Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

[7stringking]

TOAL: BS!!!!....I don't see the NHL team 'slowing down' the progress of BAP mode...they didn't improve it much thi syear, but then again, it is already GREAT!...Superstar mode in MAdden is lagging behind, and now I guess it will not be improved...You just cost yourself a purchase with that news EA.The standard gameplay is too digitized in Madden to enjoy as much as I'd like.Superstar gave me a little more bang for my buck(along with COACH mode)...I guess coach mode won't be improved either.EVen if the regualr gameplay is improved, I still expect development to continue on other modes..I mean, C'MON!!!

[BezO]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

"Other" games will always be a part of the discussion as long as Tiburon continues the approach they take. There are countless times Tiburon says or insinuates something can't be done, only to see another game [essentially] do it with far less resources and development time. Which makes people wonder what would occur if the odds were even.

LOL. I remember when EA said last gen systems couldn't handle gang tackling AFTER 2K had already done it.

[N@X_WiZaRD]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

I'm sure he gets frustrated at work like the rest of us, but I'm also sure he loves his job.

Nobody said he wasn't satisfied with his job. He probably loves being a lead designer. The claim was that he wasn't satisfied with the overall progress of M11. It seems like Ian is no longer gushing about the features of Madden like he was during M07-M10, which may indicate that he's not exactly enthusiastic about the overall game. Because after all, M11's feature-set is pretty stale - Locomotion and Gameflow. Not to mention the exclusion of Franchise upgrades.

Of course, we're just guessing, but it's not completely unlikely.

[RedZoneD25]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Nobody said he wasn't satisfied with his job. He probably loves being a lead designer. The claim was that he wasn't satisfied with the overall progress of M11. It seems like Ian is no longer gushing about the features of Madden like he was during M07-M10 (with endless blogs coupled with an upbeat tone) which may indicate that he's not exactly enthusiastic about the overall game. Because after all, M11's feature-set is pretty stale - Locomotion and Gameflow. Not to mention the exclusion of Franchise upgrades.

Of course, we're just guessing, but it's not completely unlikely.

I tend to agree with this post. He definitely seems more "whatever" this year. Possibly it's that he wanted to do so much more, to prove that he truly had a vision to take Madden to greatness...Then when he realized exactly how much had to be done, they made the call to take baby steps and focus on one thing this cycle, and felt like he had failed his OWN goals...I won't comment on how I or the people here feel about the game, but I do believe perhaps he wanted to be further along now than we are.

[DaveDQ]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Nobody said he wasn't satisfied with his job. He probably loves being a lead designer. The claim was that he wasn't satisfied with the overall progress of M11. It seems like Ian is no longer gushing about the features of Madden like he was during M07-M10, which may indicate that he's not exactly enthusiastic about the overall game. Because after all, M11's feature-set is pretty stale - Locomotion and Gameflow. Not to mention the exclusion of Franchise upgrades.

Of course, we're just guessing, but it's not completely unlikely.

True. Maybe he is frustrated with what he'd like to see happen and what has happened. I know I am. I played Madden into June of this year, anticipating what M11 would do to improve things. I think though that the whole community thing last year was a no no. Even for me, I was following Madden devs on twitter for the sole purpose of seeing what was going on. It became entirely too personal. Ian would even tweet about his frustration with some here after he would release information and it would get swallowed up.

Personally, I wish all developers would stop with the community hype and "safe" interviews. This interview could have gone much deeper. Ask Ian his thoughts on Backbreaker and what it does with physics. Ian obviously is referring to that game when he says it's not all about physics. Things can be respectfully confrontational. Ask Ian why a game like NHL can continue to focus on its properties and yet Madden seems to keep inventing things.

If these interviews are to be of substance, both the interviewer and the interviewee need to be more thoughtful in the questioning and transparent in answering. And that goes for title beyond Madden.

[Only1LT]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

True. Maybe he is frustrated with what he'd like to see happen and what has happened. I know I am. I played Madden into June of this year, anticipating what M11 would do to improve things. I think though that the whole community thing last year was a no no. Even for me, I was following Madden devs on twitter for the sole purpose of seeing what was going on. It became entirely too personal. Ian would even tweet about his frustration with some here after he would release information and it would get swallowed up.

Personally, I wish all developers would stop with the community hype and "safe" interviews. This interview could have gone much deeper. Ask Ian his thoughts on Backbreaker and what it does with physics. Ian obviously is referring to that game when he says it's not all about physics. Things can be respectfully confrontational. Ask Ian why a game like NHL can continue to focus on its properties and yet Madden seems to keep inventing things.

If these interviews are to be of substance, both the interviewer and the interviewee need to be more thoughtful in the questioning and transparent in answering. And that goes for title beyond Madden.

Rarely happens. People are afraid to ruffle feathers when the consequences of such actions can lead to less accessibility to the person/ organization that is the subject of the interview.

There is a reason why Jim Gray was asking the questions during LeBron's ESPN farce and not Jim Rome lol.

[huskerwr38]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

I had read a twitter post that Ian had posted and he said something to the effect of he wants to let the game speak for itself this year instead of him touting the game like he did on twitter. So take that for what it's worth.

Honestly, I think the whole Madden dev team is more interested in soccer instead of real football.

[PacMan3000]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Why soccer?

[roadman]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Honestly, I think the whole Madden dev team is more interested in soccer instead of real football.

So, people are suppose to eat, drink and sleep 24/7 their work.

I don't buy it.

I don't bring my work home with me, good or bad, and neither does my wife.

Twitter is just a social media outlet. The World Cup just finished. I know a lot of people, including myself watch the final game.

Aaron Rodgers was watcher the soccer matches and commenting on them. Does this mean he like soccer more than football?

I guess soccer isn't considered "a real sport" still by some people.

[Only1LT]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

So, people are suppose to eat, drink and sleep 24/7 their work.

I don't buy it.

I don't bring my work home with me, good or bad, and neither does my wife.

Twitter is just a social media outlet. The World Cup just finished. I know a lot of people, including myself watch the final game.

Aaron Rodgers was watcher the soccer matches and commenting on them. Does this mean he like soccer more than football?

I guess soccer isn't considered "a real sport" still by some people.

No, Soccer is definitely a real sport. It's just a woman's sport. Just Kidding lol.

[GiantBlue76]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Nobody said he wasn't satisfied with his job. He probably loves being a lead designer. The claim was that he wasn't satisfied with the overall progress of M11. It seems like Ian is no longer gushing about the features of Madden like he was during M07-M10, which may indicate that he's not exactly enthusiastic about the overall game. Because after all, M11's feature-set is pretty stale - Locomotion and Gameflow. Not to mention the exclusion of Franchise upgrades.

Of course, we're just guessing, but it's not completely unlikely.

I'd be willing to bet a lot of money that he believes Madden to be a smashing success and that it's the greatest football game ever made. Same with most of their development team. I don't believe for a second that they think there is much of anything wrong with Madden or its direction.

[K_GUN]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Honestly, I think the whole Madden dev team is more interested in soccer instead of real football.

funny, i thought soccer is the 'real futbol'

silly me

[foolish813]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

"Other" games will always be a part of the discussion as long as Tiburon continues the approach they take. There are countless times Tiburon says or insinuates something can't be done, only to see another game [essentially] do it with far less resources and development time. Which makes people wonder what would occur if the odds were even. If not for exclusivity, I'm sure we wouldn't be hearing this casual/cautious approach to pushing forward with much-needed innovation. You can see how people have been conditioned in this very thread - some are expecting BB or even APF to be in their first years what Madden isn't in it's 5th or 6th yr of development. If Madden were actually held to a standard of what it should be, rather than people being thankful it isn't as bad as it was, we might see significant improvement. Until then they're going to remain protected by exclusivity because there simply aren't any other options.

Yeeeeaaaahhhhh Boooyyyy!!!

[SeventhWard]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

I have a lot of respect for Ian. I was totally encouraged by his approach to the community during the development of Madden 10. However, in this interview when he says...

The hardware currently would have real problems with this amount of calculation

...I wholeheartedly disagree. Maybe I'm too passionate about Madden but hearing him say that got under my skin.

Perhaps it may be too much of a problem to incorporate a physics solution into their structure at Tiburon...but essentially throwing 360 and PS3 under the bus as being supposedly "not awesome enough" is downright wrong.

Perhaps I've been mislead, but the 'common gamer knowledge' says the full depth of processing power from this generation of consoles still hasn't been pushed to full potential. And I find it hard to believe that Madden is too much of a technical challenge for the industry, given that Backbreaker is able to do it, right now, at 60 frames per second.

I think this interview has had the effect of making me much more skeptical about the future of the series rather than optimistic.

-SeventhWard

[kd25]

Re: Madden NFL 11 Interview: Real-Time Physics and More with Ian Cummings (GoMadden)

Note quite. What Ian is saying is that instead of simply making the same old small updates to franchise and superstar, they're going to uproot the system entirely and blaze a new path. To do that, they're taking a break from the mode this year, to get a head start on the new mode(s) for next year.

then next year's franchise modes better be amazing