IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

[FroznYogurt]

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/114/1148006p1.html

Thought this was a great read from IGN about the exclusive licence.

[roadman]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

It's something that I've always believed.

Article was ok, nothing new or earth-shattering information, just the cold hard facts.

[RedZoneD25]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

The truth hurts, and most of the people on here know it.

I understand it's a business, I really do. That doesn't mean it's right. I bought both games from each company from 2002 to 2005. It's a real shame that we are left to wonder where each game would be today if Madden still had competition.

[BlueNGold]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

Great article. It would be nice if IGN did more of this and showed as much knowledge on sports games as they did here.

Also it's good that a site like IGN wrote something like this. Not saying OS doesn't have a voice, because it most definitely does, but I'm sure upstairs at EA an article like this might speak a little louder to them than a random dude's post on a message board.

Anyways, I'm looking forward to Madden this year. I have my reservations about it because 11 wasn't as great an improvement as I thought it could have been, but I have faith in the current dev team.

[43M]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

Amazing article.

Not because there is alot of new light shed...but because its the cold hard truth I didnt think IGN would ever tell.

[Hooe]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

This article is written with an obvious bias against EA. I agree with the premise that the lack of competition hurts the consumer, but there were plenty of changes between Madden 10 and Madden 11 that are completely ignored by this article. Madden Ultimate Team is completely ignored, for example, not to mention the addition of online leagues, online co-op, a plethora of presentation features, and significant work to the core game on-the-field.

Also, to say that franchise mode was "completely untouched" is inaccurate; there were improvements to things like the stat simulation engine and touch-ups here and there. The point stands that they should have done more, but to say they didn't touch it at all is simply wrong.

[FootballDetails]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

Great article.

It covers familiar territory, sure, but until the exclusive license is a thing of the past, that's fine by me.

[Step2001]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

Read the article and don't see the bias against EA! They state how gameplay has improved. Did they go into detail? No! We who purchased the game now the level of improvement Madden has underwent in two years.
The amount of things this dev team had to fix has been noted. They themselves have been upfront about this and it's appreciated.

I think this is frustrations about Franchise mode not getting touched last year. Going two years with a sub-par mode that the majority of people buy Madden.

[St. Chaos]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

This article is written with an obvious bias against EA. I agree with the premise that the lack of competition hurts the consumer, but there were plenty of changes between Madden 10 and Madden 11 that are completely ignored by this article. Madden Ultimate Team is completely ignored, for example, not to mention the addition of online leagues, online co-op, a plethora of presentation features, and significant work to the core game on-the-field.

Also, to say that franchise mode was "completely untouched" is inaccurate; there were improvements to things like the stat simulation engine and touch-ups here and there. The point stands that they should have done more, but to say they didn't touch it at all is simply wrong.

You've got to be ****ing kidding me.

I don't really speak out against Madden around here... for one the mods are quick to jump onto you, and for two I just think it's a waste of time. EA clearly doesn't care (they bought the license, after all, it helps them not hurts them), the NFL doesn't care one way or another, and the government doesn't care about this form of monopoly either, therefore, I say were just screwed. That's why I just have to decide what years to buy Madden and what years I won't. Losing $60 every now and then means little to nothing to EA, but it's about the best any of us can do at this point.

But for you to honestly try to use the likes of Madden Ultimate Team to prove a point is ludicrous. What UT looks like to most Madden gamers (and scouring any forum, gaming event, or tournament would prove this) is a huge gaping void of wasted time. ALL of the many things in this game that are completely broken or so screwed up they may as well be, and they honestly dumped time and "effort" into that crap.

Online leagues? They're a joke. And Madden's online gameplay has been so fantastically prone to being laggy for so many years that any game played online has moreso to do with how well the game ran than how skilled the players were on any level.

Many (I'm almost inclined to say most) of the presentation features are either horribly implemented, a waste of time, or broken. The chain gang coming out almost always means you're about to have your time wasted because it is usually CLEARLY evident whether or not a player got a first down. And the commentary in '11? Whoever handled the flow of commentary between Gus and Cris needs to be fired. Cris still talks to Tom Hammond ffs...

Significant work to the core game... what exactly are you referring to? Year in and year out they spend time fixing the silly, broken gimmicks that they put into the game that shouldn't even be there in the first place. The core game is actually FUBAR. You can't play a game of football when neither side of the ball has a line with any clue as to what is going on, and the linemen in Madden are DEFINITELY idiots. They don't know who to block, they don't know what gap to shoot, the linebackers often display amateur-level awareness of the ball carrier, they can't coordinate attacks based on the play OR the players (ie, double teams) and somehow, after all these years, body parts on players still aren't solid, and running backs can often run through holes that, visually, aren't even there. EA is certainly, FINALLY making forward progress on things, but everything is so long overdue at this point it's hard to even commend the effort. Not to mention, I still can't come up with a valid reason for the pacing of their fixing and/or implementing things. EA isn't a small company, and a year isn't a long time, but it's not a short time either.

As for franchise mode, I don't think it was to be taken literally. You could easily nitpick and say they did something, but from a reasonable perspective (and certainly a broad perspective) they pretty much did nothing. And they don't need to do anything right now, because the core principles of the game of football are broken in madden anyway.

Until blocking logic is fi... screw fixed, until there is something worthy of being called "blocking logic" in Madden;

Until defenders are reasonably aware of ball carriers and understand gaps;

Until balls and players don't go through each other;

Until receivers can catch balls in stride;

Until cornerbacks can cover receivers reasonably without warping or running the route before the receiver

Until quarterbacks comprehend when to take a sack and when to throw away the ball...

the very LAST thing they need to be concerned with is franchise, footprints on a field, mascots, team trinkets/"symbols" and all the other random crap people keep getting them to waste time considering. Madden essentially fails in most categories of actual football. I don't even know the word to describe the magnitude of such a problem in a so-called simulation football game. Maybe all the little random, semi-useless junk helps people ignore the glaring screwups in the game, but for alot of us it just adds insult to injury, and is rather agitating.

I want my Terrible Towels in the game just as much as Packers fans would love seeing cheese all over the place. But if Terrible Towels have to be foregone for a while for my 3-4 defense to finally function a little bit like one, so be it. Building skyscrapers on top of toothpicks is completely asinine, and Madden has enough junk thrown on top already. It's high time that the base get some long overdue maintenance.

[RedZoneD25]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

the very LAST thing they need to be concerned with is franchise

I vehemently disagree with this. Not to say you don't make some valid points, but I do believe franchise work is necessary. A lot of hardcore franchise players have been waiting patiently since Madden 10's facelift for much needed depth.

[Jono078]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

This article is written with an obvious bias against EA. I agree with the premise that the lack of competition hurts the consumer, but there were plenty of changes between Madden 10 and Madden 11 that are completely ignored by this article. Madden Ultimate Team is completely ignored, for example, not to mention the addition of online leagues, online co-op, a plethora of presentation features, and significant work to the core game on-the-field.

Also, to say that franchise mode was "completely untouched" is inaccurate; there were improvements to things like the stat simulation engine and touch-ups here and there. The point stands that they should have done more, but to say they didn't touch it at all is simply wrong.

What?

Did you read it properly? They said yes they make improvements, but who's to say that improvement from year to year wouldn't be FAR greater if they had a little competition?

Second thing is big whoop about Madden Ultimate Team, Online Co-op and that stuff when core gameplay and features are still lacking.

[100 Proof]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

@St Choas, while I agree with your general point about the basic football things that have gone lacking in Madden over the years, I don't agree that the other things should be ignored until those things are corrected. I actually feel like that practice has added even more frustration to the Madden community, yourself included. We all would love to see Madden be a better football simulation but improving other things in the meantime seems like an obvious win, IMO.

Whatever the reason for Madden not being able to meet most of our "sim" standard, should have no bearing on consensus things being ignored. According to their own internal data, franchise mode is an important aspect of Madden so it's just not logical to leave it virtually untouched even 1 year. Also, little things like terrible towels, broadcast presentation, progressive lighting, etc, while not consensus additions, should not go missing every year either just because "sim" elements like DB-WR interactions, etc, have been.

I would rather have features people actually asked for like terrible towels and missing "sim" upgrades than things nobody asked asked for like the strat pad and still missing "sim" upgrades.

Considering the 6 year track record of exclusive Madden NFL football, do you honestly want everything else ignored in the game until they get "sim" to your liking?

[PGaither84]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

I vehemently disagree with this. Not to say you don't make some valid points, but I do believe franchise work is necessary. A lot of hardcore franchise players have been waiting patiently since Madden 10's facelift for much needed depth.

I have been waiting since Madden 07 for Franchise mode to improve. Well, to be fair, since the release of Madden 08. 07 had a great franchise mode and while it was mostly just a tuned up version of 05's, it was really nice. I have been on the 360 since 08 and we still do not have a franchise mode that is even a shadow of what we used to have.

While every implication has been made that Franchise got a lot of love, I'm not holding my breath. It's February, I am going to still have to wait 6 more months [alike likely another 10 days after that] before we will even know for sure. AND if it isn't, then we have another year plus wait on top of that? I hope people can start to understand the frustration that eventually turns into anger. BUT it is just a game... so what ever.

[RedZoneD25]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

I have been waiting since Madden 07 for Franchise mode to improve. Well, to be fair, since the release of Madden 08. 07 had a great franchise mode and while it was mostly just a tuned up version of 05's, it was really nice. I have been on the 360 since 08 and we still do not have a franchise mode that is even a shadow of what we used to have.

While every implication has been made that Franchise got a lot of love, I'm not holding my breath. It's February, I am going to still have to wait 6 more months [alike likely another 10 days after that] before we will even know for sure. AND if it isn't, then we have another year plus wait on top of that? I hope people can start to understand the frustration that eventually turns into anger. BUT it is just a game... so what ever.

I have as well. I was just reiterating how Madden 10 was the first year that Ian was in charge, therefore is a new era of sorts. Yes, Madden 07 (PS2) is my favorite game of the series for those exact reasons. We both went to X360 at the same time frame, but I went and played the backlog (06 and 07) and I'm frankly stunned how much of a blind eye has been turned to what is a lot of other sports games' flagship mode. The only reason we seem insatiable and perturbed over the current state of Madden's franchise mode as we know it is because it HAS been better in a much earlier version. Sure, the games simmed slower, but every single thing about Madden 07's franchise mode down to the little claps and boos when you select a player in the Draft is what will always remind me of my best Madden days. I can only hope and hope again that Madden 12 can bring back the feeling I used to have when I never wanted to put Madden down. Though, even with how deep that specific mode was, there were multiple things that were missing that I believe would have been added soon after if not for the fresh start on next gen.

Just my .02, sorry for the brick wall of text. I <3 Franchise Mode.

[PGaither84]

Re: IGN: You Can't Compete with Madden... EA and the NFL Won't Let You

You just made my new signature. Thanks.