Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (IGN)

[whoady4shoady]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

Seriously, where have you been the past few years. EA has been making huge strides in Games. They Own Hockey and Soccar, they Are making great strides in basketball and Tiburon has righted the ship in Football.

I also think some of you guys are reading into the negative stuff a bit too much. Not only is Tiburon Aware of the issues brought up, but the game he was not close to being a finished product.

Yeah, you are right. Huge strides in everything but Madden............. and what game are we talking about? Yeah, thats right. Madden!

Madden has been a downright disgrace to any true football fan for the past 4 years.

[mars85042]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

Every test no matter how insignificant has its place, this test was very similar to having a small child test the game & get there feed back. It is a necessary evil to get lots of feed back, at some point of looking at something to long you must get out side views to see clearly again. Its like proof reading your own report, new eye's see new flaws.

P.S. My little nephew loves the 30 yard drop back touchdown pass, just keep it on pro and not on all madden!

No chesse here, Go sim or go home!!!!!

[mars85042]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (IGN)

Madden nation is not the best madden players, it’s the best Madden cheesers!

[RogueHominid]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

See I'm still not feeling anyone being able to fling it 30 yards on the back-peddle with near-perfect accuracy, regardless of skill level. I'm more for the use of aids like D-assist for those who don't have the sticks or knowledge yet. Football is football. Madden has been a flawed interpretation of football. As long as they let stuff like that exist, it perpetuates a culture that has brought Madden to where we are all saying that it's broken. They need to take the leap of faith like Fifa is trying to and NHL and The Show. Not to mention the legend that PES is. Those games are acclaimed for trying to faithfully recreate the sports they represent.

Now before it sounds like I'm bashing the team, I'm not. I have much faith in them, Ian especially. But I'm just praying that they go all out with it, not half. Not get scared that they will alienate the fanbase or make it where little kids won't play it. If they are ever gonna have it where a coach can beat a tourney player, they've gotta get the game to be totally true to the sport and fun and accessible at the same time. Classic Madden gameplay needs to get shelved, just like Triple Play's brand of baseball.... Sim or Bust!

IMO, this is the real limit term for the future of the franchise--not the intentions of the team but the expectations of the base.

As far as the issue of throwing far while running backwards, I think it's okay that it happens, but here's how you have to contextualize it: Elway, Marino, Favre.

I've seen those guys do things that defy the traditional rules of good quarterback play on a fairly regular basis. But they're singular players, once or twice in a generation type players.

Sure, some guys can make an ill-advised but successful throw with decent zip while moving backward from time to time, but for most QB's it's a very bad idea.

This raises a larger question that I had relative to the issue of QB accuracy: zip.

I wonder if guys will have different amounts of "hang time" on their throws, like real life. This is crucial. If you run back and throw with a guy who lacks an elite arm, that ball should hang, big time, and allow the defense time to break.

There should also be different hang times on regular throws. Pennington is an extreme example, but his throws float. They're accurate, but not quick. This should factor into how short, medium, and long throws come out.

[blklightning]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

meh. every year ign hypes the newest madden as the next big thing.

[whoady4shoady]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

Well, first of all, I don't really see this as a bad preview. Sure he can have gameplay and camera feedback about an alpha build that's in progress, but all the rest of the rather glowing praise seemed to make me feel pretty good.

Regardless, his concerns are all valid, but again all things are still very much in progress. The entirety of the pocket stuff is still being worked on and tuned...the pocket and gang tackles are our big remaining items...making sure you can't scramble out, making sure you actually get pressure, etc. Just so everyone knows, Nate was also playing on Pro mode - a mode where we are very purposely making it easier to stay in the pocket. It's quite a culture shock to have defenders right in your face after 20 years of not worrying about it.

We all know the fumble pileup thing is going to be totally subjective within the community, and though it is extremely rare (played a full 10 min qtr game yesterday, had 3 fumbles, and didn't see it), you still have the option to turn it off.

Anyway, I am hoping that you can take more away from the article - the gameplay tuning items are very valid but they are also in progress.

Oh well, worry away.

What you have to remember is that many of us played 2k5 and All PRo 2k, and we are use to a real pocket and the pressure that comes from it. Many if not all of us expect a football game that comes out many years later to be at least up to par in such an important aspect of the game of football as a last gen game.

Is this really asking to much Ian? Thanks in advance.

P.S. I must laugh at your use of culture shock. Please dont take it personally.

[RGiles36]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

meh. every year ign hypes the newest madden as the next big thing.

IMO, that's what makes this preview stick out. I'm used to IGN drooling over the new edition of Madden. However, the author made some valid points about things that needed to be worked on and actually seemed to have a clue about football and some of the previous flaws in the past games.

[BrianFifaFan]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

I disagree. A kid playing on rookie should not have to worry if his QB's feet are set to throw the ball. I have no problem with allowing leeway with passing accuracy on lower levels as long as All Pro and All Madden are sim-like. Just like player speed differentials are adjusted based on difficulty, so should the effect on accuracy for running back and chucking the ball. That doesnt make the game any less sim imo as long as proper physics are applied.

See I'd say to continue to slow the game down and offer CPU assitance to even the kid. I wouldn't even argue about not punishing them totally on ratings. Then he "feels" like he's done it and the integrity of the game (football) is intact. Then he's both learning how to play a videogame well and learning football fundimentals at the same time. It'll be like giving a kid a Leapfrog, instead of just a gaming system. And it really would help the average joe who doesn't have the best sticks. He wants to be Peyton Manning and the CPU will help him to do it. But Average Joe who wants the casual fix will still say WTH when he sees someone run back 20 yards and fling a strike for 50. The football purity should overule all, or it just looks hokey after a while, and the game will never grow and neither will sales...

[JMD]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

This Quote:

''But honestly, I didn't feel it much in my demo with a pre-beta build. I was able to still hold back on the left stick and run away from my offensive line before flinging a pass thirty yards to a receiver. I never got sacked and rarely felt pressure from the outside like the new pocket design intends''

I know it is a work in progress, however this must not be in the game...

Yeah, this must get corrected before this game releases. If you can still run all over the place and throw a perfect pass the game will be junk. I am so very sick of dealing with this online constantly. Please fix this.

[CreatineKasey]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

I was alluding to the idea that the IGN reviewer is like a kid playing madden. He has very limited football knowledge. I gleaned this judgment through the type of criticism he had.

[BrianFifaFan]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

IMO, this is the real limit term for the future of the franchise--not the intentions of the team but the expectations of the base.

As far as the issue of throwing far while running backwards, I think it's okay that it happens, but here's how you have to contextualize it: Elway, Marino, Favre.

I've seen those guys do things that defy the traditional rules of good quarterback play on a fairly regular basis. But they're singular players, once or twice in a generation type players.

Sure, some guys can make an ill-advised but successful throw with decent zip while moving backward from time to time, but for most QB's it's a very bad idea.

This raises a larger question that I had relative to the issue of QB accuracy: zip.

I wonder if guys will have different amounts of "hang time" on their throws, like real life. This is crucial. If you run back and throw with a guy who lacks an elite arm, that ball should hang, big time, and allow the defense time to break.

There should also be different hang times on regular throws. Pennington is an extreme example, but his throws float. They're accurate, but not quick. This should factor into how short, medium, and long throws come out.

Totally agree with all, 100%. But the base thing really irks me. Do these guys actually want football? I'm in that tiny crowd that wants my perfect slant for the TD to be called back for my knucklehead RT holding the elite DE. And then I want to go to replay and, sure enough there's the takedown. Damn! But, it was because my RT is highly outmatched in ratings and the right play was called against my poor choice to not go max protect to help him out. Every year I max out the penalty sliders and it's still not realistic. And I think it's because they are doing the delicate balance between "sim" and fun. Heck, even my beloved Fifa has a Producer that wont put handballs in the game. Huh? You have the most advanced collision detection that has ever been in a sports game and worry that people wont like handballs? WTH? Soccer 101.

The base needs to follow the game, not the other way. And I really believe they will. And I'm loving your ideas about hanging balls that get picked. If the guy can't throw off the back foot, make the player learn he can't. The hard way. 'Nuff said.... Good post!

[Rashad19]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (IGN)

Overall this sounds like an honest interpretation of the game in its current state. I'm not worried as Ian and crew know what issues need to be addressed. They have a few months left to tune this game to where it needs to be and I expect them to ship out a high quality product.

[DocHolliday]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (IGN)

Sounds good Ian and crew, just tune that pocket and get those DE's down field fast so U have to step up then out to scramble, not just shoot around the DE's.

[dougdeuce]

Re: Madden NFL 10 Hands-On Preview (IGN)

I was wondering if the cut scenes they talk about will be from static camera angles, like the other game... or will we get to see them from different angles occasionally. I like the idea of seeing the hot dog guy, but if it looks the same every time, after the 10th time I'll be a little tired of it. just changing how we see things could really help too... but how would I know anything, all I have to go by is conjecture and reviews... Can't wait to see something.

[Ian_Cummings]

Re: IGN.....Hands on

What you have to remember is that many of us played 2k5 and All PRo 2k, and we are use to a real pocket and the pressure that comes from it. Many if not all of us expect a football game that comes out many years later to be at least up to par in such an important aspect of the game of football as a last gen game.

Is this really asking to much Ian? Thanks in advance.

P.S. I must laugh at your use of culture shock. Please dont take it personally.

Hmm.

Let's say there are 5 million copies of Madden sold this year. Of those Madden 10 buyers, how many do you think have played more than one previous Madden iteration? 1 million? 2 million? 4 million? It's definitely way over half.

Now, how many Madden 10 buyers played APF 2k8? 10,000? (How many copies did they sell?) And in respect to 2k5, even if say 500k of the Madden 10 players played 2k5, that was 5 years ago...I can't expect someone to remember their game style from back then.

A very high percentage of the Madden fanbase is used to "not" having a pocket. So on pro mode, we make the pocket a much safer place to be than we do on all-pro. So if Nate wasn't "feeling the pressure" that much, that's actually how we want it to be. It would be a total dumb move to make it so casual Madden fans get sacked every other play the first time they boot up Madden NFL 10. Nate (and everyone) can always step up a skill level if they want it to feel like an NFL experience.

However, the end tuning goal is to make you pay if you actually drop way out of the pocket...but it's early and that's not there yet.