Madden NFL 16 News Post

Madden NFL 16 Features All-New Controls to Dominate Air Supremacy

05:42 PM - April 17, 2015 by Steve_OS

GameStop has revealed a quick feature on their Madden NFL 16 page. There isn't much to go off of here, but it's fun to speculate what it could be for the game. It obviously has something to do with WR/DB interaction, but it will be interesting to see how they implement it.

Guess we will find out something more official in May, when the first news, features and details arrive, but until then, what are your thoughts?

Quote:


	Be the playmaker in Madden NFL 16 with all-new controls that allow you to dominate in the battle for air supremacy.

Madden NFL 16 is scheduled to release on August 25th.

Source - GameStop, thanks PastaPadre!

Game: Madden NFL 16Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: PS3 / PS4 / Xbox 360 / Xbox OneVotes for game: 24 - View All

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Member Comments

# 121 roadman @ 04/23/15 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	See this is where they **** up. Yes, most people wont want to play 15 min quarters in order to get realistic stats. But some people will so you should give them the option. That goes for everything else. Most people dont want to deal with pass interference or holding calls but some do. So they should give us that option.

I agree, simulation mode/fun mode and somewhere in between mode, casual mode.

# 122 kjcheezhead @ 04/23/15 09:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunlmason


	I've had this discussion at Tiburon. What I'm usually told (I'm greatly distilling these conversations) is: "We want to be authentic, but where it doesn't make the game tedious." Their oft-cited example is, "You want 100% realistic? Yes? So you want to play 15 minute quarters?" I'm as big a simulation guy as there is and that's a valid point for the vast majority of gamers.

This goes along with the penalty argument. Some people do want 15 minute quarters with or without accelerated clock. Some people want a full assortment of penalties. With Madden the only option available you should be able to do these things. Why included penalty sliders if they aren't going to work anyways?

For the most part, I don't think people are talking about stuff like they. They mean route based passing, realistic movement, gap assignments, on the field realism. No I don't think any of they is tedious. It's actually more fun because people actually learn to read defenses or understand how to stop a certain run with real strategy instead of madden ball.

# 123 RGiles36 @ 04/23/15 09:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunlmason


	What game in this genre has reinvented itself?

Was referring to sports gaming genre. Games that have gone through reinvention as I know it: FIFA, MLB the Show, and NHL of the previous generation. It's quickly becoming ancient history as time moves on, but I recall each of those games being discussed years ago as games that went through transitions in just a couple cycles to become solid representations of the sports they were replicating.

A more recent example would be the WWE2K series. Has the game completely changed in its next gen debut? No. But the changes that were made are fundamental changes (real fatigue system, chain wrestling, refined and slower animations, etc). All of a sudden, you have perhaps the most realistic representation of pro wrestling gameplay in a very long time. And the current developer has only had the license 2-3 years.

Again, it's baffling how other games can turn this corner in a few years, while Tiburon is peace mealing the transition to a new era of Madden.

# 124 aholbert32 @ 04/23/15 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	This goes along with the penalty argument. Some people do want 15 minute quarters with or without accelerated clock. Some people want a full assortment of penalties. With Madden the only option available you should be able to do these things. Why included penalty sliders if they aren't going to work anyways? For the most part, I don't think people are talking about stuff like they. They mean route based passing, realistic movement, gap assignments, on the field realism. No I don't think any of they is tedious. It's actually more fun because people actually learn to read defenses or understand how to stop a certain run with real strategy instead of madden ball.

Most people dont think that way. Take me. I'm an admin at OS (the biggest hardcore sports video game site) and I've played Madden since the early 90's. In all that time, I have never used a hot route. I've never done a offensive line adjustment. I rarely call audibles. Most people just want to call a play and then run the play. If they added gap assignments, I dont see me using it much. Now if it was automated in some way I think I would love it.

So I think the way EA sees it is why focus on things like gap assignment or route based passing that most fans either wont use or will find tedious. I dont agree with that approach but I understand it.

# 125 kjcheezhead @ 04/23/15 10:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	Most people dont think that way. Take me. I'm an admin at OS (the biggest hardcore sports video game site) and I've played Madden since the early 90's. In all that time, I have never used a hot route. I've never done a offensive line adjustment. I rarely call audibles. Most people just want to call a play and then run the play. If they added gap assignments, I dont see me using it much. Now if it was automated in some way I think I would love it. So I think the way EA sees it is why focus on things like gap assignment or route based passing that most fans either wont use or will find tedious. I dont agree with that approach but I understand it.

Completely disagree. I bet if you looked at EAs data that tracks all this stuff you would find an overwhelming majority that use hot routes and pre snap adjustments. You really have two types of players though. The SIM minded guys that try to use these features for realistic strategy and the online guys that look for loopholes where crashing a line one way and moving an lb in a certain place creates an unstoppable nano blitz or something to that effect.

The current simple approach caters to casuals and pick up and play types but at the cost of making it something tourney guys turn into a game that no longer resembles football at all.

# 126 Greg Putnam @ 04/23/15 10:54 AM

Is cpu vs cpu going to be in the game? If not, I'll not be buying.

# 127 aholbert32 @ 04/23/15 10:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Completely disagree. I bet if you looked at EAs data that tracks all this stuff you would find an overwhelming majority that use hot routes and pre snap adjustments. You really have two types of players though. The SIM minded guys that try to use these features for realistic strategy and the online guys that look for loopholes where crashing a line one way and moving an lb in a certain place creates an unstoppable nano blitz or something to that effect. The current simple approach caters to casuals and pick up and play types but at the cost of making it something tourney guys turn into a game that no longer resembles football at all.

I disagree. I bet if you asked the majority of people on this site "What is a Mike linebacker"......they would have no idea. Or a 3 technique DT. This is a site full of people who watch and play professional football games regularly but they dont get into the specifics of the sport. Those are the same people playing Madden.

Madden isnt just sim minded guys and tournament/online cheesers. Those guys are just more vocal (especially on OS). There are plenty of people who just want a football game that they can pick up and play and dont care about things they consider to be minutiae.

# 128 shaunlmason @ 04/23/15 11:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	Completely disagree. I bet if you looked at EAs data that tracks all this stuff you would find an overwhelming majority that use hot routes and pre snap adjustments. You really have two types of players though. The SIM minded guys that try to use these features for realistic strategy and the online guys that look for loopholes where crashing a line one way and moving an lb in a certain place creates an unstoppable nano blitz or something to that effect. The current simple approach caters to casuals and pick up and play types but at the cost of making it something tourney guys turn into a game that no longer resembles football at all.

I think some of the metrics would surprise you. I've heard some pretty shocking ones (the amount of people who start a CFM and never play a game, the people who play one H2H game online and never come back, etc.)

There is a definite balance required to make the game realistic yet accessible. Personally, I would approach it so the game defaults to "Rookie" out of the box, and that setting doesn't change ANY player ratings, instead it allows the CPU to help you by changing blocking assignments, alerting you to blitzes and showing you how to hot route to a check with me route, etc. If you chose to play on "All Madden" you get ZERO help.

I liken it to racing games and getting a racing line, or help breaking.

# 129 shaunlmason @ 04/23/15 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	I disagree. I bet if you asked the majority of people on this site "What is a Mike linebacker"......they would have no idea. Or a 3 technique DT. This is a site full of people who watch and play professional football games regularly but they dont get into the specifics of the sport. Those are the same people playing Madden. Madden isnt just sim minded guys and tournament/online cheesers. Those guys are just more vocal (especially on OS). There are plenty of people who just want a football game that they can pick up and play and dont care about things they consider to be minutiae.

Agreed. I play in leagues that are very fiercely competitive, and I still have the occasional person who doesn't understand why Vonn Miller wouldn't be a good 3-4 DE in real life. They have no concept of football outside of "ZOMG, he has high BSH doe".

# 130 shaunlmason @ 04/23/15 11:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RGiles36


	Was referring to sports gaming genre. Games that have gone through reinvention as I know it: FIFA, MLB the Show, and NHL of the previous generation. It's quickly becoming ancient history as time moves on, but I recall each of those games being discussed years ago as games that went through transitions in just a couple cycles to become solid representations of the sports they were replicating. A more recent example would be the WWE2K series. Has the game completely changed in its next gen debut? No. But the changes that were made are fundamental changes (real fatigue system, chain wrestling, refined and slower animations, etc). All of a sudden, you have perhaps the most realistic representation of pro wrestling gameplay in a very long time. And the current developer has only had the license 2-3 years. Again, it's baffling how other games can turn this corner in a few years, while Tiburon is peace mealing the transition to a new era of Madden.

I think those transitions were longer than you think, and if you look at real hardcore fans of each of those sports (outside of The Show, which is the gold standard to me), there are people who feel the same way you feel about Madden. There are PLENTY of people who think FIFA is still an arcade game, or that NHL doesn't come close to approximating hockey.

# 131 aholbert32 @ 04/23/15 11:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunlmason


	I think some of the metrics would surprise you. I've heard some pretty shocking ones (the amount of people who start a CFM and never play a game, the people who play one H2H game online and never come back, etc.) There is a definite balance required to make the game realistic yet accessible. Personally, I would approach it so the game defaults to "Rookie" out of the box, and that setting doesn't change ANY player ratings, instead it allows the CPU to help you by changing blocking assignments, alerting you to blitzes and showing you how to hot route to a check with me route, etc. If you chose to play on "All Madden" you get ZERO help. I liken it to racing games and getting a racing line, or help breaking.

I'm one of those people! Lol. I played over 100 games of Madden last year against the CPU. I played one online and it was against my cousin. Thats it. I assume there are plenty of people who are like me. I also know that there are plenty who arent.

# 132 shaunlmason @ 04/23/15 11:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	I'm one of those people! Lol. I played over 100 games of Madden last year against the CPU. I played one online and it was against my cousin. Thats it. I assume there are plenty of people who are like me. I also know that there are plenty who arent.

I'm kind of the spokesman for this...but find a good league with good people online. Way more rewarding than the CPU, and if you do it right not a whole lot more effort involved when you want to play.

# 133 aholbert32 @ 04/23/15 11:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunlmason


	I'm kind of the spokesman for this...but find a good league with good people online. Way more rewarding than the CPU, and if you do it right not a whole lot more effort involved when you want to play.

I wish I had the time. I've done leagues in the past (OS had an awesome NFL2k5 and Links league back in the Xbox days), but thats when I was young, single and childless. Its damn near impossible for me to find the time to schedule a game against someone and that would hold up the league.

# 134 rudyjuly2 @ 04/23/15 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	I wish I had the time. I've done leagues in the past (OS had an awesome NFL2k5 and Links league back in the Xbox days), but thats when I was young, single and childless. Its damn near impossible for me to find the time to schedule a game against someone and that would hold up the league.

Co-sign. Kids and family change the game. Plus I prefer my own sliders when playing the cpu.

# 135 kjcheezhead @ 04/23/15 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shaunlmason


	I think some of the metrics would surprise you. I've heard some pretty shocking ones (the amount of people who start a CFM and never play a game, the people who play one H2H game online and never come back, etc.) There is a definite balance required to make the game realistic yet accessible. Personally, I would approach it so the game defaults to "Rookie" out of the box, and that setting doesn't change ANY player ratings, instead it allows the CPU to help you by changing blocking assignments, alerting you to blitzes and showing you how to hot route to a check with me route, etc. If you chose to play on "All Madden" you get ZERO help. I liken it to racing games and getting a racing line, or help breaking.

I've done both of those things over the ps3 generation. I've never gotten past week 4 in an offline franchise since madden 08 on the ps 2 and I played less than 10 online games last year. It wasn't because the game was too difficult for me. It was because by my 5th game, I found the game frustratingly unrealistic and also boring. I decided to move on to games that were more fun. I finished 8-2 or 7-3 before someone chimes in I need to learn to play or get my game up.

Adding some realism and immersion might have kept me playing.

# 136 aholbert32 @ 04/23/15 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kjcheezhead


	I've done both of those things over the ps3 generation. I've never gotten past week 4 in an offline franchise since madden 08 on the ps 2 and I played less than 10 online games last year. It wasn't because the game was too difficult for me. It was because by my 5th game, I found the game frustratingly unrealistic and also boring. I decided to move on to games that were more fun. I finished 8-2 or 7-3 before someone chimes in I need to learn to play or get my game up. Adding some realism and immersion might have kept me playing.

For you....yes. For others....no. You may find gap assignments extremely interesting and many may agree with you. Many others may not find it interesting at all and never use the option. I'm not saying that EA shouldnt consider adding it but they tend to lean towards adding options that 1) will encourage the masses to buy the game and 2) that are going to be universally appreciated.

# 137 shaunlmason @ 04/23/15 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	I wish I had the time. I've done leagues in the past (OS had an awesome NFL2k5 and Links league back in the Xbox days), but thats when I was young, single and childless. Its damn near impossible for me to find the time to schedule a game against someone and that would hold up the league.

After my first child it took me some time to figure out how to schedule. My wife tolerates me playing because I was already doing it when we met.=) I only usually play a league game every other night, and most of the time it's about right after we put the kids to bed.

# 138 shaunlmason @ 04/23/15 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rudyjuly2


	Co-sign. Kids and family change the game. Plus I prefer my own sliders when playing the cpu.

Before anyone says this, I'm not saying you shouldn't be able to play how you want to play.=) Honestly, I get bored playing offline because I don't have the imagination to come up with a story. Online, there is a story because of the dynamics of the other people in the league.

# 139 Senator Palmer @ 04/23/15 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aholbert32


	Most people dont think that way. Take me. I'm an admin at OS (the biggest hardcore sports video game site) and I've played Madden since the early 90's. In all that time, I have never used a hot route. I've never done a offensive line adjustment. I rarely call audibles. Most people just want to call a play and then run the play. If they added gap assignments, I dont see me using it much. Now if it was automated in some way I think I would love it. So I think the way EA sees it is why focus on things like gap assignment or route based passing that most fans either wont use or will find tedious. I dont agree with that approach but I understand it.

This doesn't really make any sense. Gap assignments for example are a basic fundamental at every level of football. I learned what gap to fill the first time I put a football helmet on. You literally cannot have an organized game of football without gap assignments.

It's not a "feature" or addition that can or should be looked at as something a gamer would elect to use. It should be hard baked into the core of the game. Not having gap assignments is akin to building a video game of basketball game without a pick and roll, or a baseball game where the cutoff man doesn't get into proper positioning. It's basic stuff that doesn't have to be understood by the gamer unless they want to educate themselves. It's there because that's part of the sport at a rudimentary level.

Gap assignments may not be something casuals will notice, but when has that ever stopped Tiburon? These are the guys who used to put out blogs patting themselves on the back for getting the green dot on the signal-caller's helmets and admitted themselves it was something most people wouldn't notice.

So there's no excuse not to focus on route-based passing, or gap assignments, etc. because it'll make for a better game of football, even if it's something so seamless that most folks will only perceive, because when you don't, the game gets more and more wonky, which leads to more and more cheese, which gets really boring after a while even if you figure out a way to stop it, which leads to "fans" at all levels growing bored with the game anyway.

I mean every year... EVERY year there is at least one or two run plays that are just totally unstoppable like trap plays, or counters, or stretches, that would be consistently defensed with basic run fundamentals that should already be in the game. Instead have you got to go online or dig in a strategy guide that'll tell you to hot route this, crash the line that way, and show blitz into a bunch of mess that no team would do in real life.

And that winds up making a joke out of the game and being way more tedious than it should be which goes against any notions of pick up and play.

It's embarrassing that something so basic isn't already there.

# 140 CM Hooe @ 04/23/15 01:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Senator Palmer


	This doesn't really make any sense. Gap assignments for example are a basic fundamental at every level of football. I learned what gap to fill the first time I put a football helmet on. You literally cannot have an organized game of football without gap assignments.

I preface this by saying I absolutely agree with you that gap assignment AI is something that I want added see in the game as soon as possible. However, I want to make a point.

I took a poll of my office at my day job - a wide variety of experiences with watching football and playing video games - asking the following: "in the context of American football, do you know what a gap assignment is? (yes / no)"

Not a single person answered "yes".

This is probably a big reason why Tiburon hasn't bothered with gap assignments. Large swaths of their audience don't know and therefore don't care out of pure ignorance. As long as there are blockers making blocks against defenders and defenders attempting to shed blocks, that is enough to make the game authentic for the masses. These people will notice things like the Hit Stick, hot routes, and whatnot, because these are things the user can actually interact with. Gap integrity is the average video game player has no preexisting concept of. Gap integrity is something the user cannot physically interact with. Gap integrity doesn't move copies.

This is a systemic problem in football discourse not just unto Madden. NFL and NCAA broadcast coverage do a terrible job of explaining the details of the game to the public. Personally, I never played organized football, and I didn't know much at all about gap assignments and what until a couple years ago, and even then I had to deliberately seek that information out because I wanted to know more about football; it's not part of the mainstream discourse of the sport. Only last year did Madden even begin to attempt breaking down football with their coverage shells explanations and whatnot in the skills trainer. It's going to be a process to get this stuff into the game in a manner which is easy for the layman to digest.

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