I feel the exactly opposite about Madden as I did a year ago. Last year i was excited about the focus of the game and looking foward to a more realistic football game. Im really NOT hyped about Madden 11. I really question the direction of the guys at EA Sports.
So tonight is the NFL Draft, and they will be debuting the new Madden NFL 11 trailer. Surely this will be pre-rendered CGI filler and not gameplay, so who really cares. But what bothers me is what I hear the top guys saying about the focus of the next Madden.
"Its all about going simpler, quicker and deeper." Ugh.
Now I know some casual players have complained about how complex Madden has become, but I personally like it. I want more in my sports games so that they look, play and feel real. They have different difficulty settings for a reason. Im not sure what they mean by "simpler" but I hope they don't dumb it down too much where we aren't doing anything. I like setting audibles, calling plays, hot routes, substitutions and all that stuff that really happens on the field. Otherwise you're just lining up, snapping the ball and letting it play out. That's not realistic.
The other thing is going "Quicker". WTF!!!?!?!?!?!? Their focus last year was to "slow things down" and make it play more realistically. That was a great design decision in my opinion. Madden had grown way too fast and arcadey over the past few years. So they slow the pace down a bit and now they are speeding it up again???? Seriously...WHAT...THE....F$&K. : (
I have no idea what they mean by "deeper"...sounds like a silly catch phrase to me.
I think the executives in the Madden boardroom have lot it. It's apparent that they don't have a clear direction for this franchise. Its like "hey our sales were down last year when we slowed it down...so lets make it quicker again. We might sell more copies if we make it simpler...so lets take out all the stuff that happens in real football to make it more accessable to the masses." What do you expect from a sales driven business right? I get that to some extent, but i dont think making it easier is the answer.
What they should be focusing on is making the gameplay perfect. This is the 6th Madden on Xbox360 and by now they should be fine tuning it...not starting over again. Get some real NFL presentation in there (yes NFL 2K5 style - and dont bite my head off for saying so, because that is STILL the benchmark 7 years later). Fix the run blocking, player behavior, AI, animations, atmosphere, details. Polish polish polish.
I feel the exactly opposite about Madden as I did a year ago. Last year i was excited about the focus of the game and looking foward to a more realistic football game. Im really NOT hyped about Madden 11. I really question the direction of the guys at EA Sports.
So tonight is the NFL Draft, and they will be debuting the new Madden NFL 11 trailer. Surely this will be pre-rendered CGI filler and not gameplay, so who really cares. But what bothers me is what I hear the top guys saying about the focus of the next Madden.
"Its all about going simpler, quicker and deeper." Ugh.
Now I know some casual players have complained about how complex Madden has become, but I personally like it. I want more in my sports games so that they look, play and feel real. They have different difficulty settings for a reason. Im not sure what they mean by "simpler" but I hope they don't dumb it down too much where we aren't doing anything. I like setting audibles, calling plays, hot routes, substitutions and all that stuff that really happens on the field. Otherwise you're just lining up, snapping the ball and letting it play out. That's not realistic.
The other thing is going "Quicker". WTF!!!?!?!?!?!? Their focus last year was to "slow things down" and make it play more realistically. That was a great design decision in my opinion. Madden had grown way too fast and arcadey over the past few years. So they slow the pace down a bit and now they are speeding it up again???? Seriously...WHAT...THE....F$&K. : (
I have no idea what they mean by "deeper"...sounds like a silly catch phrase to me.
I think the executives in the Madden boardroom have lot it. It's apparent that they don't have a clear direction for this franchise. Its like "hey our sales were down last year when we slowed it down...so lets make it quicker again. We might sell more copies if we make it simpler...so lets take out all the stuff that happens in real football to make it more accessable to the masses." What do you expect from a sales driven business right? I get that to some extent, but i dont think making it easier is the answer.
What they should be focusing on is making the gameplay perfect. This is the 6th Madden on Xbox360 and by now they should be fine tuning it...not starting over again. Get some real NFL presentation in there (yes NFL 2K5 style - and dont bite my head off for saying so, because that is STILL the benchmark 7 years later). Fix the run blocking, player behavior, AI, animations, atmosphere, details. Polish polish polish.
Some of you dudes who post on here just spew random ish out... If you remember last years debut trailer it was NOT CGI. Regarding your "Quicker" statement that was in reference to presentation aspect. IAN already said they are not making the game Arcady.
Some of you dudes who post on here just spew random ish out... If you remember last years debut trailer it was NOT CGI. Regarding your "Quicker" statement that was in reference to presentation aspect. IAN already said they are not making the game Arcady.
Missed that note from Ian. Im glad to hear that. But what do they mean by "quicker" presentation? I would like to see it slowed down and rolled out more. The cutscenes last year were so abvieviated that you couldnt tell what was happening. These should be done in real time - like MLB 10 The Show is doing. More stat overlays, out of town updates, commentary, sidelines...more. Not less.
Missed that note from Ian. Im glad to hear that. But what do they mean by "quicker" presentation? I would like to see it slowed down and rolled out more. The cutscenes last year were so abvieviated that you couldnt tell what was happening. These should be done in real time - like MLB 10 The Show is doing. More stat overlays, out of town updates, commentary, sidelines...more. Not less.
Hopefully by quicker they mean giving the user the option to skip cut scenes such as the repetitive chain gang and the such...
Hopefully by quicker they mean giving the user the option to skip cut scenes such as the repetitive chain gang and the such...
I totally get that some people dont want to see presentation. It can be repetitive, but if done correctly (like MLB 10) then it really can add to the immersion and atmosphere of the game.
Idealy they should have a Presentation setting in the menu to toggle how much broacast presentation you want to see: OFF, FEW, FULL.
Personally i want my games to look like they do on TV, so i want all that stuff in there. I like having those breaks between plays, but i respect that is not for everyone. Im just worried they are going to take stuff out of Madden and I feel that is the wrong direction. They need to improve and polish what is already there IMO.
I totally get that some people dont want to see presentation. It can be repetitive, but if done correctly (like MLB 10) then it really can add to the immersion and atmosphere of the game.
Idealy they should have a Presentation setting in the menu to toggle how much broacast presentation you want to see: OFF, FEW, FULL.
Personally i want my games to look like they do on TV, so i want all that stuff in there. I like having those breaks between plays, but i respect that is not for everyone. Im just worried they are going to take stuff out of Madden and I feel that is the wrong direction. They need to improve and polish what is already there IMO.
O NO NO Dude... I agree with you... I want to see all aspects of presentation including cutscenes. I was basing my comment on how they did certain cutscenes last year. Give the user the option to by pass cutscenes if they want.
"Its all about going simpler, quicker and deeper." Ugh.
Now I know some casual players have complained about how complex Madden has become, but I personally like it. I want more in my sports games so that they look, play and feel real. They have different difficulty settings for a reason. Im not sure what they mean by "simpler" but I hope they don't dumb it down too much where we aren't doing anything. I like setting audibles, calling plays, hot routes, substitutions and all that stuff that really happens on the field. Otherwise you're just lining up, snapping the ball and letting it play out. That's not realistic.
The other thing is going "Quicker". WTF!!!?!?!?!?!? Their focus last year was to "slow things down" and make it play more realistically. That was a great design decision in my opinion. Madden had grown way too fast and arcadey over the past few years. So they slow the pace down a bit and now they are speeding it up again???? Seriously...WHAT...THE....F$&K. : (
I have no idea what they mean by "deeper"...sounds like a silly catch phrase to me.
A bit of advice would be to hold your horses... . Everything will be explained in time.
I totally get that some people dont want to see presentation. It can be repetitive, but if done correctly (like MLB 10) then it really can add to the immersion and atmosphere of the game.
Idealy they should have a Presentation setting in the menu to toggle how much broacast presentation you want to see: OFF, FEW, FULL.
Personally i want my games to look like they do on TV, so i want all that stuff in there. I like having those breaks between plays, but i respect that is not for everyone. Im just worried they are going to take stuff out of Madden and I feel that is the wrong direction. They need to improve and polish what is already there IMO.
Anywhere we can stream it? Comcast decided to do their new digital cable updates and I will be out of cable for a few days until the guy comes to my house and hooks the new box in.
Anywhere we can stream it? Comcast decided to do their new digital cable updates and I will be out of cable for a few days until the guy comes to my house and hooks the new box in.
Should be on on gametrailers.com shortly after wards.