I believe now more than ever that the "EA is Evil" attitude will begin to subside. Seeing as Madden is arguably the most marketed sports game the USA, as well as it being a premier title in terms of attention it gets at events like E3 and having an unofficial holiday for it's annual release, it opens up the floodgates to being criticized like no other. Combine that with these options:

A) People who love Madden football and cannot find any faults with the current product
B) People who like Madden, but preferred having options at the video game store
C) People who preferred NFL2K and now feel forced to play something they don't want
D) People who will hate anything, regardless of improvements to the series or loyalty to a certain game

and the ever-rare option E:

E) People who just want to play the best game possible without causing battles.

It is an old saying that goes "The negative voices are always the loudest", and EA Sports is no different. They heard for YEARS that their football games were sub-par compared to other sports games on the market. NCAA 11 brought a glimmer of hope, while Madden 12 appears to be taking a sudden flight into being a well-respected title amongst gamers again. It appears that finally they are pulling no punches and removing excuses, in turn gaining results and eventually the return of consumer respect.

I don't play many other EA Sports titles (Still have NHL10, don't care for Tiger or Live/Elite), so my expertise is mainly the NFL/NCAA realm. With that said, the respective developer teams of both series have appeared to have "lost the makeup" and instead of flash we are getting more and more substance.

The thing is, people who complain will now complain that it isn't happening at a pace that they would consider acceptable, forgetting both teams work essentially year-round with only a few weeks to regroup post release.

Does EA Deserve Its 'Bad-Guy' Rap?

EA, no. People in charge of Madden, YES...

I will answer your question when my Youtube Channel gets 600 billion subscribers.

In short, they might not be bad, but they sure as poop ain't angels either.

Good point on #1. thanks for clearing that up as I was not informed of this. I thought EA just offered it up. Glad to KNOW that the NFL was the one that created the exclusive agreement. Interesting.

Though I would say EA's main issue has been due to the 'next generation' consoles never havinvg the 'features' of the 'old gen' consoles. Madden 12 is now getting up to par.

So does EA deserve the bad rap? Customer Service and listening to the customer base will tell all. Over the last 10 years they have been pretty bad at that. they 'removed' features with the 'next gen' consoles with the excuse that they were rebuilding the engine. I understand, but 10 years? really?

The problem is lack of information of what is 'really going on'.

EA has finally this year IMO really said "yes we have been bad boys and not listened to the public. so this is our love letter to you". Thanks. I am thankful and i think everyone else is, but jaded? I suspect I am not alone when feeling like EA has been holding out.

Madden has felt quite restricted in its use of 'past features' and 'customization' which i think has led to annoyed customers. Not to mention features in the game that have been broken and not fixed. with excuses like "we have to start working on next years game".

These elements I feel is what set people off. the VIBE has been bad from EA.

With that said,

I feel like with the NFL lockout and a few firings or let gos or people moving on, it seems to me the 'flood gates' of 'yes we were hearing you but have been holding back' is now given to us.

Dare i say i feels wierd that NOW we get just about EVERYTHING back that made Madden awesome in the first place.

they are a business first, but balance is key.

I think EA is turning things around now. I feel a good vibe at the current time. the key will be in the next 3 madden games after this. how will they treat the public. will they admit when they make a mistake? will they correct it?

I think something good is happening at EA now.

Madden 12 looks great and seems to be getting back to what makes the game great. not nickel and dime'ing us to death.

I believe each year EA has the intentions of making simulation sports games. However, somewhere along the lines, company executives and politics get in the way. It's a constant struggle between the execs who are only worried about maximizing shareholder value (basically, maximizing sales) and the game designers who just want to make a solid, sim style game. Ultimately, the higher ups get their way as they hold the most clout.

is ea the bad guy not at all the nfl made a choice. the one thing i can say is that ea droped the ball on madden and nba live/elite. when people can compare your game (madden 07-11) to nfl 2k5. theres a problem. its a bigger problem when people say nfl 2k5 is better then madden 08,09,10 and 11. ea does fifa and nhl right, but who really cares. madden in my eyes is ea and they have failed

This article is sure to expand past 20 pages.

Do they...
-Yes in some ways, no in other.

As one poster stated above, do the Dev's...
-No, they're just front line workers

A Big yes to the Business Side (Administrative).

I will disagree that EA looks after it's customers big time.

The Business side is not about those who play the game, but about the Stakeholders, period.

Also, with the resources that EA has, it's safe to say that we have not been given the best Innovative Sports Games to date.

They've been the only one for Pro (football) and all College sports for some time now, and when comparing the games released thus far against themselves, some would say they've made great strides.

But when they are compared to the Sports Gaming genre as a whole and the advancements made, it's easily seen that EA's releases are not were they should be, especially in Football/College Basketball being the "ONLY" developers.

It's hard to believe we have "NO" College Basketball Title on the Market going into 2012.

Madden has finally taken a big step to put "MORE" into the hands of the Gamer, but I believe this was not by design, but more due to forced changes needed for this series in today's unstable Financial Climate to keep Stakeholders from jumping ship.

I like what Madden is looking like because of what they are Finally giving the Gamer (NCAA is still so restrictive to the Gamer), but it is a FACT that the Gaminng Community got the best for that year when there were sevearl developers competing.

"The Love of money is the root of all evil"
-the context of the word "root" from a Hebrew definition is, Greed!!!

Greed is driving everything as EA seeks to gauge the Gamer for more money for each game.
There is a charge for everything now.
So it's not just the $60 for the game, but many behind the door FEES jus to play the game.

Again, for the Dev's I say no.
But the Administrative side which drives what the Dev's can/can't do to a game in a yearly cycle, I say...
yes, yes, yes they deserve it.

Chris, you didn't trade in two good games for Fight Night Champion only to get screwed because it's an unplayable game with all the locks ups, mainly on the PS3 (which I have). I lost over 30 bucks in that deal. Many people lost PS3's in that deal. In reality it's ground for a lawsuit, but who in this economy has the $$$ to recoup the loss of a PS3? I quit before mine was fried.

After I buy NCAA 12 I am done with EA.

I do not believe a lot of EA games should get the bad rap that they do, but I believe that people who have a limited budget to buy sports games have a rite to feel resentment towards the company with all of the DLC and other things that turn consumers off. Also, do not make the decision to withhold NBA Elite sound like a pious decision for the "good" of gamers either.

What EA should get credit for is relative freedom of pre-release info (first Madden reveals are months before most games announce their cover athlete) and their open communication with the community. The things that the developers of Madden revealed they sometimes get, like death threats or Youtube comments calling former Creative Director Ian Cummings "The anti-Christ of sim football" present a lot of the craziness that goes against EA.

I agree that with your first point.. That the NFL not EA is to blame for the exclusive rights situation...but they do deserve a bad rap when it comes their NBA Live/Elite games which have not been good, compared to 2k.. And as far as EA goes yes its not their fault for taking the deal with the NFL, they would've been stupid not to. With that being said, shouldn't having exclusive right to players and it's league make your game "Madden" stand above the rest when we start to talk sports games?

What about the EXTRA COST for Online Dynasty & Franchise, Ultimate Team, Scouts, and an Online Code EA added when it could have came with the $60 price. Also EA Sports have the richest sports video game company but uses one of the cheapest engines.

Are you sure it wasn't EA's idea to go exclusive? That only benefits EA, not the NFL who would make money on any game using the NFL license. I haven't researched anything, but I just always assumed it was EA since they got the exclusive rights to the NFL and NCAA at the same time. Were both of those decisions made by the leagues and not EA?

The DLC's and EA not willing to give Madden (one of it's golden goose) a new engine hurts them publicly. I'm loving Madden 2012 though.

They definitely deserve the Bad Guy rap. EA has introduced a lot of negative into the game. Look at all the add on features they try to get people to pay for. They also try to make you pay for internet access when buying used games now. Also they have not created a great game this console generation. To say they create good or great games almost everytime out is distorting the meaning of good and great. As other posters have stated Madden has not had a new engine probably since the beginning but they claim Live/Elite will have a new engine, and why; because the competition made them try something new. That alone is a case for EA just recycling the same ole mess until it does not work anymore. The bottom line is they took away the happiness of a lot of people with NFL 2K and have failed to deliver in a lot of peoples minds. Sounds a lot like the way Cleveland people feel about Lebron. When NBA Live/Elite quit in the middle of the race people rejoiced more than they did when the Heat lost last night.

I agree with the guy above me. EA has let me down too many times to count. I'm an avid sports gamer but find myself skipping years or not buying games at all from them. The biggest reason is that they are greedy. I bought Tiger Woods 08 and then I skipped a few years but this tw12 looked interesting. The game is glitched beyond belief and I have to pay another $60 to get all the courses? What the? So I buy your game for $60 but that's not enough. Tiger Woods is a great example because EA doesn't do much year to year except add gimicks that annoy fans of the game. Now I have to pay more for courses that should have included with the game. To top it off, I find myself playing TW08 and I don't even notice much of a difference!

Also, why should I have to pay to play online? Just because I buy a used game EA is going to rip me off there too?

I'll admit, I loved MVP baseball. But Madden has become so stale. NBA Live hasn't been decent since the 1990's. And it's a huge dropoff. EA wasn't looking out for customers. They knew their basketball game couldn't compete against 2K's. They didn't stand a chance so they pulled out. Not just for one season but now 2. They bought the rights to NCAA Basketball and now we have no college hoops game. And whether or not it was EA's idea or not, I don't like the way EA handled the exclusive license deal. Does anyone really believe 2K Sports would have released the grabage EA did for the last 6 years? Last year was a little better but everything was still stale. Now 2K can't release a decent baseball game but that's another story. 2K is great at football and basketball.

Everyone hypes up EA's NHL series but that's also getting stale. Not to mention all the glitches. I tried to play the Stanley Cup Playoffs this year and the playoff seeding was all messed up after the first round. They can't even fix something as simple as that? Every reason Chris stated not to hate on EA is every reason I can't stand them. They are so big they just don't care. I wish someone had the capital to go at them head to head because I think 2K is losing this battle and it will be only a matter of time that they give up on sports games. It's a monopoly.

Bottom line is I'm getting sick of being a sports fan. Between the NBA and NFL lockouts and greedy companies like EA selling me a glorified roster update every year, I'm about ready to stop buying the games and spend my money on something more useful. It's sad that it's come down to this but I'm tired of being so gulliable.