Did EA/Tiburon stumble into another generation?

[SageInfinite]

Do you think they took the right approach this time around?

I think once again they misunderstood what people were upset about with Madden's transition onto a new console. I think so much time went into making sure all the features made the transition into the next generation instead of advancing the actual look and feel of the game. I don't think they realized if they delivered an amazingly realistic looking and playing game, some of the short comings on the feature side would be forgiven.

I think the exact opposite occurred where now they are expected to be forgiven, or to get a "pass" because all of the "features" made it over, but the game is basically the same.

Now a majority of us haven't played the game, but from those who have, they said for the most part it played the same. Also for the most part it looks almost exactly like current gen(presentation, animations, player models). Also seems that way because EA/Tiburon is basically keeping Madden out of the spotlight before the masses can get their hands on it, which usually doesn't bode well for a title.

So what would have been better? A game lacking the full feature set, but for the most part a next gen experience on the field? Or what we have seem to have gotten, a game fully featured, but not really advanced at all in terms of on the field gameplay or modes?

Did Madden stumble into another generation?

[sportzbro]

All you have to do is look at the work the 2K team has put in and compare that to what we're getting with Madden (and probably Live as well). The difference is night & day, and clearly shows a difference in talent/effort - whatever it may be.

Gone are the excuses of disk space, time management/resources (billion dollar companies have this problem?), "we're looking into it/sometime in the future," etc. People want a truly great game - it's totally obvious that it's possible looking at other releases, yet EA/Tiburon keep pumping out a mediocre product.

EA stumbled jumping from PS2/Xbox to PS3/360, but from this gen to X1/PS4? How do you trip when you don't even try moving forward?

[cavs25]

This is a false dilemma that has been created by Tiburon and EA.

Either we have a brand new game with no features or the same game with all the features..
You can have both if you try.
Look at NBA 2k14, they managed to do a great job from what I can tell.

[roadman]

Interesting subject, Sage.

I've seen this on Twitter.

CGers stating we are getting a full featured game and gamers still aren't satisfied.

I feel the backlash of CG hurt them going into NG.

Ish........

[N51_rob]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

Interesting subject, Sage. I've seen this on Twitter. CGers stating we are getting a full featured game and gamers still aren't satisfied. I feel the backlash of CG hurt them going into NG. Ish........

Honestly I feel that the GCer program has failed EA on so many levels. They went out of their way to make all the GCers were "friendly" with EA, they are not getting forceful criticism anymore. The GCers that they do have only interact with their sites and people they "like" means that many good ideas are never being brought to EA. I know that the newest community manager was a former admin/co-owner of TOS and spent about three weeks here before OS got shunned again. They are hearing what they want to hear. When one of the largest sports gaming communities is largely ignored how is the program working?

No one trust the EA Game Changers because its the same circle.

"Oh man this, this and this are gonna be awesome"

"Mark my words Hiroshima, Nagasaki!!!"

Game Releases to the Mass Public

"Its not our fault it was working when we where there"

"They must've changed the code after we left."

Can someone please tell me one idea from the Game Changer idea site that has been fully implemented yet. Yes EA is stumbling into this gen because they didn't need to produce a launch day title, but they knew they could cash in on one if they did so they ported over current gen warts and all, "fixed Oline interactions" and added "True step". Lipstick on a pig if you ask me.

[fballturkey]

It's a fair enough point that this launch is probably better than the ps3 and (although I was briefly away from gaming at the time so I don't remember it) ps2 launches, because of how awful those launches were when it came to feature removal.

That shouldn't be an either/or though. We should have substantial on the field improvements AND not lose a bunch of features, especially considering their excuse for Madden last year losing some things (some of which did end up back in) was that they were preparing for the next generation.

[bad_philanthropy]

It is very odd how it was stated they were better prepared for this generation. If they meant by not gutting game features why not just say it? Then maybe they wouldn't have to hide the thing until its release, and incur more consumer ire.

A very small possibility is this port doesn't represent the future of Madden, and was mandated to cash in on the new console release, while a more substantive "next-gen" football title is under development in the background. I certainly doubt it.

[bucky60]

I thought I heard that this was being worked on for 2 years. If I'm wrong, someone please correct me. But being in the software development since the early 80's, I know it doesn't take 2 years to port code from one Hardware to another. Or it shouldn't with the right toolset. I know they added TrueStep, but it really is TrueStep 5% or TrueStep 10%. They also added a 3d stadium crowd and worked on a real pocket (jury's still out on this after what I heard from the other stream thread).

So it seems like minimal improvements. So I say they did miss the boat, unless the 2 years is just inaccurate. If the time frame is really since M25 CG, then I guess I wouldn't have expected much more. Except that NBA2K14 seemed to find the resources to make some significant improvements.

I just don't buy the choice of either gutting all features or having basically just a port being the only two viable options.