Robert Flores Goes One-On-One With EA Sports Madden NFL 11 Game Designers (ESPN)

[harlequin782]

The gameplay isnt updated and improved from year to year because EA Tib spends 80% of its time and resources on procuring advertising contracts.. And during the production cycle, those advertisements take priority over the actual gameplay. Its clear to me that EA's production and design squad spends more time pondering where to put the old spice logo or ensuring that the doritos brand is replicated and that brand recognition is accurate throughout the game, rather than fixing the damn gameplay.

[MeanMrMustard]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Wow, a gimmick or Ask Madden 2.0 that is being used by 70-80% of the folks that purchased Madden? How can a gimmick be use that much?

Well, 1. it's the default option, if I'm not mistaken. So that gets a lot of people using it just because they don't tinker with settings ever.

And 2... respectfully, it's really not a gimmick. If you make your own gameplan instead of using the default ones that pull up Four Verticals and Engage Eight every few plays, it can be a lot of fun. I even use it in online games for about the first half, except in goalline situations and the like, and then go conventional playcalling in the second half to make adjustments. It really adds an element to the game if you take the time to build your own. Though, I will say, the build-your-own gameplan really needs some tweaking. I don't think its 5-star priority system does a great job of mixing up plays. The highest rated plays just get picked over and over again, it seems like.

[Phil_Frazier]

Quote: Originally Posted by harlequin782

The gameplay isnt updated and improved from year to year because EA Tib spends 80% of its time and resources on procuring advertising contracts.. And during the production cycle, those advertisements take priority over the actual gameplay. Its clear to me that EA's production and design squad spends more time pondering where to put the old spice logo or ensuring that the doritos brand is replicated and that brand recognition is accurate throughout the game, rather than fixing the damn gameplay.

You state this as though it is a fact. Where's your data to back up this allegation? I know for certain this isn't true but would take another look at our priorities if you had data to back this up. Or the likely scenerio is that you are being sarcastic. You need to put a little smiley at the end of your post if you are going to go that route.

Phil

[rooney8]

Quote: Originally Posted by harlequin782

The gameplay isnt updated and improved from year to year because EA Tib spends 80% of its time and resources on procuring advertising contracts.. And during the production cycle, those advertisements take priority over the actual gameplay. Its clear to me that EA's production and design squad spends more time pondering where to put the old spice logo or ensuring that the doritos brand is replicated and that brand recognition is accurate throughout the game, rather than fixing the damn gameplay.

I think Madden is years behind games like Fifa, Nhl and others but they are leading the way with in game advertising and milking the gamer with charges after the purchase. I expect those other games to follow suit.

[Phil_Frazier]

Quote: Originally Posted by MJenness

I was simply addressing his remarks about them being open and honest with us about nothing being done to franchise...his statement was not true, IMHO. yeah, they WERE honest, but only JUST prior to E3 when the news would have been out of the bag anyway. IMHO, it was PURELY for a little PR bump more than a real intent to be "open and honest" with us. I am not claiming the fault lies solely on Phil's shouldres, only that he shouldn't have even made that statement about being open and honest.

'When' we decide to announce a detail does not change the fact that we did announce this fact well in advance (2 months) of product release. I would say that my statement is true. We announced it just before E3 simply because we felt like our community was expecting a Franchise announcement @ E3. The news would not have been out of the bag @ E3 because we had our game modes locked out in that particular build. The more likely scenerio is that the information would have been out there in late July when we start sending out review code.

We don't typically announce 'bad stuff' at all during our PR calendar and only chose to do this after reading the forums. It was clear people were expecting changes that we were not going to deliver on. It's really as simple as that.

Phil

[G-Men_in_Mass]

Phil,

Don't you feel that you have let some of the long time Madden players down, by not improving the Franchise Mode? I've been playing Madden since I was 12 years old, (32 now) and I play it because I love the NFL and when I turn on the Madden I want NFL football. I'm sure you have the numbers to back up your reason to add OTP, but for the some we want a really deep owners/franchise mode! We want the NFL, not a arcade game.. Now please dont get me wrong I love Madden and I have a great time (what time I have) playing the franchise mode.. I just feel the reason Madden was and is the greatest Football Franchise was because of the early days when you first gave us a ful season, then franchise/owners mode..... Thats what made you Great, why not stick to what works... IMO you might see sales go way up, if you go back and look at the early vision of what Madden was and thatis NFL Football, and not OTP or On-line leaderboards... Just my 2 cents..

[7stringking]

Quote: Originally Posted by boooey

exactly.. this is yet just another staged interview with pre-approved softball sized questions teed up for the Madden Dev team. Nothing real or genuine about these EA infomercials whatsoever. They have yet to be held accountable for the lack of progress in this game. I always get a kick out of Donny Moore's title of "Ratings Czar".. its so ridiculous. They are so far out of touch its just crazy..

I disagree...This is the most progress they have ever made....They have given Madden an 'analog' FEEL, as opposed to the cold and sterile digital feel this game has always had..You can actually throw great passes now, as opposed to just hitting open guys, or even worse throw 'money ' plays where the receiver would make ridiculous catches....there certainly still is that element, but overall more 'natural' feeling now in both the run game and passing game...CPU QB's actually make bad thrown now where they underthrow or overthrow receivers, so there isn't just a dropped pass or defenderhit to cause an incompletion..which is WAY more realistic than before

[harlequin782]

Quote: Originally Posted by Phil_Frazier_EA

You state this as though it is a fact. Where's your data to back up this allegation? I know for certain this isn't true but would take another look at our priorities if you had data to back this up. Or the likely scenerio is that you are being sarcastic. You need to put a little smiley at the end of your post if you are going to go that route. Phil

Im not being sarcastic...the proof is in the gameplay..do you not think people can piece 2+2 together?...the only thing that changes from year to year IS the advertisements...gameplay issues and franchise mode go untouched or remain broken altogether..what other explanation is there for such a blatant oversight and lack of concern about the gameplay, while increasing the aspects of presentation every year (procuring music licenses from music bands, procuring advertising and brand placement contracts etc.)