Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

[RaychelSnr]

The NFL offseason is officially underway and this one in particular seems like it might just have a few tricks up its sleeve for NFL fans.

Especially when it comes to Madden.

We’ll get the normal NFL draft, mini camps and training camps, with the usual roster shuffling and rookie additions for us all to drool over.

There happens to be some other NFL-related issues that could have a direct impact on Madden’s product and what consumers see come August, though — assuming that is when the new version releases.

Here’s what Madden fans should be looking out for as the NFL offseason takes place.

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[SVCbearcat10]

Madden needs to be torn apart and rebuilt for next gen. However, I doubt they will do much more than in the past due to everyone will still be buying it. If you look at install sizes: NBA2k 41.8 GB, BF4 33.9 GB, AC4 21.2 GB, Killzone 38.5 GB... then there's the EA games with Madden at 13.1 GB and FIFA at 9 GB. You can't tell me they were trying their hardest or pushed last gen's hardware to the max when they, on average, had a game size less than half of everyone else this time around. All they care about, and rightfully so, is maximizing shareholder profits. Until the bottom line is hit, I wouldn't expect the game for the next few years to look much different than today or for them to pay attention to the details like NBA2K has or MLB The Show has.

[NicVirtue]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

As long as it keeps selling, they have no incentive to make the game how it should be in the year 2014 with all this technology. I may sound like part of the problem, but if I was selling a sub par product, the only product around, and people kept buying it, I wouldn't change a dam thing.

[tbook24]

i would like to see them do the extra point kick the same way they do in rugby. you have to line up to kick directly on line with where you scored the td. if you score on the sideline you line up to kick with the angle from the sideline

[asu666]

NBA 2K14 had a huge install size and ruined the franchise (imo). FIFA 14 has the smallest install size of the bunch and is a wonderful foundation for continued improvement over the course of the new-gen consoles. NFL 2K5 on Xbox has better presentation, and arguably gameplay, than Madden 25 on PS4/X1. The MLB series looks like it may school all other sports game franchises. Some teams have it, some don't. The Madden team's leadership clearly doesn't get it. NCAA 14 on Xbox 360 is more fun and a bigger and better game than Madden 25 on any platform. Hopefully they keep some of those devs to improve Madden 15.

[Hooe]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

Madden needs to be torn apart and rebuilt for next gen. However, I doubt they will do much more than in the past due to everyone will still be buying it. If you look at install sizes: NBA2k 41.8 GB, BF4 33.9 GB, AC4 21.2 GB, Killzone 38.5 GB... then there's the EA games with Madden at 13.1 GB and FIFA at 9 GB.

Disc footprint has absolutely no correlation with game quality. It is solely the amount of content (specifically textures, audio, meshes, and other game assets) used in the game. Rather, it's how the developers use the content that affects the quality of the game.

I wish I could say that this was the first time I've said this on this forum.

[Bruce LeRoy]

I swear if that catch animation in the OP is still in the next Madden! I mean how many years has that awkward looking catch animation been in this game!
I expect another gen of minor upgrades and tweaks on top of a broken engine every year, adding/ removing features, and a couple back of the box gimmick features. That's what I expect.

[SVCbearcat10]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

Disc footprint has absolutely no correlation with game quality. It is solely the amount of content (specifically textures, audio, meshes, and other game assets) used in the game. Rather, it's how the developers use the content that affects the quality of the game.

I wish I could say that this was the first time I've said this on this forum.

Zero correlation between amount of content in the game and gameplay?? Really??? It's not a correlation coefficient of 1, but it's fairly high. So if Madden would take out half their content, they could make a better game? Let's see what would happen to them next year if that happened. I agree amount of content does not guarantee a good game but lack of content to work with does.

It's funny how NBA2K and The Show have much more content and are considered great games while Madden lacks the content and wouldn't you know it... hasn't made a great game in years. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with it. NBA2k and The Show where 3+ GBs bigger on last gen than Madden and they were considered the best sports games of the generation.

You better keep preaching on these forums that the amount of content doesn't matter because as far as I can see, it absolutely does.

[Segagendude]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

Q:What to look for in regards to Madden?


A: More hype. Maybe a feature that was removed, being returned under the guise of "New".

[roadman]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

Zero correlation between amount of content in the game and gameplay?? Really??? It's not a correlation coefficient of 1, but it's fairly high. So if Madden would take out half their content, they could make a better game? Let's see what would happen to them next year if that happened. I agree amount of content does not guarantee a good game but lack of content to work with does.

It's funny how NBA2K and The Show have much more content and are considered great games while Madden lacks the content and wouldn't you know it... hasn't made a great game in years. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with it. NBA2k and The Show where 3+ GBs bigger on last gen than Madden and they were considered the best sports games of the generation.

You better keep preaching on these forums that the amount of content doesn't matter because as far as I can see, it absolutely does.

Maybe past 2k NBA games, but I traded mine in after 2 months. The push of VC and online connectivity was bothersome.

Good article. Time will tell what happens.

[newmich]

Maybe past 2k NBA games, but I traded mine in after 2 months. The push of VC and online connectivity was bothersome.

Good article. Time will tell what happens.

To each there own, I actually am in love with 2K on the PS4. That being said I do agree with you that the push of VC is bothersome, also I am not a fan of the menu layout on the PS4 version.

[Hooe]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

Zero correlation between amount of content in the game and gameplay?? Really??? It's not a correlation coefficient of 1, but it's fairly high. So if Madden would take out half their content, they could make a better game? Let's see what would happen to them next year if that happened. I agree amount of content does not guarantee a good game but lack of content to work with does.

It's funny how NBA2K and The Show have much more content and are considered great games while Madden lacks the content and wouldn't you know it... hasn't made a great game in years. But I'm sure it has nothing to do with it. NBA2k and The Show where 3+ GBs bigger on last gen than Madden and they were considered the best sports games of the generation.

You better keep preaching on these forums that the amount of content doesn't matter because as far as I can see, it absolutely does.

The five best games I played last generation were Portal (less than 650 MB on XBOX 360), Portal 2 (4.5 GB on XBOX 360), Rock Band 2 (4.6 GB on XBOX 360), NBA 2K11 (6.7 GB on XBOX 360) and Minecraft (113 MB on XBOX 360). As you can see the disc footprints of those games are all over the board, yet all are great games. Game mechanics are a far greater piece of the puzzle, and that's just code which has a trivial disc footprint.

If Madden doubled its disc footprint, the only immediate results you'd see are higher-res textures, higher-poly-count geometry, and a larger sound bank to draw from for commentary (note that this is completely separate from the commentary being any smarter, that is all code-side).

Again, file size absolutely has no bearing on how fun a game is.

[Ovie832]

Re: Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

The five best games I played last generation were Portal (less than 650 MB on XBOX 360), Portal 2 (4.5 GB on XBOX 360), Rock Band 2 (4.6 GB on XBOX 360), NBA 2K11 (6.7 GB on XBOX 360) and Minecraft (113 MB on XBOX 360). As you can see the disc footprints of those games are all over the board, yet all are great games. Game mechanics are a far greater piece of the puzzle, and that's just code which has a trivial disc footprint.

If Madden doubled its disc footprint, the only immediate results you'd see are higher-res textures, higher-poly-count geometry, and a larger sound bank to draw from for commentary (note that this is completely separate from the commentary being any smarter, that is all code-side).

Again, file size absolutely has no bearing on how fun a game is.

I guess Im just confused why superior games like Mlb the Show and Nba 2k always have a big hdd minimum requirement.. and Fifa, Madden and NHL are always much less. *not meant to be a wise crack or start an argument.. i truly want to know why.

[GiantBlue76]

It’s time they finally do something about it.

Is this a serious statement? Come on now. It's BEEN time for them to actually show they worked full days over there. YEARS. The right studio does not work on this game. The talent is severely lacking. Let's not even talk about the problems with the football on the field - because we could spend weeks discussing those. How about things like the CFM mode? Not a single change to CFM for the next gen consoles. Laughable. Draft classes that are loaded with WRs and Corners with 65 speed. Really? The line play is still very poor. Player movement is still silly looking. The physics engine is useless - like when you have a guy running into a 350 pound DT and he falls forward after taking the hit square on. The same exact, silly looking animations over and over. The development cycle for madden is 2 months tops, where they will implement something completely unrealistic like "total control passing". Then that's it. High fives all around. Hell, Madden doesn't even have an NFL authentic injury system. Players only get hurt after the play is over and flop over like a dead fish. How about the real time injuries in NBA 2k? Guys will limp, fall down and go to the floor if they pull a hammy. Instead in Madden we have injuries that came directly out of a sega Genesis game. The idea that anyone at Tiburon could be proud of this product speaks VOLUMES of them there and we see it in the final product. The only hope for football gamers is someone else getting the license. ANYONE else would be something gamers would come out for in droves to pick up. We are all tired of it now.

[Hooe]

Madden: What to Look for Out of the NFL Offseason

I guess Im just confused why superior games like Mlb the Show and Nba 2k always have a big hdd minimum requirement.. and Fifa, Madden and NHL are always much less. *not meant to be a wise crack or start an argument.. i truly want to know why.

In the case of the most recent NBA 2K game on next-gen consoles, I'd guess that a ton of the disc footprint relative to other games is related to a few things. Foremost, the sheer amount of audio assets. 2K has always been praised for their robust commentary, which has always had tons of lines for a smart commentary engine to play back in a variety of situations, and then on top of that you add in any game mode specific audio for MyCareer and MyGM, the sideline report audio, stadium arena audio, presentation-related audio, the on-court player and coach real voice interviews, and so on. Then add in HD texture assets for pretty much every player and coach in the league, signature animations for a large number of players in the league (2K does a tremendous job at capturing unique player likenesses), and so on, you end up with a game with a huge amount of assets.

I can't speak much to MLB The Show as I've never played it, I have no interest in purchasing a PS3/PS4 right now, and I have little interest in baseball to start with, but I imagine it's a similar set of circumstances; tons of audio, tons of unique animations, tons of texture assets to capture unique player likenesses.

All of these things with respect to assets show more attention to detail and increase player immersion, but don't necessarily make the games play better. The majority of that can be attributed to gameplay mechanics, game design, opponent AI, and online gameplay network code if the game is online-enabled.