Who of you would go for this?

[zrtelford]

Maybe this has been mentioned before, or maybe it hasn't. Never the less, I was thinking-what if, and I know it is a far fetched if, the devs over at Madden (EA) didn't try and pump out the same football game (engine, presentation wise) in a short time, and SKIP A year or even two. Spend some time developing a new engine. New AI....New Presentation, that rivals a game made over 5 years ago...or even better, beat that games presentation. I for one would be fine with this...they could offer DLC for rosters and what not...but quit trying to meet that Aug. Deadline, and take some time..and put out a quality game, and not a 8.8 rated fb game (which is high in my book), and put out a 9.5 or 9.8, with awesome commentary, presentation and such...just an idea, that probably will never happend because of one thing.....$$$$$$$, our dumb A$$es pretty much prevent this type of thing even be discussed cuz we drink the koolaid every year.
Just my 2 cents.

[Segagendude]

It's been mentioned before.....many,many,many times before.

The NFL demands a release of Madden EVERY YEAR, no exceptions. The "skip a year or two" will not happen.

I've suggested a mere roster update to the current Madden while the dev team works on an all new engine. They'd still meet the NFL requirement, plus give them the time needed to develop an all new engine.

Or, simply put, just buy the 2k original engine, implement the next gen graphics, and release that. Then again, the Madden guys would simply say "EA couldn't be original and had to copy 2k. How pathetic".

So it's a lose/lose situation for the team....

[zrtelford]

Understood. What better way for the NFL to market themselved every preseason, than a video game featuring it's players and teams...I get that....Just imagine if those rules didn't exist...the product would be so much better. Funny to think if games like Fallout, GTA, Metal Gear, or others were forced to release a new title annually...

[fjccommish]

EA won't give up the money they make every year to skip a season. That would make 0 sense business-wise.

I'd like to see them split production.

2011 would be a fine tuning of 2010, refreshed animations, remove bugs, new ratings, everything tightened up for an overall better game.

2012 would be a whole new game, built from square 1.

[zrtelford]

to say it makes 0 sense is not all together accurate. They by releasing a product that some say, (me included) is sub par, are actually hurting their brand in the long run, Losing a few customers here and there. Take for instance McDonalds...They will completely shut down a store...a viable one, raking in cash...just to re-model it, knowing in the long run it will making more money...And I here what you are saying...they would lose millions of dollars not releasing that product...however to say it makes no sense is not true.