10 things that EAS could do to fix its football franchises - Coach Espy's Blog

Coach Espy's Blog

10 things that EAS could do to fix its football franchises

Posted on September 4, 2012 at 08:36 AM.

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Let me first start by writing that the three most important factors to me in terms of sports gaming are customizibility, immersion, and user-control. Because Madden and NCAA Football are produced on a one-year cycle, I will only ask EA to address one of these three significant concerns.

Most gamers enjoy gaming because of its immersive properties. In order for a game to be immersive (enough to potentially fail someone out of law school), it must be a cradle to grave experience.

1. Full 80 man rosters in both online and offline modes would be nice. I know that Madden 12 started with 75 players (some of whom had made up names). As of right now, the only advantage to offline CC is that you can do it without an Internet connection. Really?

I understand why NCAA football does not have full rosters (even if unnamed). We will see what happens at the end of the lawsuit. One of the nice things about amateur athletes (lawsuits pending) is that you can allow us to fill in the actual names or others of our choosing. Though I am not one of them, there are both paid services and there are willing to do it for free.

2. Practice must be a rewarding experience, especially during the regular season. You can use that to allocate CC points as an example. In order for practice to be rewarding, you must have actual strategy within it. For instance running Curl/Flats against a team that likes to run a lot of Cover 3. Madden 05 picked on a certain opposing player, isolated his weaknesses and had the team practice the plays designed to strike at his weaknesses. When you ran that play in game, you received a bonus for doing so. I think Madden 05 had 5 plays to run in practice. Madden 14 can do 10?

For those that don't enjoy practice, they should be able to skip it.

3. In terms of Immersion, please use as many authentic materials (non-EA) as possible. CBS is a great brand; as are ESPN and Allstate. Yes, EA will have to pay a licensing fee to use the CBS logo and CBS sound, but the game also serves as an advertisement for CBS Sports. If someone only watches FOX because they are say a Redskins fan and they see Nance and Simms on Madden, they may be more likely to watch CBS Sports as well.

As a college professor, I am a prideful person; I understand the inclination to plaster your logo everywhere but it kills the mood. What we love about sports is CBS/FOX/ESPN. Nance and Simms are a nice add both in terms of graphics and voice but adding the "NFL on CBS" materials would take it over the top. Is it really so hard to get a decent realistic halftime and post-game show?

Give us more Rece Davis. His pre-game schtick is solid and I would love for Herbstreet and Nessler to be able to riff off of each other the way that Simms and Nance do.

By the way, I love Brent Musburger. Playing the Rose Bowl without hearing his voice is almost a heretical act.

I KNOW BRANDING. THE BRAND THAT YOU ARE SELLING IS NOT EA SPORTS, IT IS NCAA AND NFL FOOTBALL. YOU HAVE A MONOPOLY. WHEN WE WANT TO PLAY NCAA OR NFL FOOTBALL WE ARE FORCED TO BUY YOUR PRODUCT. PLEASE REALIZE THIS AND STOP OVER-BRANDING YOUR PRODUCT. THAT IS NOT WHAT WE ARE PAYING FOR!

4. While I realize in conceptual terms the difficulty of what I am about to propose, it is key to immersion. The advantage of gaming is that it can simultaneously provide a TV broadcast and an "in the stands" experience. One drop that I wasn't happy about in Madden 13 was the seeming removal of stadium run outs, authentic chants, and other on the scene fun. Perhaps that's the college football fan in me.

5. Speaking of college football, in addition to accurate schedules (see South Alabama), please reinsert the actual FCS schools. Laying 50 on FCS Southeast just kills the mood. I shouldn't have to pretend that I'm playing against Jacksonville State (though the uniforms do look similar); ditto FCS East and Georgia Southern.

6. One of my favorite aspects of Saturdays is watching Coach Corso don the mascot head of the team that he favors to win that week's big game. EA has had that feature in years past and I miss it. It would be a great way to at least preview the top 25 team games that week.

7. Please include a broadcast cam (offensive backfield to deep safety width) in both online and offline play. It is an immersive experience and the INTs shouldn't be too bad as long as you can see the safties at the snap of the ball.

8. The pregame run outs are good on the NCAA side but I would love to see more things that differentiate one venue from the next. How can it be that EA Sports is losing the rights to school fight songs and possibly school chants? Is it that EA Sports is unwilling to pony up the dough? I am certain that Haumiller won't let EAS lose access to the Seminole War Chant. A game @FSU without it is like standing outside naked in the cold rain.

Please feel free to comment, even you EA homers and loyalists.