I recieved my copy of Madden 2011 in the mail yesterday, opened it, waited for my Girlfriend to head out, then began to play. I have played alot of games between then and now, had alot of friends over and had a tourney, I hopped on the forums and saw many are not happy with Madden this year, I must admit I am not either, I preferred 2010 myself over this game.
The reason I am writing this is not to discuss what this years Madden does right and what it does wrong, I am writing this in hopes that the Madden franchise will hear me out and decide to focus on what I believe is the best way to develop the Madden Franchise from here on out.
I am a hardcore sports fan, NFL in particular, I only play sports games and I really enjoy playing them online. One thing every year when Madden comes out people say is "that would never happen in the NFL, plus Chris Johnson doesnt wear his Reebok armband either, its unrealistic and it sucks!" This is the first point I would like to touch on.
When did we get so concerned with accessories being 100 percent accurate and things that arent important to the game? I wonder how long it takes for these things to be implemented because so many people complain about them if they arent accurate.
Gameplay is the most important factor in any video game, so as an NFL game what do I want from Madden? I honestly dont care if they get locomotion in there, I dont care if they slow the gameplay down, I dont care what they do to make it look or play like its sunday, the truth is, its not. It is a video game that represents the NFL, so what do I want from it?
I want a video game where for everything the offense can do, I have a counter on defense, and vice versa, I want to know when I have a WR wide open, with a clear line of site, just push the button for a normal speed pass, he should get that pass there and complete. I understand in the NFL sometimes qbs will miss open WRs, but this is a video game. I want my skill in this game to decide if I win or lose, not something like a random missed pass by my QB.
I want to know that if my opponent is going to run 30 of his 32 offensive plays in the game, I can stop him effectively, because I know his play, Defensive post snap pass/run on the stick was a great feature perhaps that could make a return?
I want to know if I simply hit to wrapup tackle a rb in the backfield with a decent rated tackler, like Trent Cole, I should bring him down, it should not be broken, it should not be dragged into a 5 yard gain, if I go for a hitstick and the RB countered and gained fine, but not when I hit a simple wrapup tackle.
I would like it when someone does the same play over and over and I know its coming, I could someone pre snap tell me corner to play dumb, and then hop in front of the route I believe the WR will run, if I am wrong, the WR would be wide open, but for people constantly exploiting a play, it would be a great counter idea for the D.
My point is, we should not hope to emulate what we see on sunday exactly, because when we do that, the developers try to put these innovations in to try and replicate something as best they can and it often backfires. We should only hope that they create a game where our skill as a player and the choices we make throughout the game decide the outcome.
Thats just my take on it, my two cents. Feel free to add input, or to say you think im an idiot if ya do, but please say it nicely
