Re: Madden NFL 12 Video: Madden Ultimate Team Features, Screenshots Included
I usually dislike the use of This, but This. It's a tough sell, but the success of Fifa's mode means they will keep trying. They would be crazy not to.
If you don't know the FIFA Ultimate team version, it works to a fantastic degree because it's set up to continually give you small rewards as you build towards long-term solvency. If you're not looking to save up, you can buy a bronze pack after every game no problem. That will usually include three players and three contracts. So at the very worst, after every fourth game you've bought a team of basic players who can play for 12 games - none of MUT's problem whereby you're trying to keep a team afloat while 30+ players spend a contract every game.
With the game designed to make contracts matter only if you buy different packs to the team you're building e.g. constantly aiming for gold packs with your silver team will leave you running on empty, then you're off to the stockpiling races, and it becomes all about building squads with all sorts of requirements for the various tourneys - I currently have a "best imports of MLS" squad I'm working on for the one-league tourneys, before I'll try to get a Celts squad and Arsenal Exiles.
That's the other HUGE advantage Fifa has over Madden in this regard - the sheer variety of players and teams. No need to worry about designing your own kit, pretty much every kit in the game (thousands) are available in packs. The players of the week / year, the hundreds of world stars and the need to have great bronze and silver players - not just gold - makes every team unique. In three years of playing it, I've gained soft spots for random players in the same way I used to cherish generated Madden rookies. This year it's all about Spanish silver goalie Casilla (the cut price Casillas), and my afro-festooned bronze centre back Charles (automatically means plenty of Charles in Charge references).
Oh yeah, and the length of games helps big time too. I'd have to sink three times as much playing time into Madden to get the same amount of cards. Less reward for endeavour = harder to keep your interest.
But why after all that negativity should they still be pushing it? This year's Fifa 12 collector's edition is the Ultimate Edition, which will bag you so many gold packs per month. Two million people played UT this time round, and I know people who work in the game shops who are expecting the price war to revolve around which shop gets you the most packs.
THAT'S why Madden will keep investing in MUT until it becomes one of the if not the premier mode. If you think their loyalties should solely lie in building up offline franchise - a mode I would argue encourages people to skip iterations of Madden because they're enjoying their franchise too much - then that's a very blinkered view.
I usually dislike the use of This, but This. It's a tough sell, but the success of Fifa's mode means they will keep trying. They would be crazy not to.
If you don't know the FIFA Ultimate team version, it works to a fantastic degree because it's set up to continually give you small rewards as you build towards long-term solvency. If you're not looking to save up, you can buy a bronze pack after every game no problem. That will usually include three players and three contracts. So at the very worst, after every fourth game you've bought a team of basic players who can play for 12 games - none of MUT's problem whereby you're trying to keep a team afloat while 30+ players spend a contract every game.
With the game designed to make contracts matter only if you buy different packs to the team you're building e.g. constantly aiming for gold packs with your silver team will leave you running on empty, then you're off to the stockpiling races, and it becomes all about building squads with all sorts of requirements for the various tourneys - I currently have a "best imports of MLS" squad I'm working on for the one-league tourneys, before I'll try to get a Celts squad and Arsenal Exiles.
That's the other HUGE advantage Fifa has over Madden in this regard - the sheer variety of players and teams. No need to worry about designing your own kit, pretty much every kit in the game (thousands) are available in packs. The players of the week / year, the hundreds of world stars and the need to have great bronze and silver players - not just gold - makes every team unique. In three years of playing it, I've gained soft spots for random players in the same way I used to cherish generated Madden rookies. This year it's all about Spanish silver goalie Casilla (the cut price Casillas), and my afro-festooned bronze centre back Charles (automatically means plenty of Charles in Charge references).
Oh yeah, and the length of games helps big time too. I'd have to sink three times as much playing time into Madden to get the same amount of cards. Less reward for endeavour = harder to keep your interest.
But why after all that negativity should they still be pushing it? This year's Fifa 12 collector's edition is the Ultimate Edition, which will bag you so many gold packs per month. Two million people played UT this time round, and I know people who work in the game shops who are expecting the price war to revolve around which shop gets you the most packs.
THAT'S why Madden will keep investing in MUT until it becomes one of the if not the premier mode. If you think their loyalties should solely lie in building up offline franchise - a mode I would argue encourages people to skip iterations of Madden because they're enjoying their franchise too much - then that's a very blinkered view.
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