Give EA Some Credit.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_president

i have to disagree EA is a huge company with boat loads of cash. sure the deal cost a lot of money, but it wasn't so much that it left them broke and destitute. there is no way that a lack of funds has anything to do with the way the game has shaped up. ncaa is exclusive but that game using the same tech outshines madden on all fronts. now that's not to say that ncaa doesn't need to improve because it does, but the ncaa team handles football better than the madden team.

And when are we going to learn that EA doesn't have a boatload of cash like some people think they do? Their stock price has plummeted to a low of 16. They laid of 100's of employees last year and for the past 4 or 5 years, there has been a decline in Madden sales, except, this year, so far. Doesn't sound like a company with a boatload of cash, does it?

NCAA had to hit one out of the park, they were the stepchild of Madden for the past several years.

[mr_president]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

And when are we going to learn that EA doesn't have a boatload of cash like some people think they do? Their stock price has plummeted to a low of 16. They laid of 100's of employees last year and for the past 4 or 5 years, there has been a decline in Madden sales, except, this year, so far. Doesn't sound like a company with a boatload of cash, does it? NCAA had to hit one out of the park, they were the stepchild of Madden for the past several years.

those stats have nothing to do with the purchase of the nfl license and everything to do with our struggling economy.EA still has money.

the development of madden has followed the same blueprint since it has been on the 360/ps3. the game hasn't changed/improved much because it doesn't have to in order to sell.
the way the game has turned out has nothing to do with money issues or dev. cycle but because they know people are going to buy.

...but if NCAA devs. can hit one out of the park why can't the madden devs.?? same company?? are you saying the madden team is hampered by money issues while the ncaa team isn't??

what about the nhl,elite and fifa teams?? they are making fantastic strides, and the only game falling back on excuses is madden.

EA has money.

[Todem]

NCAA 2011 amazing football game.

Madden 2011 really good and best on the new consoles.

I know I am having a lot of fun with both titles. Yes I want more on the franchise front with Madden. But the gameplay is loads of fun this year with great sliders. Plus a big patch is coming to tighten a lot of things up.

[rightallthetime]

To me the main problem with madden the last two years is that they seem to be starting from scrach each of the last two years and haven't had the chance to build on any foundation. Also they seem to bring out these new features that are not finished yet. Last year it was online franchise, which was great in theory but because there was no Free agents or no trade logic it wasn't worth the work to play. Now they have a new locomotion which they had to set up from scrach which works well but seems to impact the D more more then the O. This has cause a major balance issue. I do think that both madden 10, and 11 were steps in the right direction but i think we need a major leap at this point.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_president

those stats have nothing to do with the purchase of the nfl license and everything to do with our struggling economy.EA still has money. the development of madden has followed the same blueprint since it has been on the 360/ps3. the game hasn't changed/improved much because it doesn't have to in order to sell. the way the game has turned out has nothing to do with money issues or dev. cycle but because they know people are going to buy. ...but if NCAA devs. can hit one out of the park why can't the madden devs.?? same company?? are you saying the madden team is hampered by money issues while the ncaa team isn't?? what about the nhl,elite and fifa teams?? they are making fantastic strides, and the only game falling back on excuses is madden. EA has money.

Wow, I wouldn't want to be a stockholder, with the price as high as $21.00 per share this year(and much higher in previous years) and have some EA Exec tell me it's the economy and not the purchase of the NFL license. The license was still an expenditure, so, it is tied into the layoffs, the low stock price, the declining sales, etc.....

And it does have everything to do with how the game turns out. It's called a budget. You only have so much to play with. As an employee, you need to stay under budget. If Madden sales keep declining, the suits allocate how much budget the team receives. Budgets sure don't go up when revenue falls, at least, not with smart businesses.

NBA Elite hasn't even been sold, yet. They've been lagging behind 2k basketball since I can remember. I can go into any GS in the area and they will tell me that 2k leads in preorders by a 3 to 1 margin. As far as NCAA goes, they've been behind Madden in game play for the last 4 yrs or so and now, it appears that they might be a bit better than Madden and people hop on the bandwagon.(they did improve alot!) How many patches will NCAA have? 3 by tomorrow? As far as FIFA and NHL, they are made by a different house, EA Canada. Don't know much about them because I only play football, baseball and basketball games.

[Old School SD Fan]

The one thing I will give EA credit for is finally putting some effort into presentation. Presentation in this year's game is the best I've seen in a Madden, and adds to the enjoyability factor for me.

Gameplay? Roughly the same forever, and will be so long as the antiquated engine stays in play.

[mr_president]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Wow, I wouldn't want to be a stockholder, with the price as high as $21.00 per share this year(and much higher in previous years) and have some EA Exec tell me it's the economy and not the purchase of the NFL license. The license was still an expenditure, so, it is tied into the layoffs, the low stock price, the declining sales, etc..... And it does have everything to do with how the game turns out. It's called a budget. You only have so much to play with. As an employee, you need to stay under budget. If Madden sales keep declining, the suits allocate how much budget the team receives. Budgets sure don't go up when revenue falls, at least, not with smart businesses. NBA Elite hasn't even been sold, yet. They've been lagging behind 2k basketball since I can remember. I can go into any GS in the area and they will tell me that 2k leads in preorders by a 3 to 1 margin. As far as NCAA goes, they've been behind Madden in game play for the last 4 yrs or so and now, it appears that they might be a bit better than Madden and people hop on the bandwagon.(they did improve alot!) How many patches will NCAA have? 3 by tomorrow? As far as FIFA and NHL, they are made by a different house, EA Canada. Don't know much about them because I only play football, baseball and basketball games.

so let me get this straight...EA dished out tons of cash for an exclusive agreement, only to not devote resources to the project in order to get a return on its investment??

the games dev. is what it is because they don't have to do much in order to move units.

nba live/elite has lagged behind 2k, but that is not to say that they have not made big strides with their game. the effort shows with that game, the effort shown in madden is minimal at best.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by mr_president

so let me get this straight...EA dished out tons of cash for an exclusive agreement, only to not devote resources to the project in order to get a return on its investment?? the games dev. is what it is because they don't have to do much in order to move units. nba live/elite has lagged behind 2k, but that is not to say that they have not made big strides with their game. the effort shows with that game, the effort shown in madden is minimal at best.

All I'm saying is that it's a business and like any other business, there are budgets. If you continued to lose money with declining sales at a company, would you continue to pour more and more resources into your product with the hopes sales will pick up at some point? That's not a good reason to tell your investors and stockholders. It just isn't good business sense.

If EA dished out tons of resources for Madden after the license, it looks like that way didn't work.

In one year, Elite decides to transform their game and we give them an A for effort? I'd rather see the cash register results before I give them an attaboy.

I need to disagree with the minimal effort Madden has shown. In the past two years, the game has been geared more towards the hard core gamer compared to the 06-09 years. I don't think I need to give out examples as it's pretty evident.