in weeks. If I can't get a realistic challenge from the CPU i'm out (I don't game online). This is something that nothing but actually playing it will answer for me, so I can't help but feel cautious until I actually play it for a significant period of time.

Secondly, i'm disappointed by that response to the physics engine question. In case anyone here isn't aware, real time physics engines in gaming aren't new. EA may have been one of the first to use mo-cap in gaming, but they'll nowhere near the first for real time physics if they ever actually use it. Sure, no football game has done it, but why do I get the feeling this was the first thing SEGA would have done for next gen? Now, before i'm labelled an ESPN fanboy, let me tell you I hated 2K5 for the very reason listed above - crappy AI - but I find "they need other companies to do it first" a hard excuse to swallow for EA. Despite being the only NFL game maker around now, EA have budgets very few other publishers can match, and why do people expect so little? EA should be at the forefront with this technology. As I said before, I don't understand it at all. A well developed physics engine not only could be used across the entire EASports range, but it would practically eliminate tedious mo-cap sessions. Money and time, saved in the long run. I'm starting to think EA aren't just looking out for #1, they're also afraid of change.

What i'm mostly disappointed about in that response is the fact he seems to be as clueless about real time physics systems as an average casual gamer. That was just one demo made by an obscure programming technology company, they didn't invent physics engines but are mearly trying to resell the idea in their own package. EA should be able to make their own, they don't need help. If they don't have the experise, their entire Human Resources/Employment department should be fired for hiring bums. This is the emmerging standard in video game animation systems and they're using their power as the only NFL provider to down play it. I guarantee you this would have been a race to implement if competition was around, the benefits are too vast to ignore for a company wanting an advantage.

Also, while i'm getting this off my chest, what is with these EA guys and they're continuous gloating about new animations? It's great we'll have all these new animations, but they're treating it as if they needed next gen to do them. I hate to break it, but ALL those animations could have been in current gen. The only thing pre rendered animations take up is storage space on the game disc, and there is plenty of room on Xbox Dual Layer DVD's and possibly memory to preload them (which I highly doubt was anywhere near stressed with current gen, animations are tiny data files). What they're doing in the form of animations is by no means next gen technology. Gaming systems, PC and console, have long since passed the threshhold for handling mo-cap animation systems, having better quality animations in higher quantity doesn't equate to a higher system resources need, at least not in anything the Xbox was in short supply of. Do you really think EA needed a new system to revamp the blocking subsystem? Of course not. For anyone who feels the Xbox was reaching its limits, I beg you to go out and get Far Cry Instincts. The XB360 is a good 12 months premature in my mind, if you consider the point in time where the Xbox hits its peak "time for a new console".

Of course, it's just a matter of principle. Most gamers couldn't care less if EA are gloating about adding stuff that could have been added to the current gen years ago, they're just glad it's here. To a degree I to don't care, I just get peeved when they pretend mo-capping all these animations was some never before allowed task. Please. Some of these animations already in Madden, in fact some of the ones they showed in that video about their mo-capping were too, so obviously it is the exact same process they've always done. Instead of wasting their time redoing a system that peaked years ago they should have been busy with a real time physics engine - it is the obvious future and I would have thought a few years of time developing for a new console would have been a pretty good time to start embracing the future.

Oh and by the way, for those who mentioned having 15 sliders will be nice....we already have 15 in Madden now, lol

[baa7]

Great post. Makes all my babbling look like... babbling. OT, but I rented Far Cry last night; I'm 10-15 minutes into it and it looks like any old shooter to me. What's so cutting edge about it, as you see it?

Quote: Originally Posted by Nza

First of all, it is sounding good, but i'm very picky about my football gaming. I have 06 PC with sliders right now that I consider as perfect a football game, realistically, that i've had in a long long time. Of course, realistic in the sense of stats and game outcomes as well as AI and feel, not stuff sliders can't change like mario running and Robot QB Syndrome. If Madden Xb360 turns out like ESPN 2K5 - all visuals, with lacking AI - i'll bore with in in weeks. If I can't get a realistic challenge from the CPU i'm out (I don't game online). This is something that nothing but actually playing it will answer for me, so I can't help but feel cautious until I actually play it for a significant period of time. Secondly, i'm disappointed by that response to the physics engine question. In case anyone here isn't aware, real time physics engines in gaming aren't new. EA may have been one of the first to use mo-cap in gaming, but they'll nowhere near the first for real time physics if they ever actually use it. Sure, no football game has done it, but why do I get the feeling this was the first thing SEGA would have done for next gen? Now, before i'm labelled an ESPN fanboy, let me tell you I hated 2K5 for the very reason listed above - crappy AI - but I find "they need other companies to do it first" a hard excuse to swallow for EA. Despite being the only NFL game maker around now, EA have budgets very few other publishers can match, and why do people expect so little? EA should be at the forefront with this technology. As I said before, I don't understand it at all. A well developed physics engine not only could be used across the entire EASports range, but it would practically eliminate tedious mo-cap sessions. Money and time, saved in the long run. I'm starting to think EA aren't just looking out for #1, they're also afraid of change. What i'm mostly disappointed about in that response is the fact he seems to be as clueless about real time physics systems as an average casual gamer. That was just one demo made by an obscure programming technology company, they didn't invent physics engines but are mearly trying to resell the idea in their own package. EA should be able to make their own, they don't need help. If they don't have the experise, their entire Human Resources/Employment department should be fired for hiring bums. This is the emmerging standard in video game animation systems and they're using their power as the only NFL provider to down play it. I guarantee you this would have been a race to implement if competition was around, the benefits are too vast to ignore for a company wanting an advantage. Also, while i'm getting this off my chest, what is with these EA guys and they're continuous gloating about new animations? It's great we'll have all these new animations, but they're treating it as if they needed next gen to do them. I hate to break it, but ALL those animations could have been in current gen. The only thing pre rendered animations take up is storage space on the game disc, and there is plenty of room on Xbox Dual Layer DVD's and possibly memory to preload them (which I highly doubt was anywhere near stressed with current gen, animations are tiny data files). What they're doing in the form of animations is by no means next gen technology. Gaming systems, PC and console, have long since passed the threshhold for handling mo-cap animation systems, having better quality animations in higher quantity doesn't equate to a higher system resources need, at least not in anything the Xbox was in short supply of. Do you really think EA needed a new system to revamp the blocking subsystem? Of course not. For anyone who feels the Xbox was reaching its limits, I beg you to go out and get Far Cry Instincts. The XB360 is a good 12 months premature in my mind, if you consider the point in time where the Xbox hits its peak "time for a new console". Of course, it's just a matter of principle. Most gamers couldn't care less if EA are gloating about adding stuff that could have been added to the current gen years ago, they're just glad it's here. To a degree I to don't care, I just get peeved when they pretend mo-capping all these animations was some never before allowed task. Please. Some of these animations already in Madden, in fact some of the ones they showed in that video about their mo-capping were too, so obviously it is the exact same process they've always done. Instead of wasting their time redoing a system that peaked years ago they should have been busy with a real time physics engine - it is the obvious future and I would have thought a few years of time developing for a new console would have been a pretty good time to start embracing the future. Oh and by the way, for those who mentioned having 15 sliders will be nice....we already have 15 in Madden now, lol

[pfunk880]

Quote: Originally Posted by Nza

First of all, it is sounding good, but i'm very picky about my football gaming. I have 06 PC with sliders right now that I consider as perfect a football game, realistically, that i've had in a long long time. Of course, realistic in the sense of stats and game outcomes as well as AI and feel, not stuff sliders can't change like mario running and Robot QB Syndrome. If Madden Xb360 turns out like ESPN 2K5 - all visuals, with lacking AI - i'll bore with in in weeks. If I can't get a realistic challenge from the CPU i'm out (I don't game online). This is something that nothing but actually playing it will answer for me, so I can't help but feel cautious until I actually play it for a significant period of time. Secondly, i'm disappointed by that response to the physics engine question. In case anyone here isn't aware, real time physics engines in gaming aren't new. EA may have been one of the first to use mo-cap in gaming, but they'll nowhere near the first for real time physics if they ever actually use it. Sure, no football game has done it, but why do I get the feeling this was the first thing SEGA would have done for next gen? Now, before i'm labelled an ESPN fanboy, let me tell you I hated 2K5 for the very reason listed above - crappy AI - but I find "they need other companies to do it first" a hard excuse to swallow for EA. Despite being the only NFL game maker around now, EA have budgets very few other publishers can match, and why do people expect so little? EA should be at the forefront with this technology. As I said before, I don't understand it at all. A well developed physics engine not only could be used across the entire EASports range, but it would practically eliminate tedious mo-cap sessions. Money and time, saved in the long run. I'm starting to think EA aren't just looking out for #1, they're also afraid of change. What i'm mostly disappointed about in that response is the fact he seems to be as clueless about real time physics systems as an average casual gamer. That was just one demo made by an obscure programming technology company, they didn't invent physics engines but are mearly trying to resell the idea in their own package. EA should be able to make their own, they don't need help. If they don't have the experise, their entire Human Resources/Employment department should be fired for hiring bums. This is the emmerging standard in video game animation systems and they're using their power as the only NFL provider to down play it. I guarantee you this would have been a race to implement if competition was around, the benefits are too vast to ignore for a company wanting an advantage. Also, while i'm getting this off my chest, what is with these EA guys and they're continuous gloating about new animations? It's great we'll have all these new animations, but they're treating it as if they needed next gen to do them. I hate to break it, but ALL those animations could have been in current gen. The only thing pre rendered animations take up is storage space on the game disc, and there is plenty of room on Xbox Dual Layer DVD's and possibly memory to preload them (which I highly doubt was anywhere near stressed with current gen, animations are tiny data files). What they're doing in the form of animations is by no means next gen technology. Gaming systems, PC and console, have long since passed the threshhold for handling mo-cap animation systems, having better quality animations in higher quantity doesn't equate to a higher system resources need, at least not in anything the Xbox was in short supply of. Do you really think EA needed a new system to revamp the blocking subsystem? Of course not. For anyone who feels the Xbox was reaching its limits, I beg you to go out and get Far Cry Instincts. The XB360 is a good 12 months premature in my mind, if you consider the point in time where the Xbox hits its peak "time for a new console". Of course, it's just a matter of principle. Most gamers couldn't care less if EA are gloating about adding stuff that could have been added to the current gen years ago, they're just glad it's here. To a degree I to don't care, I just get peeved when they pretend mo-capping all these animations was some never before allowed task. Please. Some of these animations already in Madden, in fact some of the ones they showed in that video about their mo-capping were too, so obviously it is the exact same process they've always done. Instead of wasting their time redoing a system that peaked years ago they should have been busy with a real time physics engine - it is the obvious future and I would have thought a few years of time developing for a new console would have been a pretty good time to start embracing the future. Oh and by the way, for those who mentioned having 15 sliders will be nice....we already have 15 in Madden now, lol

Great post.

Yeah, I found the part about the 15 sliders funny as well... "We’ve added extensive customization options to game play, including selections of AI sliders for offense, defense and special teams. You can tune how well players block to how often players knock passes down vs. intercept them. I believe we have 15 AI settings, and each one is settable for the player and the CPU separately." Umm... couldn't we do all that already?

[Nza]

baa7 - Have you seen the draw distance? I think the graphics are sensational for an Xbox game. I haven't had extensive time with it, and it was only really a minor point I was trying to make - that is, anyone who thinks the Xbox couldn't handle a few new animations is kidding themselves. Given that Madden used probably less than half the capacity of a Xbox DVD, i'd say they could put all these new animations then some.

Honestly, and I know this is a bold statement, but I think if you put the current Madden player models and textures in this "next gen engine", you can run it on an Xbox - rebuilt from the ground up or not. I'm sorry, but besides the pretty visuals, I see nothing that requires new hardware at all. Maybe the AI would stress the Xbox system because like I said, that's completely unknown right now, but EA have a long, long way to go to take advantage of next gen power in their engine. Animation is a core part, if not THE core part, of a video game engine and they're using animation technology primitive PC's of 1998 could handle. What, exactly, do they plan on doing with 3 64bit CPU's with two logical processors each core?