Madden NFL 11 News Post

Madden's Current Gen Has Not Been a Success

12:21 PM - February 7, 2011 by RaychelSnr

To say that the Madden series has been a success this console generation would be an overstatement of the decade.

Think back to the year 2004, a year that could be summed up as nothing short of a football gaming utopia. NFL 2K5 aside, EA's Madden 2005 set the bar for all successive iterations in the series. The game was the perfect blend of polished gameplay, solid presentation, and new and innovative features like defensive playmaker controls. Madden 05 had football gamers glued to their consoles for months to come.

Fast forward to 2006 when the now infamous Madden "next-gen" trailer was released, and the hype surrounding Madden's move to the Xbox 360 and PS3 was at a fever pitch.

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# 41 TexasBorn1 @ 02/08/11 07:09 PM

I hope the Madden devs look at it as a failure. That they haven't been able to get the best out of the current gen's hardware. That has to be some motivation to improve

# 42 carnalnirvana @ 02/08/11 07:49 PM

those games mentioned in the piece all seem to have one thing in common, at some point they were not the market leader in terms of best product, so they had to innovate, while fifa always sold for a while on ps2 PES was the standard. nba 2k had always been good but live was selling alot as well.

then they brought new aspects to their games that helped them overtake the competition.

i disagree with one detail, as gamer who loves realism and a football fanatic (yes, soccer to americans), the beating madden takes should also be shared by fifa. fifa is as broken/unrealistic if not more than madden.

trust me, OS is not an accurate representation of the football community.

# 43 BrownsFan72 @ 02/08/11 08:37 PM

You nailed it. It has not lived up to anything close to what we thought it would be like. The franchise is awful and anyone that acts like the game is fine is a fanboy. It has nice parts but we all know the truth about this franchise and this stupid exclusive licence...

# 44 bukktown @ 02/08/11 09:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hitstreak13


	Sigh- I remember the days of having to choose between gameday, madden, NFL 2k, and blitz. Each game brought on a unique perspective/experience. I highly doubt we will ever see that again. Good analysis by the way.

Amen to that!

# 45 ernie07 @ 02/08/11 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eski33


	Nice blog but this whole topic has been beaten to death. You didn't mention anything new that has not been said or written in the past five years. From my standpoint and a longtime gamer (have played every rendition of Madden since its Apple II days) Madden isn't a failure. To gamers, yes, the game has not lived up to a certain level of expectation especially on consoles that are to have more power. From an economic standpoint, people are still buying Madden. If Madden is so bad, how is it making so much money? Simple -- There are people out there who find the game fun. I am on the fence. When the 360 / PS3 era came about, my expectations mirrored everyone else's. I couldn't wait to see what EA would do with more graphical power and with consoles having HDD as a norm, EA was sure to break out all the stops. Instead, what we got was a stripped down game that didn't have nearly the features the PS2 / XBox versions had. Since that time, the Madden series improved little by little each year. Madden 09 and 10 were great games with Madden 10 taking visual leaps over its predecessor. The problem with Madden is that there are people want it to fail that they spend every waking moment looking for bugs, glitches, issues, etc. and blogging, writing in forums and recording videos that go straight to YouTube for all to see. I understand why people do this. They want competition back which is a great thing. In looking at what the NCAA 11 team did, this has to push the ante for the Madden team because NCAA 11, although not perfect, is one of the best console football games to date. It is visually pleasing as well as the online dynasty has to be one of the best multi-player features ever (outside of BAP in NHL). To compare Madden to a game like Backbreaker is almost criminal. First, to say a developer with fewer resources created a revolutionary physics engine is a tad slanted. Keep in mind that the developer of Back Breaker developed the physics engine first THEN creaeted a football game as a way to show it off. They aren't a football game developer who created a great physics engine. Also, your blog makes it seem as if they created this physics engine in one development cycle which isn't the case. NatualMotion was working on that physics engine for years and it took almost as long to release BackBreaker. I have no issues with the physics engine that is currently utilized in Madden and NCAA. Only those that cannot get past the simple fact that these are games and they will never fully emulate reality will continue to be "unhappy" with the state of Madden and other games.

all i want is signature styles like NBA2k11....they do it well with the qb's but no one else. i continue to see animations in madden that have never happen on a football field, its pretty pathetic

# 46 droopizzle34 @ 02/09/11 07:13 AM

Until EA has competition,someone to push them to innovate,I am afraid Madden will always disappoint us. I truly believe the problem is they have no competition. I miss the days of choice,being able to choose between games. And competition always makes u want to be better,be the best. Madden needs a challenger,and if they had one, i bet it would push this game to new heights.

# 47 unfriendlyghst @ 02/09/11 11:44 AM

The problem has to be the marketing team. Imho, I believe that the madden franchise is the only game on the planet where marketing comes in and dictates what it is that they think will sell the most gamess, (ie. Gameflow,strat pad). Where as almost everyother dev team for every other game will have a vision and begin to develop it. As the game nears completion the meet with marketing and dictate to them what it is that they think are the most sellable parts of there game. I think the opposite is true for madden, thus the product is marketings vision and not the dev teams. Also let's not forget that the Nfl has a heavy hand as well, removing vicious hit animations and any and all tatoos from players. Those still shots of both teams squareing off at the line are a joke, no tatoos, what is the purpose of that kid friendly move? Claerly not something ian and co.. had in mind.

# 48 pietasterp @ 02/09/11 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by unfriendlyghst


	The problem has to be the marketing team. Imho, I believe that the madden franchise is the only game on the planet where marketing comes in and dictates what it is that they think will sell the most gamess, (ie. Gameflow,strat pad). Where as almost everyother dev team for every other game will have a vision and begin to develop it. As the game nears completion the meet with marketing and dictate to them what it is that they think are the most sellable parts of there game. I think the opposite is true for madden, thus the product is marketings vision and not the dev teams. Also let's not forget that the Nfl has a heavy hand as well, removing vicious hit animations and any and all tatoos from players. Those still shots of both teams squareing off at the line are a joke, no tatoos, what is the purpose of that kid friendly move? Claerly not something ian and co.. had in mind.

I think you might be on to something, although I would extend your argument to beyond just the marketing team (although they are a huge problem). Madden is just a case of too many cooks in the kitchen and corporate groupthink taken to an extreme. The product is so dilluted and over-homogenized for easy consumption by the masses that it no longer has any clear direction or "soul", the way a game does when it's designed from the heart by a sports-loving design team with minimal meddling from outside influences (see: Visual Concepts circa 2001).

The game could be great again, but it probably never will be because it is no longer a game for sports fans, it's a franchise flagship product that exists to promote the NFL and EA in general. Honestly, the comparison is no longer between Madden and NFL2k; the proper foil to Madden is something like the iPhone or Air Jordans...name-recognition consumer products. That's all "Madden" is at this point.

# 49 yount19 @ 02/09/11 04:04 PM

Let's face it; EA only sees the revenue totals as the ultimate goal. With no competitors in the way, they know that they will still make their money with the aid of one of the most lucrative licenses on the planet... the NFL. There is nothing to compare the Madden franchise to anymore. That is the single biggest reason that football video gamers have to revert to comparing the next-gen Madden to NFL 2K5.

# 50 droopizzle34 @ 02/09/11 05:14 PM

I'd like to add i dont think it would make a difference if 2k had the exclusive license or EA. Look at baseball, 2K cut out EA,and their baseball game has been horrible. The Show is better,but yet you can CHOOSE between the two. And 2k's online experience is horrible with both the NBA and MLB.. So people would be bashing 2K just as hard,or any company with the exclusive rights. I GUARANTEE if the exclusive license didn't exist you would have alot of happier football gamers out there. Don't like madden? go play 2k and vise versa.As long as this exclusive license exists we will be stuck in NFL football prison with no choice.

# 51 voodoo_magic @ 02/09/11 09:33 PM

Madden is like that veteran in sports who was once mvp of the league, but now only lives on his past accomplishments thinking they don't need to work in the offseason because they are a star, at least in their minds. The owners (millions of casual gamers) keep paying their salaries.

Things that boggle the mind about this franchise.
2k5 showed what a great football game can be with pretty good gameplay as well as fun to play.
Other sports games show what is possible on next gen.
Other ea sports games show that if pressed ea can make a good game.

Why can't they make a Madden that compares to the quality of other next gen sports games?
With all of the options put into games these days it seems simple enough for a casual gamer who is just looking for a fun game of football to tweak the settings.
Make the game a real simulation and with settings so it can be dumbed down for the casual gamer.

I've given up hope of them making this game like we want, maybe once the ps4/xbox come out something will change.

# 52 simgamer0005 @ 02/10/11 12:12 AM

It's the engine that changed. Madden 11 for PS2 is still a great game. If Madden put all their focus on the PS2 engine, Madden would pick up right where it left off with Madden 2005. The sad part is Madden is still making money despite a unworthy product. Madden on 360 / PS3 is not a game like Madden is on PS2. It's more like flipping a coin. In Madden 2005 on PS2, the game felt like a simulation of the sport. You could do the same things that you see in the NFL. Not so much on the 360 / PS3.

# 53 DaggerSwagger @ 02/10/11 11:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by droopizzle34


	I'd like to add i dont think it would make a difference if 2k had the exclusive license or EA. Look at baseball, 2K cut out EA,and their baseball game has been horrible. The Show is better,but yet you can CHOOSE between the two. And 2k's online experience is horrible with both the NBA and MLB.. So people would be bashing 2K just as hard,or any company with the exclusive rights. I GUARANTEE if the exclusive license didn't exist you would have alot of happier football gamers out there. Don't like madden? go play 2k and vise versa.As long as this exclusive license exists we will be stuck in NFL football prison with no choice.

amen to that!!!

# 54 roadman @ 02/10/11 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by droopizzle34


	*2K cut out EA,and their baseball game has been horrible. The Show is better,but yet you can CHOOSE between the two..*

I'm all for competition, but the above solution doesn't work for everyone. My only option would be to purchase a $400 machine to play The Show. Wife and three teenagers says that is impossible.

# 55 BostonJay14 @ 02/10/11 12:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by simgamer0005


	It's the engine that changed. Madden 11 for PS2 is still a great game. If Madden put all their focus on the PS2 engine, Madden would pick up right where it left off with Madden 2005. The sad part is Madden is still making money despite a unworthy product. Madden on 360 / PS3 is not a game like Madden is on PS2. It's more like flipping a coin. In Madden 2005 on PS2, the game felt like a simulation of the sport. You could do the same things that you see in the NFL. Not so much on the 360 / PS3.

agree with this 100%. they need to stop reinventing the wheel when they already have done things well on the PS2. they need to add and build off past success.

# 56 potsey7 @ 02/10/11 12:28 PM

I have followed these great forums for a long time and agree with the general disappointment with Madden. It just seems to me there is a disconnect between what those of us on this site believe vs. What is going on in the other "world". The developers do not see what we see or are not instructed to create a game that shares our vision. We think the game is disappointing yet it gets good ratings and the developers feel their game is improving. Perhaps the general gaming public is also satisfied with the product they are getting. I do not think we will ever see real changes that satisfy us when we are looking at the same fruit but one person says it's an orange and the others sees an apple (meaning us vs. Developers/other gamers)

# 57 kjcheezhead @ 02/10/11 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by roadman


	I'm all for competition, but the above solution doesn't work for everyone. My only option would be to purchase a $400 machine to play The Show. Wife and three teenagers says that is impossible.

The option is still there tho. Better to have to choose whether or not you want to spend the money on another system than to have no other game available at all.

# 58 roadman @ 02/10/11 12:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	The option is still there tho. Better to have to choose whether or not you want to spend the money on another system than to have no other game available at all.

In this household, if that is even an option, I'm shown the door. The only option I have in that case, Is new gaming system/door.

Not a very suitable option.

Difficult to comment on if you are not in that situation.

# 59 potsey7 @ 02/10/11 01:07 PM

I totally agree with the earlier post by pietasterp (can't believe I just typed that lol). Madden has become "diluted" and "over-homogenized). There has to be SOME REASON why madden people look at NBA 2k and The Show and STILL do not model their games after them. Maybe it's the competing forces of developers vs marketing vs the NFL who knows. All I know is after a year of development all we got was gameflow, strat pad, and a new announcer. What the heck was going on in those offices for an entire year??

# 60 roadman @ 02/10/11 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Okay, then it's not an option for YOU; however, it is an option, and a reasonable one, for someone who currently doesn't own a PS3 or a 360, and they are in the process of deciding which one to purchase. If you hit the lottery tomorrow, a couple hundred dollars wouldn't mean anything and you'd be enjoying The Show. If you wanted to play a current football game other than Madden, too bad. Win the lottery, find a cure for cancer, strike oil in your backyard, and you're still not playing a current football game not named Madden whenever.

All I was pointing out to people that you just can't assume everyone has disposable income to throw around. No need to go to extremes. Different strokes for different folks.

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