Press Row Podcast - Madden NFL 15 Developer Interview

[greenegt]

Great interview by Rich. I really like what I heard from the devs and it gives me great hope for Madden 15 and beyond.

[rtkiii]

I'm still listening to this but you know what bugs me is "We have a 3-5 year plan..." - but yet they expect us to buy it each year even though it is not truly the finished product. I feel they need to release Madden every 3 years...this every year and then rehash the mistakes and add little changes...etc...is old and I'm tired of it. something big will need to happen for me to buy this year.

[N51_rob]

Great interview. It really was good job Rich. Here is my beef with what he said. How many times have we as gamers been told about a 3 year plan? I seriously never want to hear about another "___ year plan".

Ive grown so tired of hearing that and it is really just an excuse to limit the year to year improvement. What happens if/when this guy leaves EA and someone else takes over, we get another "__ year plan".

I know its not his fault and he has a vision, but I am desensitized to EA and their 3 year plans for Madden. Isn't Madden 15 the end of Cam Webber's three year plan?

[Big FN Deal]

I tend to agree with the frustration towards the " __ year plan" but I thinks it's the execution of it, more so than the plan itself. The way this team seems to have gone about improving Madden is by picking a select few areas and fixing them as in-depth as they can versus doing everything football related in layers. I'm not necessarily saying their way is wrong, I just wonder if the more layered way, over multiple years, would be better received. Either way, it would take years to get the game reasonably complete but touching every aspect and then making it deeper every year after, could make the construction more gamer friendly, imo.

Anyway, glad to see areas so many have "wishlist" about for so long, seemingly being addressed.

[dghustla]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big FN Deal

I tend to agree with the frustration towards the " __ year plan" but I thinks it's the execution of it, more so than the plan itself. The way this team seems to have gone about improving Madden is by picking a select few areas and fixing them as in-depth as they can versus doing everything football related in layers. I'm not necessarily saying their way is wrong, I just wonder if the more layered way, over multiple years, would be better received. Either way, it would take years to get the game reasonably complete but touching every aspect and then making it deeper every year after, could make the construction more gamer friendly, imo. Anyway, glad to see areas so many have "wishlist" about for so long, seemingly being addressed.

I agree with you and I think most ppl would want to see more additions from year to year. But I also understand Rex's mindset because the game is basically broken(as we all know or assume) in so many areas that it takes entire cycles just to get it fixed. I mean Pass rush moves, coverage, Shading, QB accuracy (not so bluntly, but it's basically been admitted that QB ratings didn't matter, something we have all seen for ourselves but was pretty much ignored for years).

Even looking at Zone Coverage from last year. They tweaked Zone coverage logic for next gen as quick fix. And it still didn't play correctly so now they've gone in and re-done the entire things. In a way you could say they almost wasted 2 cycles on fixing coverage. But if the coverage doesn't work properly it won't matter what changes they make to WR/DB interaction.

I like what I hear but everything needs to work Day 1 out the box.

[rtkiii]

And the last comment..."Madden will be a high 80s low 90s in a few years.." Few more years!!!!! Give me a break.

Stop putting games out until you get to that point. Why is this acceptable for a company to put out a game that is not "What they have in mind." Blah...I know why because consumers are blind...Blah...I'm getting too old for this

Make a great game! then do roster updates as needed until you can release another complete game. I'll hold off on buying until the 3-5 year is complete.

[CM Hooe]

I honestly just ignore "X year plan" quotes anymore.

Yes, they have a long-term vision for the series and that's expected and good, and that road map probably changes at times, but long-term plans have no affect on how I see the current year's game.