Five Things EA Sports must do for Success in Madden NFL 13

[Xoax34]

NBA, NHL, AND MLB arent doing hot at all (or in NHL's case, even made). So....why not make a fictional football game!?

Ok so they got their rights taken away. They tried All-Pro. It didnt work. But here's the thing. Its 2012. We have now experienced multiple Madden Titles that make us wish for 2k back. I guess they worry about it not selling that well because they dont have the license. But im pretty sure that if they made a game, it would sell great. All they need to do is pull a Backbreaker and allow custom leagues, teams, stadiums, etc.

Now im not sure if they can just up and make a next-gen game, but a guy can always wish.

[graygriff78]

I used to look forward to Madden every year but not anymore, not since the last generation of Madden was I excited enough to pick up my copy of Madden on day one. EA has taken away one of my most beloved franchises. I'm still amazed at how last gen Madden (PS2/XBox) still handles gameplay much better then current gen Madden. About the only thing that current gen Madden handles better is graphics and that's not saying much, I still don't like the animations on the field of current gen. I still play last gen Madden for PS2 on my PS3 because of it's superior gameplay and unique features still not found on current gen. Franchise mode is so much deeper and addicting on last gen. I feel like Madden took a vacation on the current gen systems and maybe not be back till the next iteration of consoles and that's if we get lucky and a new developer can throw its hat in the game of football to create some healthy competition.

[Skyboxer]

Until they come up with OPTIONS for the passing game, instead of Hit X for X (ala something LIKE NFL Fever read and lead passing) I won't be happy. I know many are happy and satisfied with X for X system but it's time to add some options.

Also how about realistic ball physics?

Players running on and off the field when you switch sets/formations?

There's soooo much needed I hoep we start seeing some soon.

LIFE! Sorry but after a few games it's back to "Seen that, done that" feeling. Just gets stale way too quick.

[MeloJello]

Dude they are the only football game on the market they not going to listen. Why bother Rinse Recycle and Repeat. I thought people already know this by now. Why improve or listen when you know people going to buy game anyways. Its called business folks

[packers312]

Finally someone's wishlist is identical to mine. Who cares about franchise and all that stuff? I want some realistic simulation gameplay!!!

[sportdan30]

1. Commentary
2. Commentary
3. Commentary
4. Commentary
5. tons more tackling animations

[TNT713]

Re: Five Things EA Sports must do for Success in Madden NFL 13

I would love to see an animation thrown on the game like that first INT T.Polomalu made where he made a toe taping INT by the sideline. I been throwing it out there for the last few years that you do not see INTs around 1 to 2 yards from the sideline or the back of the endzone where they keep there feet inbounds. This is something I've been thoroughly paying attention for the past few Maddens. It's always dropped or batted down. They'll make a grab around 3 to 4 yards from the sideline but nothing right by the sideline or back of the endzone in that 1 to 2 yard gap.

TNT713 also mentioned on another site that they also need to make it to where DBs have to come down with full possession of the catch before they call it an INT. If you haven't noticed defenders are in the air when they start calling the interception without coming down to there feet with full possession of the ball like WRs have to on offense making it impossible for a WR to become a defender and knock it out the DBs hands on the interception attempt. That's another gameplay issue I would love to see fine tuned..

Thanks for bringing this up because it's relevant to the topic and its something I can really get behind!

Defensive catching: In 20+ years of Madden, I have seen exactly zero (0) combined sideline toe-tap catches and/or catches out of bounds by a defensive player. It's like defensive players have lose their ability to catch a ball near the sideline... Meanwhile, offensive players catch balls out of bounds all the time.

On the flip side, offensive players require a moment to secure a catch indicated by a reverse reticule that expands and disappears as they bring the ball in. If a defender swats or hits the receiver during this small window of time, the ball can be knocked out for an incomplete pass.

No such action occurs for defenders. By rule, it's not a catch until a player has clear control of the ball with two feet ("One Knee Equals Two Feet" is a great read by the way) down in the field of play. In Madden, interceptions are credited as soon as the ball touches a defenders hands (unless he's near the sidelines headed out of bounds). THIS MUST CHANGE!!!

Hopefully the screen will not rotate until defenders have completed the EXACT SAME PROCESS required of offensive players. This will give offensive players the same exact opportunity that defensive players have to knock a ball out before the "catch" is made according to NFL rules.

I actually read that entire "spoiler" and even though I think it seemed well thought out, it had very little to do with my post, imo.

EA giving gamers a general idea of how Madden mechanics work and leaving the rest on them, is like football only having coaches, coordinators, trainers and other support staff until reaching the pros. They are professionals after all, so they should know exactly what they are doing by then, right? Of course not and ditto for EA not offering support for how the football in Madden is designed to be played.

Wanting that has absolutely nothing to do with people being soft, whiners, bad Madden players or whatever because personally, I am neither and can win, have won, my fair share with the game as it is now. However, I don't enjoy winning, losing or even playing something that I feel doesn't present an enjoyable cohesive and in Madden's case, NFL "sim", challenge.

Being soft is part of the overall problem that is impossible for EA to fix...

In real life there's training camp, a combine, and tryouts to weed out the weak, untalented, and the lazy so they never get the opportunity to play a single snap of NFL football. Think about it this way - of all the football fans and players in the world - very few know what the grass in an NFL stadium feels like because they haven't earned the right to touch their feet on the field.

As much as I wish EA also had the option to deny players the right to play, it makes better business sense to sell Madden to every lazy, untalented, weakling that wants to shell out $60. Of course, guys with toughness are welcome to buy Madden too for the same price.

Regarding players in the NFL being professionals - I hearken to the 5 words Vince Lombardi used to open training camp every season (and I quote):

"Gentlemen, this is a football."

Sounds silly, but Lombardi never assumed his players knew what a football was - so he started with the most basic part of the game and built from there. It didn't matter that he was telling this to players that had won the championship the year before - he never assumed anything. What made Lombardi a great coach was how he communicated what he expected to his team...

The first time they practiced the famed "Packer Sweep" he'd say that it would be the basis for their success. There was no compromise - the PACKER SWEEP was the basis for their offense and they spent countless hours practicing it. The team knew that that play MUST WORK and it was their job to MAKE IT WORK no matter what... The other team knew it was coming and no matter how well they were prepared to defend it, the Packers were going to run it anyway - over and over again.

There was no assumption, no secrets, no guesswork on the side of the players because great coaches never assume a player knows what to do - no matter how long they have been professionals.

Even today, Lombardi's lessons are still heeded by the great coaches... QB's don't open training camp running any schemes; they start by taking snaps and taking a basic pass drop. Something we all expect a professional to know how to do... But if you don't correct the little errors early, they compound into glaring errors during a game.

Whenever a coaching staff does assume their players know what to do and skip the most basic steps because they think their players are professionals - you see stupid errors in the secondary like when the Giants and Cowboys met up earlier this year. It was merciless. DB's walking around throwing their hands up play after play because no one thought to tell them:

"Gentlemen, this is a football."

Emphasis on mechanics is CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS. While it may not be as important in games against the CPU that mean nothing - games against humans expose poor mechanics and any weaknesses we have. Correcting the errors in our mechanics, beginning with the most simple seemingly insignificant no-brainer aspects of the game, is the only way to build the consistency most players complain doesn't exist or have importance in Madden.

Until they come up with OPTIONS for the passing game, instead of Hit X for X (ala something LIKE NFL Fever read and lead passing) I won't be happy. I know many are happy and satisfied with X for X system but it's time to add some options.

Also how about realistic ball physics?

Players running on and off the field when you switch sets/formations

I'm with you on some of this... Not so much on the rest.

First, NFL Fever sucked. It wasn't the worst football game I've ever played (that was Gameday 99) - but it was close. What you deem as "X for X" isn't a fault with the passing interface in Madden - it is the beauty.

When Madden launched on consoles with only 3 eligible players (because there weren't enough buttons for 5) there it was still never just a simple "X for X." Even then the game had a built in option to throw a bullet or a lob. Ever since, we've had more options added to give us more variety. Now we can lead passes with the stick high, low, left, and right of a receiver. We can throw balls away several ways too - either with the R3 or by purposely over/underthrowing a receiver in a variety of directions. To consider all the possibilities that have been added without changing the basic "X for X" interface is nothing short of mind boggling...

Regarding players running on and off the field when they are subbed - I'd LOVE THAT. Haven't seen it since Madden '92 (or was it 93?). IT needs to return in place of the cut scenes that usually play out while were in the playcall screen... Heck, I'd be cool if they ran the ACCELERATED CLOCK down while players trotted out at time lapsed speeds...

And real ball physics are LONG overdue... The ball physics on 12 are as good as they have ever been, but they still aren't quite right. They need to be drastically improved - but it's the first year it's been a focus so I'll cut the devs some slack. I expect the ball physics to be much better on Madden 13 and beyond.

Dude they are the only football game on the market they not going to listen. Why bother Rinse Recycle and Repeat. I thought people already know this by now. Why improve or listen when you know people going to buy game anyways. Its called business folks

Why improve or listen?

Either you're saying this in jest or you have had your eyes closed for a REALLY LONG TIME. Take if from someone with firsthand knowledge - Devs listen and improve. If they hadn't, Madden 12 wouldn't be any better than Madden '06 (which was borderline nauseating). Yet, it's not just better than '06 - it's better than '11.

That said, Madden 12 is nowhere near perfect. But 30 years from now, Madden 42 isn't going to be perfect either no matter how powerful the systems get. No matter what EA does well, something can always be done better. The question isn't whether the game improves - but whether we ENJOY how it improves.

Later

[packers312]

1. physics
2. new animations for every situation (CATCHING, RUNNING, blocking, tackling, celebrations, taunts)
3. new player models (thinner, more detailed, different style dreads, tattoos)
4. more weather options (clouds, temperature, precipitation, wind)
5. new commentators, crowd reactions

[Jarodd21]

Re: Five Things EA Sports must do for Success in Madden NFL 13

Thanks for bringing this up because it's relevant to the topic and its something I can really get behind!

Defensive catching: In 20+ years of Madden, I have seen exactly zero (0) combined sideline toe-tap catches and/or catches out of bounds by a defensive player. It's like defensive players have lose their ability to catch a ball near the sideline... Meanwhile, offensive players catch balls out of bounds all the time.

On the flip side, offensive players require a moment to secure a catch indicated by a reverse reticule that expands and disappears as they bring the ball in. If a defender swats or hits the receiver during this small window of time, the ball can be knocked out for an incomplete pass.

No such action occurs for defenders. By rule, it's not a catch until a player has clear control of the ball with two feet ("One Knee Equals Two Feet" is a great read by the way) down in the field of play. In Madden, interceptions are credited as soon as the ball touches a defenders hands (unless he's near the sidelines headed out of bounds). THIS MUST CHANGE!!!

Hopefully the screen will not rotate until defenders have completed the EXACT SAME PROCESS required of offensive players. This will give offensive players the same exact opportunity that defensive players have to knock a ball out before the "catch" is made according to NFL rules.

Yeah I really hope they tweak this issue. This would be a great gameplay addition which is the only thing I care about right now.. I need stuff on the field to be fixed before all that extra stuff...

[JaySmooov]

Re: Five Things EA Sports must do for Success in Madden NFL 13

Thanks for bringing this up because it's relevant to the topic and its something I can really get behind!

Defensive catching: In 20+ years of Madden, I have seen exactly zero (0) combined sideline toe-tap catches and/or catches out of bounds by a defensive player. It's like defensive players have lose their ability to catch a ball near the sideline... Meanwhile, offensive players catch balls out of bounds all the time.

On the flip side, offensive players require a moment to secure a catch indicated by a reverse reticule that expands and disappears as they bring the ball in. If a defender swats or hits the receiver during this small window of time, the ball can be knocked out for an incomplete pass.

No such action occurs for defenders. By rule, it's not a catch until a player has clear control of the ball with two feet ("One Knee Equals Two Feet" is a great read by the way) down in the field of play. In Madden, interceptions are credited as soon as the ball touches a defenders hands (unless he's near the sidelines headed out of bounds). THIS MUST CHANGE!!!

Hopefully the screen will not rotate until defenders have completed the EXACT SAME PROCESS required of offensive players. This will give offensive players the same exact opportunity that defensive players have to knock a ball out before the "catch" is made according to NFL rules.



Being soft is part of the overall problem that is impossible for EA to fix...

In real life there's training camp, a combine, and tryouts to weed out the weak, untalented, and the lazy so they never get the opportunity to play a single snap of NFL football. Think about it this way - of all the football fans and players in the world - very few know what the grass in an NFL stadium feels like because they haven't earned the right to touch their feet on the field.

As much as I wish EA also had the option to deny players the right to play, it makes better business sense to sell Madden to every lazy, untalented, weakling that wants to shell out $60. Of course, guys with toughness are welcome to buy Madden too for the same price.

Regarding players in the NFL being professionals - I hearken to the 5 words Vince Lombardi used to open training camp every season (and I quote):

"Gentlemen, this is a football."

Sounds silly, but Lombardi never assumed his players knew what a football was - so he started with the most basic part of the game and built from there. It didn't matter that he was telling this to players that had won the championship the year before - he never assumed anything. What made Lombardi a great coach was how he communicated what he expected to his team...

The first time they practiced the famed "Packer Sweep" he'd say that it would be the basis for their success. There was no compromise - the PACKER SWEEP was the basis for their offense and they spent countless hours practicing it. The team knew that that play MUST WORK and it was their job to MAKE IT WORK no matter what... The other team knew it was coming and no matter how well they were prepared to defend it, the Packers were going to run it anyway - over and over again.

There was no assumption, no secrets, no guesswork on the side of the players because great coaches never assume a player knows what to do - no matter how long they have been professionals.

Even today, Lombardi's lessons are still heeded by the great coaches... QB's don't open training camp running any schemes; they start by taking snaps and taking a basic pass drop. Something we all expect a professional to know how to do... But if you don't correct the little errors early, they compound into glaring errors during a game.

Whenever a coaching staff does assume their players know what to do and skip the most basic steps because they think their players are professionals - you see stupid errors in the secondary like when the Giants and Cowboys met up earlier this year. It was merciless. DB's walking around throwing their hands up play after play because no one thought to tell them:

"Gentlemen, this is a football."

Emphasis on mechanics is CRUCIAL TO SUCCESS. While it may not be as important in games against the CPU that mean nothing - games against humans expose poor mechanics and any weaknesses we have. Correcting the errors in our mechanics, beginning with the most simple seemingly insignificant no-brainer aspects of the game, is the only way to build the consistency most players complain doesn't exist or have importance in Madden.



I'm with you on some of this... Not so much on the rest.

First, NFL Fever sucked. It wasn't the worst football game I've ever played (that was Gameday 99) - but it was close. What you deem as "X for X" isn't a fault with the passing interface in Madden - it is the beauty.

When Madden launched on consoles with only 3 eligible players (because there weren't enough buttons for 5) there it was still never just a simple "X for X." Even then the game had a built in option to throw a bullet or a lob. Ever since, we've had more options added to give us more variety. Now we can lead passes with the stick high, low, left, and right of a receiver. We can throw balls away several ways too - either with the R3 or by purposely over/underthrowing a receiver in a variety of directions. To consider all the possibilities that have been added without changing the basic "X for X" interface is nothing short of mind boggling...

Regarding players running on and off the field when they are subbed - I'd LOVE THAT. Haven't seen it since Madden '92 (or was it 93?). IT needs to return in place of the cut scenes that usually play out while were in the playcall screen... Heck, I'd be cool if they ran the ACCELERATED CLOCK down while players trotted out at time lapsed speeds...

And real ball physics are LONG overdue... The ball physics on 12 are as good as they have ever been, but they still aren't quite right. They need to be drastically improved - but it's the first year it's been a focus so I'll cut the devs some slack. I expect the ball physics to be much better on Madden 13 and beyond.



Why improve or listen?

Either you're saying this in jest or you have had your eyes closed for a REALLY LONG TIME. Take if from someone with firsthand knowledge - Devs listen and improve. If they hadn't, Madden 12 wouldn't be any better than Madden '06 (which was borderline nauseating). Yet, it's not just better than '06 - it's better than '11.

That said, Madden 12 is nowhere near perfect. But 30 years from now, Madden 42 isn't going to be perfect either no matter how powerful the systems get. No matter what EA does well, something can always be done better. The question isn't whether the game improves - but whether we ENJOY how it improves.

Later

[NFCastle]

They can put all of these in madden 13.

Unless I hear that the shoulder pad issues from madden 12 are NOT in it from draft classes, and that the UDFA logic gets fixed....then I will not be buying 13.

Franchise is the sole reason I play the game, and when you have to look at power ranger shoulder pads on all of your big name rookie players...it ruins it.

[at23steelers]

Re: Five Things EA Sports must do for Success in Madden NFL 13

@JaySmoov: Thank you for adding no insight while quoting a very long post. To make matters worse, you add a huge picture at the bottom of it! Thanks for the helpful criticism. At least if you're trying to be funny, do it in a clever, wise way and not this annoying nonsense to add clutter to this forum!

[Aggies7]

Obviously I like all 5 things you mentioned. But I am so happy you mentioned the little things. That what makes MLB The Show so enjoyable and realistic.

[gpe1975]

I didn't buy Madden this year for the first time since the series came out on Sega Genesis. It's just not a good game anymore and hasn't been for a very long time. The Show deserves my time and energy.

[TheTodd84]

Love the list. If, for whatever reason, real-time physics cannot be implemented on this generation of systems this year... then it MUST BE IMPLEMENTED in the FIRST ITERATION on the xbox 720 in the fall of 2013.

There is honestly no excuse for not having real-time physics in this gen or next gen. So, if they are still not using real-time physics for the xbox 720, then that is completely unacceptable, and Madden will go the way of the dodo bird. This HAS to happen... and it has to happen sooner or later.