A 42 year Old's Madden 12 Wishlist - Runnin with Scissors's Blog

Runnin with Scissors's Blog

A 42 year Old's Madden 12 Wishlist

Posted on January 23, 2011 at 05:34 PM.

(12)

As a football gamer I grew up playing on the Atari, the Coleco Head to Head and Mattel handhelds, Sega Genesis, Playstations 1 and 2, and finally now on the Playstation 3. Even before that, many hours were spent on the vibrating football board with the plastic players that just ended up either spinning in circles or heading straight to the sides (boy that game was fun for some stupid reason). So, needless to say, I appreciate the modern efforts in football gaming. The long winded intro was to emphasize that it doesn�t take much to make me happy when it comes to football gaming. My list of improvements for Madden 12 isn�t as long as others. Here they are:

Most importantly, and I can�t stress this enough, is the need for a true representation of penalties. The penalty has the biggest effect on the game (like the dang defensive holding or illegal contact). In Madden, no penalty is called authentically. All I ever see is the neck-wrenching facemask. I am afraid one of my little digital guys is going to lose a head one of these times. The only offsides is when I�m screwing around with a defensive lineman or I go on 3. Every single penalty that is seen in a regular NFL game can be implemented into Madden with no excuses. Until this happens, true simulation can not take place.

The ability of adding formations should also be available. Madden does a good job in supplying a team�s very basic core of formations. It would be nice to have the ability to add formations or at least substitute new formations if space is an issue. This would lend well to the gameplanning mode; choosing those formations for your opponent that will put you in the best position to exploit matchups, moving the ball, and scoring points.

Shifting formations would be another feature that should be re-introduced to the new generation effort. The last gen games had it, All-Pro Football had it, Madden 12 should have it. Now in APF, the formation shifts online was borderline cheese and using it was frowned upon (not as severely as masturbating on an airplane, but frowned upon nonetheless), offline it was just one of those features that made you feel you were running a real offense. Realistically, by the third or fourth possession I had forgotten about using it, but it was still comforting to know it was available.

I would really like to see an improvement in handoff and playaction animations. Boy, both those types of animations have drastically improved over the Madden years, but it could be so much smoother. While I am dreaming here, have each quarterback�s signature animations go along with his throwing motion.

I have to edit this in...punt returns. Please block the gunners. Even Devin Hester can't get a yard. I know, I know, if I had stick skills I could get good return yardage, but I am a coach mode player, I want simulated reality.

There, that�s it. I know there are other needs under the hood, improvements to franchise mode, presentation, yada, yada, yada but that�s all I need to make me happy.

Comments

# 1 footbrawl @ Jan 23

my wishlist is long but it has already been done in previous madden's so it shouldn't be that hard. First, whatever happened to training camp where you could make your players a tad bit better, and combines where you could evaluate players. Or the college all star game? Half-time show? All these features have been booted even though people like them. They need to bring back all these feature because people like them. It are these small things that make big differences in the game.

# 2 Runnin with Scissors @ Jan 23

You're right Man. It is the little things. In reality, who knows what they will do next year. Adding or fixing the little things would go a long way in my book. I should have included fixing punt returns. Totally unrealistic.

# 3 Runnin with Scissors @ Jan 24

I have played a lot of NFL Head Coach. I really enjoyed it. But I am not a huge franchise guy. I like game management simulation. Head Coach didn't really do a good job in that area. If that game would have a current game build it would have been a lot more appealing to me.

# 4 Dazraz @ Jan 24

Penalties/Fouls or the lack of have been an ongoing problem in most sports games. Not only Madden but NHL & FIFA both lack fouls. I know some people hate having constant stoppages in play but those who want an accurate representation of the sport will want a realistic number of penalties. Developers have sliders to adjust penalty frequency but these just don't work.
In Football Pass Interference has the potential to turn a game on it's head but in Madden, even with the slider maxed out, this penalty is as rare as rocking horse s@@t.

# 5 statum71 @ Jan 24

@TheRealHST......you're right, it is a dead horse. They've already said physics won't be in Madden for several years.

# 6 BlackRome @ Jan 26

You have to get rid of the check down QB play. When I play online even after the fixes the passes to the RB are still a problem. When you play the players with the better records all I see is throws to the RB and crossing routes. If that's all your going to throw I'm not going to play you. I played a guy two days ago who threw and completed 20 passes to his RB. At Half time. I quit. I've got better things to do with my time.

# 7 BlackRome @ Jan 26

I also traded the game in yesterday. Since I have a pretty good record I constantly get matched up against players like this. I've had enough.

# 8 ptcommish @ Jan 26

I can relate to this OP. I am 40 years old. So I know how great the Madden games are compared to the Mattel Hand Held game I played as a kid (BTW I hate that electronic football game you describe. I never could get it. What a mess.)

So I have seen how far we have come. I had Intellivision, Colecovision, NES, SNES, PS1, PS2 & now PS3. But....

...I think the PS2 version of EA games in many ways were better than the current generation. Its no contest graphics wise. But there is something missing in the present generation.

Here are some changes I would like to see:

Weather CHANGING during games. It gets cloudier. Then starts to snow, Maybe wind shifts. In WI during the fall/winter...things change on a dime. I think NCAA Football on PS1 had some of this. It would start to have flurries. Now if I want snow...I get a ton of it and it never stops.

While the graphics on the games have made tremendous strides, the commentary has not. It is almost the same package as PS2. What needs to happen to have a "breakthrough" when it comes to commentary?

Flow of the game. In football you can wear your opponent down. Maybe you dominate time of possession and the opponents D-Lineman start sucking wind. Plays that didn't work early in the game, suddenly have a seam. It happens on Sunday. In Madden, the guys turn a different color. Does it affect their play? I don't see it. Does it add up over a course of a game? Not really....

Momentum. Certain plays change the momentum of the game. I don't feel this in Madden. One play has no affect on other players. I loved when teams would get rattled in NCAA football and the camera would shake. That was somewhat realistic. Pros don't get as rattled as college kids, but a bad play should affect some guys more than others and a turning point could lead to a big momentum shift.

More Broadcast experience. NBA2k11 feels so much more like a broadcast than Madden. Even NCAA Football 11 feels more like one with great replays and ESPN integration. Madden is SORELY lacking in this field. Has to get better with the power of these systems.

It truly is the little things. There are some things this series does GREAT. But there are a lot of things it has been missing on.