Madden Yet to Be Sim - ACarr's Blog

ACarr's Blog

Madden Yet to Be Sim

Posted on May 10, 2011 at 01:05 PM.

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EA just released information about Madden 12 a little over a week ago. It looks like there have been huge upgrades to presentation, gameplay, and graphics. It appears Madden 12 will be a tremendous upgrade over Madden 11. There are some glaring aspects that has plagued Madden for years in the area of the realism of football. Here are three simple fixes needed in Madden to become more of a simulation football game.

Penalties- Madden still does not have realistic penalties involved in the game. Maybe once or twice a game you will see a holding or a clipping call. Pass interference is non existent, there is no offensive pass interference, no penalty for running out of bounds on kickoffs, then being first to touch the returner. There is no defensive holding as well. Penalties are part of the NFL, just like tackling, in order for Madden to be the ultimate sim there must be ALL penalties in the game.

Field Goal Kicking- In Madden a kicker with 99 kick power can knock in 62 yard field goals with ease. Although it is possible in real life, it has not happened more over five times in the history of the NFL. EA needs to tone down the kick power on field goals and make a 50 yard field goal an actual challenge. Any kicker in Madden can make a 50 yard field goal with ease. In the NFL making a 50 yard field goal is a challenge for any kicker.

Quarterback Accuracy- In Madden it is all about quarterbacks with the big arm. Jonathan Crompton, John Skelton, and Jay Cutler look like Peyton Manning on the field in Madden. Although they make inaccurate throws occasionally in Madden, there is still a higher percentage of perfect throws zipped 30 yards down the middle of the field. A 73 deep accuracy rating does not degrade a guy enough in Madden. There is a gigantic difference between Jay Cutler and Peyton Manning in real life and there should be in Madden 12 as well.
Madden has potential to be a very sim game, and with a few tweaks to some minor issues, it can be on its way to a more realistic football game

Comments

# 1 Miguelito Kache305 @ May 10

nice blog... And I agreed... The Penalty have to be on point... for Madden to be a Sucess...

# 2 ACarr @ May 10

Agreed. Penalties are a huge part of football, so its important for Madden to have them accurate.

# 3 CJTHA1 @ May 10

Agreed 100%. Penalties are huge in football and i hope that this Madden does a better job with penalties

# 4 Eski33 @ May 10

I disagree. Madden offers plenty of depth and if you are playing 15 minute quarters what is the point of having every penalty in the game? Some of the items you mentioned can be tweaked with sliders.

For me, where Madden lacks most is in presentation. People don't remember ESPN 2K5 because it was a great playing game with realistic penalties (which were the same). People remember 2K5 because of its presentation package.

No matter what, football games will always play the same. What separates each game is the graphics and presentation set within the game. I could care less if the game is a "true sim" because it never will be.

# 5 DaggerSwagger @ May 10

i disagree with you eski33 madden got the license to be the only nfl game on the market with that said if you are the only game on the market you should implement all aspects of the game whether it's presentation or penalities they all should be there

# 6 ACarr @ May 10

Reply to Eski33
I agree that presentation is very important. It is especially important for franchise and dynasty modes because it keeps the game fresh and exciting each time you play it. It appears Madden is completely overhauling its presentation and the early signs show that it will have great presentation.
In terms of simulation I think the three things that could be easily fixed mentioned in the blog would make the game even more of a simulation

# 7 turftickler @ May 10

What's up, ACarr? I agree with everything you said. Great blog.

@Eski33, I respect your opinion, however, presentation does not and will not ever make Madden NFL games play better. I do agree that 2k Sport's presentation was top notch and no other football game has even come close to it, yet. However, I do disagree that games will all play the same, but I do agree that no game will ever be 100% simulation. 2k Sports did get pretty close to it with ESPN NFL 2k5 and APF 2k8. Also, NaturalMotion raised the bar with Euphoria Motion (Real-time Physics). Please do not settle for less than the best, because there is a standard with everything in life.

@DaggerSwagger, agreed, fam! No doubt. If Madden NFL games are supposed to be authentic and true to the game of the NFL, then it should be represented in Madden NFL games.

# 8 ACarr @ May 10

@turfticker Thanks for the praise. I appreciate it.
I wrote this blog because these three improvements are not something that would be hard for the Madden developers to do. It is not a huge feature that the devs always stride for but they are improvements that would make the game more realistic

# 9 turftickler @ May 10

@gilljon26, What we mean by simulation is a dynamic imitation of the NFL where the game plays like real football with core fundamental aspects throughout each game. Basically, we want the game to play out in a more realistic fashion on each play of the game.

# 10 ZoneBlitz @ May 11

I haven't bought a Madden game in two years. Got tired of it and haven't looked back. If they make a better product, then I'll return.

# 11 ACarr @ May 11

@zoneblitz, A lot of people feel the same way you do. If the game is more realistic it will win over a lot of people upset over (little aspects) that are not sim.