Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

[RaychelSnr]

In his writing debut, Will Soistman takes a look at the next-gen football games and talks about how far they really have come. Check out his article here.

"All of us were ready for it. Sitting on our couches quickly anticipating the 2005 NFL Draft. However, it was not because of the juniors and seniors waiting to be picked by NFL teams. But because of a promise made by EA, saying that they were going to debut a trailer that would represent what they were aiming for with the next generation of consoles. With the new power of consoles, fans of Madden and NCAA eagerly awaited the new iterations that would be debuting with each new sports season. But did the new versions succeed? Let's take a look as to what these games bring to the table in this new era of gaming."

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[ManiacMatt1782]

I am ready for a next gen football game because i havent actually seen one yet

[yamabushi]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

I am ready for a next gen football game because i havent actually seen one yet

Agreed.
I thank we wont see a 'next-gen' game until the NFL license is no longer an exclusive.

[DaveDQ]

Backbreaker will be heralded for it's use of Euphoria but most likely shredded by gamers who have yet to learn to relax their anticipation and expectation for these games.

I enjoy playing Madded, but it's the same engine that past-gen had. Quite honestly, the company to hold more accountable is 2K Sports. They have flubbed baseball, half-assed their All-Pro Football title, and basically polished up the NBA 2K series. We love to remember the days of ESPN NFL 2K5, but if we use that guage for Madden, why not use it for 2K Sports in general? They have tripped over themselves far too many times in the next-gen arena.

[yamabushi]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

Backbreaker will be heralded for it's use of Euphoria but most likely shredded by gamers who have yet to learn to relax their anticipation and expectation for these games.

I enjoy playing Madded, but it's the same engine that past-gen had. Quite honestly, the company to hold more accountable is 2K Sports. They have flubbed baseball, half-assed their All-Pro Football title, and basically polished up the NBA 2K series. We love to remember the days of ESPN NFL 2K5, but if we use that guage for Madden, why not use it for 2K Sports in general? They have tripped over themselves far too many times in the next-gen arena.

I really dont know what you mean by that, they either put out a good game of football or they dont.

[ewto16]

Next-gen football has yet to arrive unles you count a stripped down, but shiny version of Madden 05 that EA continues to pass of as next-gen Madden 08/09.

Madden hasn't done anything next-gen except regress.

[DaveDQ]

I really dont know what you mean by that, they either put out a good game of football or they dont.

What I mean is that the use of Euphoria will open some eyes to what the possibilities are for football, but I think many will bash it because it doesn't live up to their expectations. Backbreaker is something to look forward to. I would like to see what else they have besides Euphoria and some different camera angles. Right now the game looks very generic.

[yamabushi]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

What I mean is that the use of Euphoria will open some eyes to what the possibilities are for football, but I think many will bash it because it doesn't live up to their expectations. Backbreaker is something to look forward to. I would like to see what else they have besides Euphoria and some different camera angles. Right now the game looks very generic.

I agree that a Euphoria based football game would be exciting, but I think most people have pretty low expectations for this game. If the game ever hits, and thats a really big if, Im not expecting much past an 11 on 11 NFL Blitz.

[buttsakk]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

Agreed.
I thank we wont see a 'next-gen' game until the NFL license is no longer an exclusive.

Soo... Never.

[spankdatazz22]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

Backbreaker will be heralded for it's use of Euphoria but most likely shredded by gamers who have yet to learn to relax their anticipation and expectation for these games.

I enjoy playing Madded, but it's the same engine that past-gen had. Quite honestly, the company to hold more accountable is 2K Sports. They have flubbed baseball, half-assed their All-Pro Football title, and basically polished up the NBA 2K series. We love to remember the days of ESPN NFL 2K5, but if we use that guage for Madden, why not use it for 2K Sports in general? They have tripped over themselves far too many times in the next-gen arena.

You seem willing to place expectations on APF that you admit shouldn't be placed on Backbreaker. And I agree, Backbreaker a lot shouldn't be expected of Backbreaker.

It's 2K's fault when they had the huge disadvantage of trying to develop a new football universe [essentially] from scratch? It's the same challenge Backbreaker will have. 2K made a lot of mistakes with APF - but why ignore where it succeeded, despite it's disadvantages (it was a better playing game than Madden or NCAA last year). And without the benefit of established NFL teams, and current players that most people identify with. Doesn't seem to make sense to be able to compare licensed Madden and NCAA games in their 2nd/3rd years to a non-licensed game APF in it's 1st. The NBA2K series has progressively gotten better with each next gen iteration, with 2K8 being the best NBA game to date. Same with College Hoops. MLB2K6 sucked just as bad if not worse than Madden '06 360, but I don't think it's that difficult to argue MLB2K8 is a better baseball game than Madden '08 is a football game. From what I understand the hockey game may not be spectacular, but it's at least good/solid.

Kudos to OS for finally wrting something on the quality lacking in next gen football. Unfortunately many gamers see the situation as hopeless and are unwilling to take a principled stand

[jeetaa6]

i agree in giving kudos to OS for saying what fans have been saying for a few years now. next gen has been bottom line disappointing for footballers.

what fooled me into buying Madden last year were the great reviews it received by all the gaming sites. who are these people? are they mainly FPS gamers who play Madden for 15 minutes and get paid to jot a review down based on that 15 minutes? this year, i'm waiting for you all (the OS members) to provide your thoughts on the football games before i shell out any $$ (although we may all be waiting for each other to provide feedback before each of us buy)!! . i've come to realize that waiting a bit and reviewing actual user reviews is MUCH more beneficial than the gaming site employees who don't have a clue about football. i'll also do a search on youtube for "Madden glitches" first.

anyway, here's to hoping for at least one knockout football game this year...between Madden, NCAA, and Backbreaker. PLEASE!!

[DaveDQ]

You seem willing to place expectations on APF that you admit shouldn't be placed on Backbreaker. And I agree, Backbreaker a lot shouldn't be expected of Backbreaker.

It's 2K's fault when they had the huge disadvantage of trying to develop a new football universe [essentially] from scratch? It's the same challenge Backbreaker will have. 2K made a lot of mistakes with APF - but why ignore where it succeeded, despite it's disadvantages (it was a better playing game than Madden or NCAA last year). And without the benefit of established NFL teams, and current players that most people identify with. Doesn't seem to make sense to be able to compare licensed Madden and NCAA games in their 2nd/3rd years to a non-licensed game APF in it's 1st. The NBA2K series has progressively gotten better with each next gen iteration, with 2K8 being the best NBA game to date. Same with College Hoops. MLB2K6 sucked just as bad if not worse than Madden '06 360, but I don't think it's that difficult to argue MLB2K8 is a better baseball game than Madden '08 is a football game. From what I understand the hockey game may not be spectacular, but it's at least good/solid.

Kudos to OS for finally wrting something on the quality lacking in next gen football. Unfortunately many gamers see the situation as hopeless and are unwilling to take a principled stand

In comparing what the two companies have done with sports gaming, I have to give the nod to EA Sports. 2K Sports has included the online league features in their games for some time, but they are still bug ridden with much of the same problems. Sure, you could say, "well at least they have had leagues" but the 2K online league system is broken and has never been running at 100 percent.

If you look at the MLB 2K series, from 06 to 08, the game shows no signs of progress towards reaching a "next generation" feel. Even still, many of the new features touted as next-gen are broken.

I'm upset with what 2K Sports has done in the last 3 years because I feel they could have done better. Again, after NFL 2K5 and all that it brought to the table, you'd think by now their sports games would be popping with innovative features and offering that special something that NFL 2K5 gave. That's just not the case.

[spankdatazz22]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

In comparing what the two companies have done with sports gaming, I have to give the nod to EA Sports.

Your perogative. But imo expecting APF to be a logical progression of 2K5 makes next to no sense. It's like you're totally ignoring the difficulty of trying to establish a league most people can't identify with. Your argument seems to be more about where 2K has failed or wasn't perfect, and not about where EA has succeeded. Guess it's good that EA had the benefit of being able to come with online leagues four years after they were introduced (989 was doing them years previously too). I think it's foolish to have the same expectations of a non-licensed title versus an NFL/NCAA licensed title, but it seems like you didn't have the same expectations, you expected more from the unlicensed title. Something as basic as player interaction, QB play, OL/DL play, etc... are all still issues four years into next gen. EA has the exclusives, but it's 2K's fault next gen football is in the state it's in... yeah, that makes sense.

As far as the MLB argument, most people admit that the new gameplay mechanics introduced work well. The game's issues are still somewhat significant from a quality control standpoint (game freezing) or the complaints some have about the graphics (doesn't have the graphical fidelity of last year's game).

[spankdatazz22]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

what fooled me into buying Madden last year were the great reviews it received by all the gaming sites.

Sites like IGN and TeamXBox need to be held accountable for their reviews. Year in and year out they rate the game high, then backtrack the following year. TeamXBox laughably said Madden's gameplay was a "9.8" last year. With all the trouble sites like Gamespot (w/Ubisoft) and Gametrailers (comparison video debacle) has had, I don't know why anyone would trust those big sites' opinions

[burnwood]

Re: Are You Ready for Some (Next-Gen) Football?

Let's not forget XSN sports by Microsoft. Their online league system was top notch and it was across ALL their sports titles. Technologies like this just die for some reason.

EA should be held more accountable. They make the most revenue, the most profits, and have the most market share and, at the time, the number one publisher. Dangling that next gen video during the 05 draft still brings to mind a lot of disappointment for this football gaming fan.