On the contrary, I'm not saying at all that you're defending them. I'm saying that the term "engine" gets thrown around and has been for year. They have supposedly redone their engine many times and yet we're still here.
I actually do know what an engine is and it's irritating to me to see the term just thrown around as if it was the key to all ails in any game. I don't care how good your "engine" is - if you want to make a bad game, a good "engine" isn't going to stop you.
Actually, a game is constructed using many different "engines". You named 3 just now. For the record, we've been lead to believe that those games actually DO share some subsystems, including but not limited to the animation system.
Heh. It's not as if FIFA (look up CLOSE) or Madden (look from any distance) are looking all that great either. The difference you're seeing in Live animations are the actual animations. I could definitely believe they all share the same animation system. That includes low level animating logic, data format, tools, etc...
As I read it, I guess it WOULD come off as pointed squarely at you. Wasn't really my intent. And, yes, I do have an abrasive sense of humor sometimes. I just lose my manners when I'm really annoyed. My apologies.