[Big FN Deal]

Quote: Originally Posted by CM Hooe

I'm not sure what this has to do with anything? The released version of Madden 2006 was not broken, regardless of quality and regardless how tight the window between having a fully stable build and a gold master. NBA Elite was never released after a broken demo. Madden 2006 never saw a demo, much less a broken one. I'm not sure what else there is to say. Having unstable builds in-dev happens. I've experienced it first hand; particularly under compressed time schedules, things have a way of breaking in new ways at the worst possible times. Making video games is hard. In-dev instability is not something that should be held against a developer so long as whatever is released to the public is stable.

I'll state it one more time then leave it at that, Madden 2006 for PS3/360 was an admitted bungling, much like the handling of NBA Elite. Both set out to develop something that they realized wouldn't pan out prior to release but Madden was still able to salvage a releasable game, in an exclusive market, whereas NBA Elite would have been released in a directly competitive market. It begs to reason that if the NBA Elite demo had been released in a scenario where EA had a NBA exclusive license, they would have salvaged what they could for a release, like they did with Madden 2006.

Ergo, a clear example of a moment a poor quality Madden was likely able to avoid a NBA Elite style cancellation due to the exclusive license.