Madden: Lack of consistency cast doubt on any true long term planning - RaychelSnr's Blog

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Madden: Lack of consistency cast doubt on any true long term planning Stuck

Posted on August 8, 2012 at 12:52 PM.

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Remember the vision cone? What about Fight for the fumble?

What about Pro-Tak and Locomotion? The extra point? Weapons? Lead blocker control? The highlight stick?

And what of when the EA hype machine simply overstates the new features for Madden? What about Gameflow and hype about changing how plays are called in football games forever? While I personally do enjoy gameflow, it's apparent the NCAA Football team doesn't find it worthwhile for a football simulation. Gameflow has been so game-changing the NCAA Football team in the same building has decided not to implement it.

So pardon me, for not being enthused about any new Madden features that are described as huge in press materials: the past five years or so prove that most Madden features are actually going to either be dramatically downscaled or disappear completely from the game within a couple of years.

With all of the talk of long term plans every year for the franchise, one has to ask a simple question: are the long term plans of the Madden NFL football series truly to waste tons of development time each year on features which simply aren't going to survive another release or two?

If so, what kind of business model is that? If not, what kind of long-term planning is truly going on if any?

Don't get me wrong, some features do make the cut and do last awhile and in big ways. I have no doubts the Infinity Engine will be sticking around -- albeit hopefully much improved in the coming years. But to me at least, the jury is still out on Connected Careers. Part of me wants to believe it's going to work, but another part of me simply feels as if it could be a huge gimmick that simply allows the EA marketing team to promote the 'All-New Franchise Mode' soon enough.

And it's only fair to blame some of the long-term plan gaffes on simple personnel turnover. Lots of the guys at the top have left throughout this generation: Madden seems to be a pressure cooker job which few can actually stand to tolerate. When you are losing your visionaries on a yearly basis, it's hard to stick to a long-term plan for very long.

That's why the addition of Cam Weber as a visionary type of guy was a pretty big move -- as the franchise does seem to be slowly finding some year to year stability in what it's building on and what it's keeping versus throwing away.

Another thing you have to look at: is this a common phenomenon across other games in our genre? The evidence says that there is some feature destruction in other franchises, but almost always at a lesser extent of Madden (and NCAA to an extent).

FIFA Soccer, since it has found solid ground earlier this generation, has always had a logical progression of it's big features. In fact, this is a trait of most of our genre's best games. Features have built upon features -- you see that from this year from last year with the Impact Engine moving onto the Player Impact Engine. If FIFA were Madden, you'd see an Impact Engine one year, and a Weapons Feature with an all new QTE mode for penalty kicks the next, followed by an all new Physics engine the next year.

See how ridiculous that is? But that's how Madden has operated for the entirety of this generation.

You can repeat the same type of progression pattern in other franchises which have been quite successful this console generation, from NBA 2K to NHL to MLB: The Show and beyond.

But Madden? Madden stands alone in a sort of schizophrenic feature driven madness with no rhyme or reason of it from year to year. Some years a feature is added and it's gone literally the next. Other's it's added and phased out in later years until it's simply no longer in the game. Rarely, a feature is added and actually remains -- but it's rarely spoken of again.

The prescription seems simple enough: simply get a plan and stick to it. Don't go on crusades for features that simply won't be in the game in coming years.

Perhaps you just design smarter. Perhaps you build off of previous year's efforts instead of completely re-writing the game plan each year. Perhaps you try to keep a stable set of leaders around so you can actually do all of this.

Regardless, EA Tiburon's Madden team has been a lot like the Yankees in the 80s. I'm not sure who is playing the role of Steinbrenner, but there's enough turnover that it simply causes chaos within the leadership and so far, the results have spoken for themselves.

Perhaps Madden NFL 13 is the beginning of a new era where Madden games build upon themselves. Perhaps.

But history says don't get attached to the new features on the back of the box, they simply won't be there in a couple of years.

Comments

# 31 Jimbo614 @ Aug 8

Chris, two years ago I was banned for calling you a Fanboy for Madden in so many words. But today you have written my exact issues about the Madden Franchise. this Op-Ed piece is just what needed to be said. Enuff with the gimmicks and hooks. Just try getting the game right for once. To any of the EA guys that might read this.... There's and old saying."Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me." Well, each of these "Gimmicks" amounts to a Bait and Switch. You bait us with a new gimmick, then you switch it to something we didnt ask for, or doesnt work. After several years of this, those of us with any sense have caught on to the scam. You've played your card a few too many times. Chris asks "What kind of Business Model is this?" Great question. Because after years of seeing the same tactics used over and ovwer again, it's clearly obvious that this isnt a Business Model that has concern towards "Keeping the Customer Satisfied", or "The Customer always knows best".

# 32 khaliib @ Aug 9

Let's just call it as is and not sugar coat it.

EA has used the Exclusive License to milk the Football Gaming Community since being on this Gen of consoles.

If folks take a step back and walk down memory lane to Madden 2006 and how everything was stripped from the PS2/Xbox games as they transitioned to Next Gen consoles, one should easily see that the same profit model is being used for the Infinity/Next Next Gen Consoles.

Strip it down with no Gamer Customization, then start to advertise and add-back as New while using the new Infinity Engine, then the new console as the reason for slowly reintroducing features/functions/modes as New, while charging $59.99.

They're going to ride the Excuse "It's a New Engine" we're building on, then it will be "It's a New Console" we're building on.

One thing still remains constant throughout all of this personnel turnover and new visions.
That's the $60 plus gamers have been paying throughout all this shuffling.

How long has the gaming community been asked to pay for the next hires visionary idea?

M13 is simply Madden 2006 all over again.

Strip-n-give at $60 for the next 4-7 years.

That's EA's long term plan for Madden.

# 33 elgreazy1 @ Aug 9

The unfortunate thing with Madden is you can't fully blame the creative department because at the end of the day Madden is a HUGE money maker, henceforth suits & stock are taken into account maybe more so ahead of artistic vision. The game MUST sell millions in order to be even considered a marginal success; couple that with the expensive NFL exclusive rights and one begins to see how Madden is possibly viewed more as a liability more than an advantage to the company. In many ways, it is a victim of its unprecedented success and cult-following. It's a tough place to be. On one hand, Madden needs to reach the millions of ****** sports gamers and on the other there is a huge core of SIM-enthusiasts which want the game pushed further. EA has not been able to find the right balance, but has attempted to address these ideas with Street & Blitz (arcade, ******) and Head Coach (SIM, hardcore); yet again, as the OP stated there is no consistency to carry them out after a single release.

With all this said: there is still little excuse for a game with this much resources (talent, financial resources, technology, exclusivity, etc) to not have consistent, strong leadership at the top nor for them to simply not have a plan for the future. In essence, EA is not taking a page from the sport it is making so much money off of: creating consistency & one voice from top to bottom in an organization.

# 34 Reed1417 @ Aug 9

Preach my man preach!

# 35 mirrored32 @ Aug 9

Great Article! Speaks for me as well!

# 36 Shiny Cony @ Aug 10

What in the world is that facemask. It mush make that helmet weigh 20 pounds.

# 37 Jimbo614 @ Aug 10

If you need a gimmick to sell your product, odds are that product isnt very good.

# 38 TomZ85 @ Aug 11

Couldn't agree more.

Honestly I think the Infinity Engine is the next in the line of hype. While it will hang around for a while, it isn't going to be the epic item the Madden team has made it out to be. That's my opinion as a guy who does software development, specifically in simulations and "physics" calculations.

Just feels like there's a disconnect in what the development team is doing and what the community needs or wants. And granted, they have a bit of a cash cow with the series so there isn't as strong an impetus to really have a good gameplan.

I'd be curious to hear what their 2-3 year road map is, and then see if it's at all followed.

# 39 CrimsontideuA @ Aug 12

I have not purchased a madden game in 21st century. The NCAA series completely won me over back in the day.

# 40 LeonM @ Aug 12

Great article. It's all about the gameplay. Gimmicks get you no where.

To fix foot planting and acceleration when players run. EA introduced "Locomotion". Locomotion made it worse, It's skating styled running.

To address multiple hit tackles and gang tackles. EA introduced "Pro-Tak". A horrible conceived and executed idea. An arcadish looking animation where several players line up and dance in a circle during tackles.

You hope that The "Infinity Engine" is real time physics and improves player interaction and isn't just an AI based animation system. Where new animations are designed to produce more realistic outcomes on player contact.

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