A Plea to Madden Developers for Next Gen (And Beyond)

[ch46647]

EA Developers,

Since it is the start of the New Year and what most consider the last year before the next gen of console, I felt the need to write this. I have been on these forums since 2006. These forums are an INCREDIBLE source of information and ideas for developers of all sports games, particularly Madden. I used to be an avid Madden gamer and grew up with Madden as a big part of my childhood. I had such big expectations for Madden as we entered the next-gen era. Quite frankly, Madden has become an absolute disaster over the last 7-8 years. Please, please, please make things right with the fans as we head in to these new generations of consoles. Hire people like LBZ and others that know football, get the right people in place from a developer/creative team standpoint and find a solid group of upper management that will keep things on track.

Myself and MANY others are really hoping that you guys get things together and make Madden great again. There are so many other great sports games and games in general but Madden has just simply lost its way. Madden is so far behind other sports titles like NBA 2k, FIFA, The Show, NHL (Gameplay) that it is just inexcusable. I am really hoping that the EA team has been in FULL DEVELOPMENT mode on these next gen systems and is ready to absolutely hit a GRAND SLAM with the first iteration on the XBOX 720.

I believe that the root issue of Madden being so poor on this generation of consoles is the fact they rushed Madden 2006 out for the release of the console. I think the code and many other things were so broken that they just couldn't recover without starting from scratch and that is not what they wanted to do. Well now here we are and the "NEW" next-gen era is about to begin. There is no better time for EA to right the ship and return Madden to its glory days of being regarded as the standard for sports gaming.

Here is to hoping that EA gets Madden right for 2014 (15?)on XBOX 720/ Playstation 4. Not just "get it right", but be the innovative, exciting, creative, and detail oriented development team that built Madden as the pinnacle of sports gaming for many years.

Signed,

A loyal Madden Gamer since 92'

[roadman]

Man, ch, I echo your thoughts.

I keep asking myself over and over again how can they keep loyal customers like yourself and I happy.

I didn't play the game since September until last night. And several things reared their ugly head and I won't go into every nuance I noticed, but one of them, most of the times when a screen is called, there is a 90% chance a sack will come next.

Some screens are successful.

And just to add to your post Ch, limit the marketing departments influences in the game. Have marketing do what they do best, market the game instead of relying on their knowledge of what's best for NFL football, not Madden ball.

I guarantee you that if you stick to the movement, feel and realism of NFL football, you will see increased sales.

[splff3000]

Good post OP. I'm hoping for exactly the same thing.

[RGiles36]

Good post CH.

If there was ever a time when the Madden phrase "next year" carried some weight, it's now -- considering that popular speculation suggests new consoles are hitting this year, or early 2014.

While I have managed to have fun w/ the past few Maddens, I never lost sight of how this game didn't represent its sport as well as some of the other sports game franchises.

So to me, all the chips are being pushed to the middle of the table. Tiburon is well aware of what NOT to do when launching on a new console. That I can confirm.

The question becomes will EA/Tiburon change the identity of Madden to be more on par with other popular sports games? Or do they still want it to be a watered down version of the NFL that's "fun" to play?

In addition, how will this game step up in terms of quality going forward? Will we still see sloppy cutscenes that feature players on the sideline whom are actually supposed to be on the field? Will the AI still call timeouts in the exact same fashion as it has the past 10 years or so? Will the AI still be unable to playcall its way out of a plastic bag?

With Kolbe/Weber in tow and certainly more power coming with the new consoles, we'll find out a lot about EA/Tiburon's vision for Madden whenever the next gen launches.

[Clemmie]

Quote: Originally Posted by RGiles36

Good post CH. If there was ever a time when the Madden phrase "next year" carried some weight, it's now -- considering that popular speculation suggests new consoles are hitting this year, or early 2014. While I have managed to have fun w/ the past few Maddens, I never lost sight of how this game didn't represent its sport as well as some of the other sports game franchises. So to me, all the chips are being pushed to the middle of the table. Tiburon is well aware of what NOT to do when launching on a new console. That I can confirm. The question becomes will EA/Tiburon change the identity of Madden to be more on par with other popular sports games? Or do they still want it to be a watered down version of the NFL that's "fun" to play? In addition, how will this game step up in terms of quality going forward? Will we still see sloppy cutscenes that feature players on the sideline whom are actually supposed to be on the field? Will the AI still call timeouts in the exact same fashion as it has the past 10 years or so? Will the AI still be unable to playcall its way out of a plastic bag? With Kolbe/Weber in tow and certainly more power coming with the new consoles, we'll find out a lot about EA/Tiburon's vision for Madden whenever the next gen launches.

As a lifelong Madden fan, since 1989 on Sega Genesis, it has become clear to me that one of two tbings are true. EA Tiburon does not have the talent to make Madden the proper simulation of the NFL based off of the same legacy issues, poor AI, and the entire way players move and interact with each other on the field. OR, EA TIBURON has NO SAY and is directed by EA corporate to rehash the same ol same il with some fluff because tbey are happy with sales.

How many development leads have came in with high enthusiasm to only get beat down and leave with their tail between their legs? The latest guy Adembroski is the latest disgruntled employee and he summed it up best. Madden is the original Call of Duty business model. Same tired engine, update rosters, tweak it and tune it a bit, ship it. It sells. There is no way of denying it. This game is in DIRE need of a refresh all the way through, and if they havent been working toward that on next gen dev kits, the proof will be in the pudding. Only way this game REALLY improves is if EA corporate is unhappy with the sales. Or, another developer is allowed to make an NFL licensed game.

[atc43]

Great Post. All ive got to say is the first iteration on Next Gen is Madden's last chance for many.

Im positive if we see any semblance of what happened with M06 alot of diehards will jump ship. I for one will not sit through 8 years of mediocrity again.

All it is now is a waiting game...

[at23steelers]

At RG and anyone who wants to chime in: How is Madden 14 perceived then, being the game that comes out a few months before the new consoles hit? Are they fearful of adding much new, since they will have to translate it to next gen, will this one be more of a roster update, as they are focusing most of their attention on next gen, or are they doing as much as they can on this one with not much sight of the future?

[Drtro]

What I expect -
AI reconstruction
CCM updates and fixes (simulation engine, bug fixes, more imprecations on schemes, etc.)
Improvised gameplay and controls to work for both sim players and typical Madden gamer.

What we will get -
Actual referee names
Updated rosters
Things that should of been in CCM this year

[ch46647]

When I wrote this post several of the people I expected to chime in here already have. The reason I grew to love these forums is because most of the posters that have been here for a long time all feel the same way about sports games and in particular, Madden. We all just want a great game to enjoy and have fun with. I could just imagine how AMAZING the leagues and CCM could be with guys from this forum if there was a football game made to the quality of many of the other sports titles on the market today.

I am not an overly pessimistic person. While I havent played any of the Madden's over the last few years for more then a couple weeks. I still believe there is hope for the franchise and I believe Tiburon can deliver. I have said this already but I will say it again. I believe that Madden was rushed to push out Madden 06 for the XBOX 360 launch, and in doing so the foundation was an absolute disaster. I also believe that for the first 3 years (06-09) the direction from the leaders at Tiburon was not where it needed to be. However, I DO feel that changed with Ian and his team in 2010. I believe the developers saw how popular "SIM" sports games were becoming and started shifting focus back to what once made them great. (Not that Madden or any sports game was ever completely SIM but Madden was the standard of sports games for a long, long time) But because the foundation was so flawed I do not think the developers can make Madden play how it should without completely re-writing all the code. To make a drastic change like that it would require atleast a year or two to build and they didnt want to lose sales like that. They began just trying to build on top of it, and over the last two years we have seen several things stripped out and "re-built" but the basic foundation of the game is still so flawed that nothing they do can make Madden play like the other great sports games on the market. (NBA 2k, FIFA, The Show, NHL)

That brings us to this year or next when Madden will once again make the jump to a "next gen" system. I am hoping they have learned from their mistakes and behind the scenes they are putting SERIOUS effort and creative thinking into building a foundation for Madden that will blow the sports gaming community away. Quite frankly, they owe us this as many of us have been loyal to Madden and they have been delivering a poor product since 06'. The developers know what makes a great sports game, they've seen other companies do great things, they have phenomenal forums like these, and I am sure they have many great and creative minds in the building as well.

Blow us away Madden team. Blow the entire sports gaming community away. Make me say "WOW" when I put Madden in the tray for the first time on my XBOX 720.

[tfer717]

I agree 1000% with your post. I very much want to LOVE madden. but have really failed to since 2005 or so. I play the game pretty regularly every year, but still the same glaring issues occur. The game is nearly impossible to play at a SIM level. I pretty much suspend my disbelief every time I play it, just because it is the only NFL game made.

I hate to beat a dead horse..but this morning I threw in NFL 2k5 and STILL am awestruck how ahead it is of madden's foundation. The game is just so deep gameplay wise that it is kind of disturbing to then play madden and see the difference. When was the last time Madden gave u a wow moment? I can play 2k5 and still see animations I've never seen before. I throw in madden and I see the same animations multiple times in 1 game. It's sad... and it's even sadder to think of what the football gaming world would be if their was no exclusivity.