Outlook of a NEXT-GEN Football Game - Mckinley Cash's Blog

Mckinley Cash's Blog

Outlook of a NEXT-GEN Football Game

Posted on April 28, 2013 at 12:48 PM.

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I've often wondered, ever since the xBox & PS2 days, not only what the (then) next generation of consoles would be able to do, but the generation after that? After a disappointing generation of football, we are now here. With the next generation of consoles coming out this fall, the xBox 720 (codename: Durango) and the PS4, and EA Sports "preparedness" at an all time high (according to them); we should see the best football video game we have ever seen. The limitations of these consoles that served as crutch to explain why the games weren't better is no longer there, and everybody knows it. It is now time for EA to either step up to the plate or hand over the reigns (which I do not expect to happen).

The past 8 years have been the harshest, in terms of criticism, for EA Sports; particularly the NCAA & Madden teams. This humbling experience should benefit them in the long run. Recently, we have seen them "borrow" ideas from other games considered great, even if they are within the company. Things to improve commentary, physics, player interaction, and what I think will be one of my favorite things is the "Runner Avoidance System" announced to be in NCAA & Madden this year (similar to Assassin's Creed's crowd avoidance feature).

So as bad as I feel about this generation's football games, and what they couldve/should've been; I have hope for what will be in the next generation. I feel that this generation was just a snowball of mistakes that could not be outrun. Next Gen they've given themselves a head start.

Comments

# 1 bxphenom7 @ Apr 28

I agree with this blog completely and you're very right about the excuse of limitations being gone. I remember when MVP Baseball had an Owner Mode but not a Career Mode and The Show had the career mode and not an Owner Mode. I was expecting The Show to have an Owner Mode by now but I guess not. The next-gen consoles are going to much much stronger (PS4 is going to be a high-end PC essentially) so I'm expecting fully featured games within the first 3 years of next-gen consoles, and even that's being generous. I think The Show will have an Owner Mode, I'm sure NBA 2k will continue to improve, but eyes are all on EA. They're bringing NBA Live back so that will be interesting or disastrous. When it comes to Madden however, they need to come out strong right away. If they don't address they're minimal improvements, weak presentation, and broken gameplay interactions such as offensive and defensive lines, then the scrutiny will only grow because other sports titles will be even further ahead of Madden. I just hope 2k or some developer gets into the next-gen football. The people who work on The Show used to work on NFL GameDay so I wouldn't mind them going back to football either.

# 2 Mckinley Cash @ Apr 29

I'd like to see another developer make a football game on the next generation of consoles, and I believe they will. 2K took a shot with APF 2K8 this gen, so I could see them taking another shot next gen. Maybe they can partner up with SCEA and they can make an NFL game exclusively on the PS4; I wouldn't mind.

# 3 balljonesjr @ Apr 30

Quick question: When you say limitations, was that one of the reasons why we were only given FBS schools to play with?

# 4 Mckinley Cash @ Apr 30

I believe there "wasn't enough disc space." With next gen switching to Blu-Ray, that should no longer be an excuse. I also heard it was due to a lack of built-in RAM on the consoles; which will also be increased, exponentially, next gen.

# 5 darknmild @ May 1

@ Cash I don't know about limitations should be an excuse this generation. I like EA but I think they were just lazy this gen. MLB The Show put 21.7 gigs of content into the game. Madden only put 5.6gigs. That's a lot space for additional content.

# 6 Mckinley Cash @ May 5

@darknmild I see what you are saying, but The Show has the advantage of being made by Sony, exclusively, for a Sony Console. They understand how to get the most out of the system to make a great game. I don't think EA has figured it all out yet; they would have to figure out both the PS3 & Xbox 360. The PS4 and Xbox 720 are rumored to have almost identical software.