Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

Yeah the 2K thing is really tired and old. NFL2K5....great game. Stellar presentation and franchise mode.

Yet at that time I played Madden 2005 5 times more than 2K. And I actually like Maddens gameplay a tad better than 2K5. They were so close to each other IMO.

The big issue is the lack of a huge leap since Madden went next gen. It has been up unitl Madden 2010 a big letdown.

But Madden has made some big strides in gameplay IMO with 2010 and now 2011. I expect gameplay to be even tighter in 2012 and the franchise mode to really be much better. I think it is safe to say Ian and the crew really know how passion filled there hardcore buyers are and I think they will try to give us what we want in 2012.

I hope it comes to fruition. For so many of us we are enjoying the game (2011) and we just need the deep immersion to make is truly great.

I will never try to convince any 2K vet that Madden plays better than 2K. That is a futile discussion. But there are many of us who feel Madden on the last gen played just as good as 2K5 (Madden 2005/2007). I love 2K5...tremendous game. But is has plenty of flaws and issues as well. All video games typically do.

Funny thing is I think Madden 2011 is the best playing Madden I have ever played and the only thing holding it back from being a truly great title is that killer franchise mode and a polished first class network presentation.

You have 2 camps.

1) Madden fans who love playing Madden but want the deep franchise back and Network style presentation

2) Those that can't stand the game in it's current engine and feel it is a total trainwreck and want gameplay totally overhauled.


Camp one is going to win out next year. I don't see an overhaul till the PS4 or whatever new console they roll out in a few years (I will be using PS3 for the next 8-9 years no question).

So back to my year one franchise!

[pietasterp]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

Yeah the 2K thing is really tired and old. NFL2K5....great game. Stellar presentation and franchise mode.

Yet at that time I played Madden 2005 5 times more than 2K. And I actually like Maddens gameplay a tad better than 2K5. They were so close to each other IMO.

The big issue is the lack of a huge leap since Madden went next gen. It has been up unitl Madden 2010 a big letdown.

This is the point, right? Madden was good in 2005 because their competition was good. Lack of a leap on next gen, coinciding with exclusivity....That's really what irks most of the guys here, not Madden in and of itself.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

This is the point, right? Madden was good in 2005 because their competition was good. Lack of a leap on next gen, coinciding with exclusivity....That's really what irks most of the guys here, not Madden in and of itself.

I was not talking about the lack of competition. I agree that is never a good thing. I was talking about those who are die hard 2K fans thinking it is a gimmie 2K would have made a much better next gen football title.

No way to ever know till it happens....if ever.

[grunt]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

I was not talking about the lack of competition. I agree that is never a good thing. I was talking about those who are die hard 2K fans thinking it is a gimmie 2K would have made a much better next gen football title.

No way to ever know till it happens....if ever.

APF2K8 was that game just without the NFL license or a franchise.

All things need competition or they will die. Now Madden is being compared with a basketball, baseball, and FPS. In reality Madden was never in a close market but a dynamic open market. Instead of having nagging little brother making football games (Visual Concepts) now their competition is with any firm making games in their demographics.

NFL2k5 was a next gen game in last gen clothes. If Visual Concepts made football games for the last 6 years where would the genre be today. My guess would be on the same level of NBA2k 11 or better.

Again I blame this on the short sightedness of the NFL. The NBA decided to go a different route and it worked for the NBA, developers, and consumers.

[Armor and Sword]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

APF2K8 was that game just without the NFL license or a franchise.

All things need competition or they will die. Now Madden is being compared with a basketball, baseball, and FPS. In reality Madden was never in a close market but a dynamic open market. Instead of having nagging little brother making football games (Visual Concepts) now their competition is with any firm making games in their demographics.

NFL2k5 was a next gen game in last gen clothes. If Visual Concepts made football games for the last 6 years where would the genre be today. My guess would be on the same level of NBA2k 11 or better.

Again I blame this on the short sightedness of the NFL. The NBA decided to go a different route and it worked for the NBA, developers, and consumers.

APF2K8 is a heck of a title. I agree. NFL2K5 feels last gen to me. I still play it. I still think it's great. But no doubt it is dated. And it should be it's almost 6 years old now.

Your probably right about Visual Concepts and if they had the dev time EA has had to develop a next gen football game it would probably be very good. I just don't think Madden 2011 is nearly as poor as so many here think. I think it is quite good and going in a very good direction. It needs more polish and TLC in presentation and depth and immersion in franchise mode to knock it out of the park. I am in the minority around here that gameplay is very good and a lot of fun.....offline. It takes good sliders, and game planning for the cpu...but it works well.

Sales are down because for a lot of players it has grown stale and other sports titles are better. No question. And gamers are getting more tight with their game buying budget.

[tlc12576]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

APF2K8 is a heck of a title. I agree. NFL2K5 feels last gen to me. I still play it. I still think it's great. But no doubt it is dated. And it should be it's almost 6 years old now.

Your probably right about Visual Concepts and if they had the dev time EA has had to develop a next gen football game it would probably be very good. I just don't think Madden 2011 is nearly as poor as so many here think. I think it is quite good and going in a very good direction. It needs more polish and TLC in presentation and depth and immersion in franchise mode to knock it out of the park. I am in the minority around here that gameplay is very good and a lot of fun.....offline. It takes good sliders, and game planning for the cpu...but it works well.

Sales are down because for a lot of players it has grown stale and other sports titles are better. No question. And gamers are getting more tight with their game buying budget.

This is what I'm preaching so hard around here lately. As fond of NFL 2k5 that some many of us are, I think the majority of comparisons of Madden to that game would be put to rest with the addition of a good network broadcast presentation to Madden 12. To hear all our nostalgia about NFL 2k5, someone that never played it would think it was some unreachable NFL game utopia. The truth is, 2k just copied what ESPN was doing with NFL presentation and placed it in their game, BRILLIANT!

I don't understand why the Madden devs feel the need to "re-invent the wheel" with their presentation. There is always room for improvement in gameplay with any game but the presentation in Madden is abysmal for a 2010 sports title. There are many subtle and beautiful NFL moments in Madden that so many gamers never notice because of the lack of immersion caused by the lackluster presentation.

Note to the Madden devs, nobody wants to eat filet mignon served on a trash can lid.

[Phixius]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

This is what I'm preaching so hard around here lately. As fond of NFL 2k5 that some many of us are, I think the majority of comparisons of Madden to that game would be put to rest with the addition of a good network broadcast presentation to Madden 12. To hear all our nostalgia about NFL 2k5, someone that never played it would think it was some unreachable NFL game utopia. The truth is, 2k just copied what ESPN was doing with NFL presentation and placed it in their game, BRILLIANT!

I don't understand why the Madden devs feel the need to "re-invent the wheel" with their presentation. There is always room for improvement in gameplay with any game but the presentation in Madden is abysmal for a 2010 sports title. There are many subtle and beautiful NFL moments in Madden that so many gamers never notice because of the lack of immersion caused by the lackluster presentation.

Note to the Madden devs, nobody wants to eat filet mignon served on a trash can lid.

It's more than just presentation. That game did a better job portraying the fundamentals of football, include better player interaction, and better physics collision.

Just throwing on presentation isn't going to make the game play better, I mean look what happened with NBA Elite with the ESPN presentation or the 2K Baseball games.

[shyvoodoo]

@ Armor

I don't think gamers hate Madden in general either. Look, madden is supposed to be the trendsetter, the standard bearer... all that.. All gamers want around here is to be that game already.
Madden should have been NBA 2k11 at the BEGINNING of the next gen cycle.

[LiquorLogic]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

I was not talking about the lack of competition. I agree that is never a good thing. I was talking about those who are die hard 2K fans thinking it is a gimmie 2K would have made a much better next gen football title.

No way to ever know till it happens....if ever.

It is a gimmie that if there was competition, 2k11 would've been better than M11 is now. The thing is, M11 would have been better without exclusivity also.

I mean, game-play wise, 2k8 is better than Madden 11 in a lot of people's opinions. You can include my opinion in that group.

[Blue Line]

@ Armor

I don't think gamers hate Madden in general either. Look, madden is supposed to be the trendsetter, the standard bearer... all that.. All gamers want around here is to be that game already.
Madden should have been NBA 2k11 at the BEGINNING of the next gen cycle.

i agree, i don't really think people hate madden that much its just that madden hasn't made long enough strides to please the hardcore madden fans. madden has been around for over 20 years and most of the madden fans have grew up playing madden and are now grown adults...and grown adults won't keep paying $65 for a couple of upgrades every year. IMO the madden consumer has become more responsible and aware of the business aspect that falls into game making and game sales. fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice, shame on me.....fool me every year, shame on both of us.

[kjcheezhead]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

Idk, I think a lot of people do flat out hate these new Maddens. On Madden 07,08 I was in a franchise league on the ps2 with about 8 other guys and they were die hard fans. Hardly a night would go by that all of them would be online playing Madden.

Madden 09, we made the leap to ps3. By Madden 10s release, about 5 of the guys were still into it. By Madden 11's release, 2 of them bought the game. The other 6 went on to NBA Live 10, the COD series or something else. I couldn't get them to play Madden 11 if I shipped them a copy for free, they hate it that much.

[Blue Line]

Idk, I think a lot of people do flat out hate these new Maddens. On Madden 07,08 I was in a franchise league on the ps2 with about 8 other guys and they were die hard fans. Hardly a night would go by that all of them would be online playing Madden.

Madden 09, we made the leap to ps3. By Madden 10s release, about 5 of the guys were still into it. By Madden 11's release, 2 of them bought the game. The other 6 went on to NBA Live 10, the COD series or something else. I couldn't get them to play Madden 11 if I shipped them a copy for free, they hate it that much.

the product upgrade isn't worth the money anymore....people are turning away from what was once a great game.

[Senator Palmer]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

Idk, I think a lot of people do flat out hate these new Maddens. On Madden 07,08 I was in a franchise league on the ps2 with about 8 other guys and they were die hard fans. Hardly a night would go by that all of them would be online playing Madden.

Madden 09, we made the leap to ps3. By Madden 10s release, about 5 of the guys were still into it. By Madden 11's release, 2 of them bought the game. The other 6 went on to NBA Live 10, the COD series or something else. I couldn't get them to play Madden 11 if I shipped them a copy for free, they hate it that much.

That's pretty sad. You really have to drop the ball to lose fans with that kind of devotion.

[stoncold32]

Re: Madden Sales Down 18% Y-o-Y in October

Sadly, I'm sure Black Friday sales bumped the Madden sales up tremendously from people buying blindly just because "it's Madden"

These are the people who are indirectly hurtign the game more than anything.

[Jukeman]

So much for simple being better.