Has Next Gen made developers lazy?

[fantasysportsguy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sausage

I don't believe the developers are lazy, but cannot meet every single demand. It is easy to say add this, tweak that, or that should happen once every 83rd play; but we cannot imagine the difficulty, time crunch, and deadlines either.

You do realize that a multi-billion dollar company with the resources EA has (or could have), should be able to meet a yearly release goal with a game in MUCH better shape than the condition NCAA '09 was shipped out in.

Look at Sony's MLB 08 The Show for the PS3 versus last years MLB PS3 game as a perfect example. Why can't they at least get the baseline game good (like Sony did with MLB 07) and then perfect it, or come relatively close (like Sony did with MLB 08)? Is that REALLY too much to ask for $60?

[Brando70]

If all next-gen sports games were having problems, I would buy the hardware argument. But you don't see nearly the level of bugs or issues with NBA 2k or The Show, for instance. Likewise a lot of non-sports games have really shown what next gen can do.

I don't think the developers are lazy -- they certainly put the hours in. I think the problem is priorities. The one-year cycle with increasingly complex hardware and consumer expectations makes it difficult to get a lot done from year to year, and these release dates keep creeping up. Notice how patches released a couple months after the drop date have helped -- the MLB 2k7 patch last year that really changed the game, and the Madden 08 patch that, while still leaving a lot of flaws, made the passing game much better.

Given that crunch, it was crucial for these annual franchises to get a good start on the new platforms. Some like NBA 2k and The Show did just that, playing pretty well from their debuts and allowing the developers to tweak and enhance the gameplay with each iteration.

EA's football games did not transition well for whatever reason. The gameplay, while better in some respects, has suffered from some serious flaws that weren't on the last generation. There have been more bugs, fewer options, and graphics that seemed caught between the last generation and this one (although NCAA 09 took a nice step in that department). They have been behind the eight ball this whole time, and that development cycle doesn't give them time to catch up.

Sadly, given that the XBox 360 has been out for nearly three years, I'm running out of hope that EA can get its football act together. I want those games to be good, as I was a regular EA consumer before. But Madden and NCAA have had so many problems, and the first version of Head Coach was a mess. If Madden still has problems this year, I really doubt they will turn it around during this cycle of consoles.

[Sausage]

Quote: Originally Posted by fantasysportsguy

You do realize that a multi-billion dollar company with the resources EA has (or could have), should be able to meet a yearly release goal with a game in MUCH better shape than the condition NCAA '09 was shipped out in. Look at Sony's MLB 08 The Show for the PS3 versus last years MLB PS3 game as a perfect example. Why can't they at least get the baseline game good (like Sony did with MLB 07) and then perfect it, or come relatively close (like Sony did with MLB 08)? Is that REALLY too much to ask for $60?

They should and I am not sure why it happens, but it does. For NCAA 09' I don't see it being on life support. I believe the base is there, but with the future second patch (I hate saying this) some issues (not bugs except with roster glitch) will be ironed out. I am having a good time with the game.

[ehh]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sabin

Growing pains are a factor anytime you get to a new gen of football games. So the first few installments become very important for the series because they become the building blocks until the next generation. If you have a weak base to work from, you have to go back and fix errors you made earlier on, which leaves less time to work on the new problems. Things start to snowball and you can end up with 5+ years of average games because you didnt do things right from the start.

Exactly, that is why I have little faith that EA Football titles will ever be great again. The base is so damn weak there is only so much the devs can do from this point out. Maybe on PS4/Xbox3 they will be great again but I highly doubt it for this current generation of systems.

It's been five years since I bought Madden and this is the first year I won't be buying NCAA.

[DGuinta1]

Perhaps having to come out with a sports title every year doesn't help either. GTA IV is awesome and took 4 years to make.

[stoncold32]

Quote: Originally Posted by DGuinta1

Perhaps having to come out with a sports title every year doesn't help either. GTA IV is awesome and took 4 years to make.

While this is true, that's why in another thread, I said they need to leave the gameplay alone from year to year. Look at how we've fallen in terms of gameplay from the early-mid PS2 days! A complete overhaul of gameplay from year to year is not necessary. It worked from 02-04.....they made tweaks to the gameplay every year, and by '04, it was very good. Then what do we do? We make a complete overhaul to the gameplay and get the tragedy that was 2005.

Focusing on the other things(dynasty, stadiums, jerseys, etc.) from year to year and adding features should be what this game is all about.

At this point, if a new system comes out in 2010, chances are it'll cost close to $800 - $900 bucks, and theres no way in the place where Satan dwells that I'm shelling out that kinda money for EA to just go back to square one and make bare bones games again. I'll just be through with gaming b/c at this point I dont buy many anyway.