Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

[BillJ]

I miss the Vision Cone.

The only thing I would change on it was the control scheme. Using L2/R2 to look left and right through the available receivers and 'X' to pass the ball.

[stlstudios189]

the vision cone was amazing! I loved it

[Cobra84]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

1. Not really an innovation, games before were just doing what they could with the hardware available. The original Madden ran like crap because of 22 players.

2. I'm not really a franchise guy, but Tecmo Super Bowl 2 has a multi-season mode with trades five years earlier. I'm sure their were PC games based on the idea of franchise mode before Madden got it.

3. Wasn't there something similar in NFL 2K5 that was released earlier?

4. Good, but flawed, idea that was hated by many.

Passing windows

Don't remind me of those damn things. No visibility and only three receivers? Tecmo bowl style arrow over the head was a lot more functional.

[cowboysfan440]

whats really sad is that all of those were made before this generation of systems and with all the power of these consoles we still havent had games better than madden 2005

[RaiderKtulu]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

Madden playing 11 on 11 football is not an innovation. Madden wasn't even the first game to do it.

There was a game called 4th & Inches, which came out the year before Madden

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6130897/p-7.html

And there was an NFL game on the NES in 1989 (same year as the first Madden computer game) that was also 11 on 11: http://nesguide.com/games/nflfootball/

[Reyliak]

I'm very sad that unfortunately we've been playing the same roster updated game for the last 5 years or so. Too bad there are not more choices for consumers, but with the greed of people and exclusive licenses, that will never happen.

[shavane]

There really hasn't been anything that Madden has done that has truly been innovative. I mean they added things like pro-tak, sideline catches, better accelleration, but nothing truly out the box. I don't think Madden is a horrible game but it definately doesn't feel next gen.

Ever since the infamous 06 trailer that had us all fooled into thinking that was what Madden would grow into they really haven't achieved any excitement in a long long time. Its sad that a game like 2k had so many things right on a ps2. Its sad that a game like BB though majorly flawed has a lot more potential than Madden. Its really is like they just keep adding some new paint and shining the same game up instead of taking that step forward into a new next gen Madden. We all can see the vision in our heads of how Madden should look, feel, and play by now but EA seems unwilling to deliver.

[DirtyJerz32]

I may be in the minority here but, I loved the vision cone. I think it was a great idea that didn't come off correctly. But, if it was in the game today as it was then, I'd be using it. Hopefully they bring it back with more upgrades to it.

[boooey]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

dam.. 20+ years, and you could only come up with 4 things?
and 2 of which are debatable as whether they are really innovate or not.
talk about a backhanded compliment, lol

but it really tells you a lot about the direction of this game.. and its only getting worse every year

[TheWatcher]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

And there was an NFL game on the NES in 1989 (same year as the first Madden computer game) that was also 11 on 11: http://nesguide.com/games/nflfootball/

Perhaps the worst football game ever made. The only other one I'd put up there would be Touchdown Football for 7800, which was coincidentally developed by EA.

[TheWatcher]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

I don't know if this is more ironic or sad, but I would list Madden's commentary back in Madden '93 and '94 as a major innovation for it's time.

Yeah, and even the level of innovation with that is questionable, because the Joe Montana Sportstalk series commentary blew that away. The commentary in Montana was flowing play-by-play, while Madden's was just "Boom", and "Where'd that truck come from" and a few words from Pat. I know they tend to say they were the first with commentary, but it was a lame effort compared to its competition.

[RaiderKtulu]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

Yeah, and even the level of innovation with that is questionable, because the Joe Montana Sportstalk series commentary blew that away. The commentary in Montana was flowing play-by-play, while Madden's was just "Boom", and "Where'd that truck come from" and a few words from Pat. I know they tend to say they were the first with commentary, but it was a lame effort compared to its competition.

Just goes to show that being first doesn't really matter. As much as some people may enjoy bashing EA, doing it for "not innovating" is rather pointless. They weren't the first to use 3d player models either - Gameday did that, but when both games went from ps1 to ps2, Madden's graphics made Gameday look silly.

EA doesn't really need to be innovative with Madden, they just need to implement the right things from other games and improve on them.

[charter04]

It's funny how everyone wants Madden to be so inovative and change everything. The only way that could happen is if they had 2 to 3 years to work on a game, like non-sports games get. Some 5 to 10 years and they still suck. Why would EA take that long when they will make lots of money every year as long as people keep buying it. I buy Madden every year, so I am not hating on Madden. I would be will to get a new game every 3 years or so with year roster DLC, if it meant getting the game we all want. I think I am in the minority though and that is the problem. Backbreaker is headed in the right direction but how long did they work on it and still failed in so many areas. If they had to release a game yearly since 1989 I bet it would not be what it is or even be a game at all. We can knock EA all we want but they are a company and for a company the bottom line is more important than making hard core fans happy.

[nasatate]

Re: Out of Bounds: Best Madden Innovations

Madden can still come out on a yearly basis. Look at what Activision does with COD. Releases it every year with different developers every year. I think the best idea is to have two development teams rotating each year so that the quality doesnt get sacrificed.

[charter04]

Making a FPS like that is a less of a task than Madden. Even MW2 Had so many mulitplayer problems. Making a game play like real life with 22 players on the feild at the same time and including all the other things people want is harder. For one thing I want off-line dynasty to be great. How many others, as far as percentage, even care about that. I here people crying for better Be Superstar Mode. I could care less about that. Some just care about the play on the field. There just seems to be way to much to get right if you bring out a game every year. Unless you get the foundation right to start and then build on that. Because EA has went from Sega to PS1 to PS2 to next gen systems they have not been able to, or have been unwilling to start from scratch on the foundation. 2k got that part right and they where able to build on that. I just don't think you can completely start from scratch on a game engine in one year. NBA elite is doing it, but they had to reach the point of such desparation, because of sales. NHL 11 is sort of doing it, but I don't think they had to scratch everything. We will see how it works for NBA Elite. If things go well with it maybe it will for EA to put the guy in charge of NHL and NBA elite over the Madden franchise. I think he could really do the job.