Madden 09: Make or Break Season

[yamabushi]

I see nothing coming but improved/slicker presentation. Something "reviewers" and un-informed consumers can point too with ohhs and ahhs and say 'Maddens taken the next step' .

Prove me wrong EA.

[Cusefan]

The more i think about it the more i realize that Madden 09 has to be great for me to continue buying their product. Madden 08 was not nearly as bad as you would think it was by looking at this forum but it was my least favorite madden title of the last 10 years, easy.

I remember a time when madden, Nhl, and NBA live were all amazing titles, hopefully EA can get back to their roots...

[spankdatazz22]

If the author's correct seems like fixing the game's bugs and adding some presentation aspects is what Madden needs to do to be considered turning the corner, that seems like a relatively low bar to have to jump over. Expecting gameplay depth, innovation, x's and o's really mattering - that's perhaps a little much right now.

But let's say they trip again - what difference is it going to make? NOW would be the point where reviewers become indignant? After happily endorsing it/giving out 8+'s the past few years, and 9+'s as long as I can remember last gen? I can't wait to see IGN or TeamXbox explain their score again btw. I don't see how Metacritic reviews can be damned because that's what Peter Moore is using to validate Madden's quality - not any dip in sales. And EA's done a great job of insulating themselves. They have no true competition; they're about to put another bullet in 2K's head since they didn't die the first time (like Kill Bill); they just reupped the NFL license guaranteeing they'll be the only football developer even beyond the launch of the NextXbox & PS4. The time for the gaming media to step up was in '06 or '07. Day late dollar short.

This year will be like all the others - people will cross their fingers and hope EA delivers. If not, they'll wait until [next] year. Hope for the best, but expect the worst. With such low expectations it's hard to fail.

[Flamehead]

Quote: Originally Posted by noplace

How is it a make or break season with no competition? Its not like we have another choice....It will just be another year of pissed off fans complaing about whats wrong with the game but will keep buying the next version hoping for a miracle...

I suppose that might be true of some, but not as many as before. As the current gen's lifecycle continues, there are more and more games (sports and otherwise) that people can be "distracted" by, for lack of a better word. As much as I love football, it gets easier for me to avoid a non-QA'd Madden when I've got three games on the shelf that I still want to play but haven't gotten to yet. Sure, there will always be the gamers who will get it day one regardless, but make no mistake, there's a groundswell of people who are determined not to get burned again and are less willing to believe the marketing hype this year.

Not to mention that another NFL title now has backwards compatibility and as more and more people discover they can get updated rosters for it, it'll make for less incentive to pick up another non-QA'd Madden title again, if it indeed is another "blah" attempt by Madden.

[statum71]

Who's "bright" idea was it to go away from TV-style presentation anyway???? That was dumb. Every othre sports game has it. And every other sports game seems more realistic. Although that is just one area of needed improvement......it CERTAINLY didn't help Madden.

[coogrfan]

Quote: Originally Posted by MMChrisS

I think the sagging sales numbers show that it is a make or break season in a couple of respects. If EA doesn't bounce the quality back up after such a big decline in sales, they won't be doing it anytime soon. I'm also sure there is a ton of internal pressure to regain the lost sales of previous years, so no matter how you slice it, I really feel that this is the big year for Madden. Either we are going to see the ship sailing in the right direction again or it's gonna fall off the edge of the earth.

One problem with this theory--sales of the next-gen versions were up last year, not down. The decline in overall sales was due to the drastic drop off in last gen sales (which to the best of my knowledge was not plagued by the gameplay issues that were present on the 360/ps3).

2007: http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?...r=Last+Updated

2008: http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?...r=Last+Updated

For this reason, I'm skeptical about this "make or break" stuff.

[N51_rob]

When you think about it. With the purchase of Take-Two becoming more and more a reality. Even if EA doesn't renew the license with the NFL when it expires this time. Who will be there to challenge them? I think that Madden is going to be the game for gammers for the forseable future. I hope this game is good but I won't be purchasing on release day this year like I didn't last year.

[ChaseB]

Quote: Originally Posted by coogrfan

One problem with this theory--sales of the next-gen versions were up last year, not down. The decline in overall sales was due to the drastic drop off in last gen sales (which to the best of my knowledge was not plagued by the gameplay issues that were present on the 360/ps3). 2007: http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?...r=Last+Updated 2008: http://vgchartz.com/games/index.php?...r=Last+Updated For this reason, I'm skeptical about this "make or break" stuff.

Just FYI, vgchartz is not very reliable. But yes your point is still solid.