Echos of 2k5: What Must Tiburon Do to Slay the Beast? - adembroski's Blog

adembroski's Blog

Echos of 2k5: What Must Tiburon Do to Slay the Beast?

Posted on March 19, 2009 at 05:45 AM.

(28)

Of any of the Operation Sports regulars, I'd wager Ian Cummings has the most empathy for Steve Young, circa September, 1994. Coming off his second straight loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the NFC Championship, Young was hearing voices in the crowd. And the voices said "Joe Montana."

The monkey on Cummings' back isn't a Hall of Fame quarterback, but 2k Sports' now legendary ESPN NFL 2k5, considered by many (most?) to be the greatest football video game of all time. Madden had had challengers before; NFL Gameday being the most notable, here, finally, was an almost unarguably superior game. The physics, the presentation, the replays. When it came down too it, this was the game that sucked you in and made you love the NFL more than you would without it. Madden, for all it's longevity, didn't do that anymore.

Add to that the fact that the Tiburon team at the time was apparently purposefully dismantling the game. Each year, some aspect of franchise mode got less and less accurate. Some new back-of-the-box feature made the previous years' back-of-the-box feature obsolete. The game didn't progress, it simply walked it circles searching in vein for an identity until it had trod so many times in it's own tracks that no clear path could be found.

Enter: Phil Frazier. Taking over for the beleaguered David Ortiz, of whom the online community was quite tired of, Frazier inherited the unenviable task of righting the Madden ship. How do you catch up with a game that is still beating you 4 years after it hit shelves? How do you turn that much time... that much mis-prioritization, that much incompetence, that much complacency around in one year?

Admiral Frazier answered by appointing Captain Cummings. Ian Cummings brings with him an approachability and a personality Ortiz never had as the face of the Madden product (NOTE: Ortiz held the position on the team Frazier does, but it is Cummings that has become the face of Madden, as Frazier's work online has been more subtle). While Ortiz never seemed passionate about the simulation aspects of the game (in fact, he came off as pointedly dismissive), Ian Cummings has embraced the challenge of turning Madden into a thinking man's game with fervor.

So where does the dynamic duo of Ian Cummings and Phil Frazier have to go to turn the Madden franchise back into the World Wide leader in America's Game? Here are a few key points to keep in mind.

Don't forget where you came from.

I haven't met many people who work in game development who aren't gamers, but I've met quite a few of them who seem to think they've ascended to some higher plane of gaming. Ian Cummings seems to have the necessary arrogance to push him to test the limits of where gaming has been, but can he keep it in check and retain an eye-contact type relationship with the community? If so, his free and open style of communication will be a boon for EA for years to come. If not, he could put off a few too many people and perhaps do as much damage as he's fixed so far.

Don't be afraid to get technical.

We may spend our days trolling a gaming site, but we're not cretins. Most of us are partially educated, in fact. We're accustom to large companies talking down to us, treating us like *shudder* "consumers". We can handle long words and terms, and for the most part, we have a reasonable understanding of how computers work.

David Ortiz always had a air of "you wouldn't understand" about him, and to say it was off-putting would be an understatement. Don't let yourselves fall into that trap.

Address what The People want, but make the last call.

For the most part, the online community has good input and solid ideas when discussing or wishlisting a game. However, there are limits. A mob mentality can and does take over, with regularity, and a good eye for what's honest discussion and what's mob think is necessary to separate the wheat from the chaff on a site like OS.

When the MM community came together with Steve McGuire leading the way to create the Madden Manifesto, David Ortiz ignored it. Today's Madden team have wadded into the unwashed masses and taken our input to heart. But there are limits, and there will come times when bad ideas will become very popular. Ian, Phil, and Tiburon are going to have to learn when to smile and nod.

You've set the goal: Now stick with it!

"Everything you see on Sundays"

This cannot be a one year thing. This must be posted on every wall, in every corner, over every door at Tiburon studios. It must become the Play like a Champion sign in Notre Dame stadium, and it must be permanent.

I can see it so clearly; Madden 2010 drops, and it's a hit. People on OS are excited because of how great a jump it is. Maybe it doesn't surpass 2k5 in every conceivable way, but it shows that we're finally where we need to be to make that leap. And all of the sudden, someone at Tiburon pipes up, "I've got a great idea!"

And it all goes downhill. The beast has been slain... time to get back to the Back of the Box features. Franchise mode falls back into disrepair, overall ratings start climbing again, the Sack Stick and the Cover-Cone come into play and unbalance the game.

"Everything you see on Sundays" Don't. Ever. Forget. That line may prove to be the thing that makes Madden NFL 10 the Legend Killer.

Comments

# 16 adembroski @ Mar 24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Derrville


	How can someone say Madden has surpassed 2Ks gameplay by what we've seen in the blogs?

I don't know that anyone's said that.

# 17 adembroski @ Mar 24

Ah... Well, the TWeezy quote I skipped over. Pretty ridiculous statment. As or the first, I guess I interpreted him to mean they have if everything works out the way we hope. Anyways, I figured you meant my blog was saying that, so I was more or less defending myself:P

# 18 The Lob Mob @ May 12

This is well done. . .some of the stuff comming out on Madden 10 appears promising, but it's still a "Wait & See" approach for me. . .hey that's an improvement over last year. LOL.

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