[CM Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big FN Deal

--quote spoiler'd for length-- Spoiler @CMHooe, my general issue with the "it's a video game" premise as a defense to a lack of realism, is that it being a video game is a given. Nobody has ever disputed or been confused as to if Madden is a video game or not, the question has been is it intended to be an arcade video game, simulation video game or some hybrid video game of the two. Well those working on the game have made it very clear that their intention is for Madden to be a simulation video game, ergo having it provide an enjoyable interactive experience one would want to find in a video game, in as realistic a manner as possible and applicable. To that point, the XP system currently does not follow in that vein, meaning offering the User a progression system they can enjoy directly interacting with AND doing so in a reasonably realistic manner. It's fine that doesn't concern or bother you personally but it clearly doesn't logically coincide with the goal of creating a simulation video game. Simulation and video game are not at odds with each other, they coexist to create a distinct genre. If Tiburon would embrace that fact to create an XP progression system that utilizes real world logic and parameters for collection and allocation, then that would be a reasonable offering in a simulation video game.

My overarching point is that Tiburon is basically paying lip service to the word "simulation" and nothing more because they are making a video game. A video game which is authentic to the NFL and its player experiences are designed with the NFL in mind, but at the end of the day it's still a video game. A video game which a user expects to have an active role in gameplay, be rewarded for successes in gameplay, and be punished for and learn from failures in gameplay.

Madden NFL is not intended and was never intended to be a full-on simulation, IMO. For starters, a simulation in the truest sense of the word wouldn't ever allow for user control of the players. A simulation wouldn't allow for me to hop in and throw passes, the AI would simulate where the passes are being thrown. A simulation wouldn't let me try to evade tacklers, the success or failure of any attempted tackle would be determined without my having any say in the matter. A simulation quite obviously wouldn't let me control how my players grow and decline over long spans time. To that end, any PC text-based football game or NFL Head Coach is more of a simulation than Madden has ever been. Hell, Head Coach might not even be a simulation because the user has control of play calling; the truest of simulations would just put the two teams in and spit out a result; i.e. AccuScore game forecasts.

The vast majority people who boot up their XBOXes or PlayStations expect to play a video game when they turn on their consoles and put a software disc in. To that end, Madden must cater to and rightly does cater to a crowd which expects to play a video game. What said vast majority do not expect is to turn on a video game and then watch it play itself.

There is an important distinction between these two products, a football simulation and an authentic football video game; which one do you really want? I personally prefer to play video games and decide the outcome rather than watch them decide the outcome for me, so I'd rather have the video game over the simulation. It's absolutely fine if you want the simulation, but if that's the case don't buy Madden. It's not a simulation, it never was a simulation, it never will be a simulation.