Weak Madden Sales Signaling Trouble for Game Industry

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by debauchlord

You might be a fan boy, but at least your arguments are valid and dare I say, sane. Rare in this day and age. The two major problems afflicting the Madden series (as I see it): 1. One year "development" cycle. One year is not enough for development. What you can get out of one year is graphical fixes, bug fixes, slight modifications...basically fill the holes and apply a fresh coat of paint. The problem is, you NEED to make it "seem" new (see problem 2), which is where you get 3/4 thought-out "gimmicks". 2. Madden, because of its license, needs to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE. We could argue for days but, as someone said, ask 100 people and you will get 100 answers. Madden needs sliders, not because the game out of the box is bad, but because YOU think it is bad. Because Madden needs to be everything, it HAS to cater to the LCD (lowest common denominator); that is harsh, but it is the fact. BUT simply because it caters to the LCD, it fails as a yearly game (see problem 1), because your majority LCD do not purchase the same game yearly (or what is perceived as the same game). It is a terrifying, cyclical conundrum. Also notice, I did not add the daily "no competition" debate into the mix, because, honestly, that is not Madden's singular problem right now. I've said this before but just having competition in the marketplace does not guarantee a better product. You can imagine that it does, but what it can also do is produce milquetoast programming where the better marketing strategy wins.

True. Competition will not guarantee a better product, but that is only if you are looking at competition making MADDEN better. I think that is where some people get slightly confused.

Competition will not FORCE EA/ Tiburon to do anything. Bad products are made by companies who compete for consumers everyday, and no i am not saying that Madden is a bad product, I am just speaking in generalities.

But what CAN be said, is that if there were more Football videogame products on the market, that any particular individual will have a better chance of finding one that he/ she likes.

[mrprice33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

Ok. That's great lol. You posted that YOU don't see any psychic DBs or synchronized route running in Madden 08 PC. I am posting that I HAVE seen these things in Madden on the PS2 for at least MOST of this past decade. I have been talking about those very same issues, and coined those phrases on boards, LONG before I ever heard of OS Sports, and LONG before the PS3 was invented. Maybe you don't know what I mean by psychic DBs or synchronized route running. Maybe we are misunderstanding each other. Or maybe you know exactly what I mean by those terms, and there is no misunderstanding, and you just don't agree. If it's one of the first two, then I would be happy to go more in depth to explain. If it's the third one, then I don't know what else to say other than, if you say so I guess.

I explained exactly what I was talking about. Could you provide a video of last gen madden detailing what you're talking about?


Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk.

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrprice33

I explained exactly what I was talking about. Could you provide a video of last gen madden detailing what you're talking about? Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk.

Ido not have any last gen Maddens anymore. I can almost guarantee that if you went on YouTube though, you will find "psychic DB" videos containing last gen Maddens, if you are so inclined to look.

Beyond that, and I do not mean this personally against you, so please don't take it that way, but beyond that, I will not spend my time hunting "evidence" down for you, because it really doesn't mater to me whether you believe me or not.

Again, I don't mean any offense by that, but the fact that this issue was on last gen, is WIDELY known. It is what it is.

[mrprice33]

Quote: Originally Posted by debauchlord

You might be a fan boy, but at least your arguments are valid and dare I say, sane. Rare in this day and age. The two major problems afflicting the Madden series (as I see it): 1. One year "development" cycle. One year is not enough for development. What you can get out of one year is graphical fixes, bug fixes, slight modifications...basically fill the holes and apply a fresh coat of paint. The problem is, you NEED to make it "seem" new (see problem 2), which is where you get 3/4 thought-out "gimmicks". 2. Madden, because of its license, needs to be EVERYTHING to EVERYONE. We could argue for days but, as someone said, ask 100 people and you will get 100 answers. Madden needs sliders, not because the game out of the box is bad, but because YOU think it is bad. Because Madden needs to be everything, it HAS to cater to the LCD (lowest common denominator); that is harsh, but it is the fact. BUT simply because it caters to the LCD, it fails as a yearly game (see problem 1), because your majority LCD do not purchase the same game yearly (or what is perceived as the same game). It is a terrifying, cyclical conundrum. Also notice, I did not add the daily "no competition" debate into the mix, because, honestly, that is not Madden's singular problem right now. I've said this before but just having competition in the marketplace does not guarantee a better product. You can imagine that it does, but what it can also do is produce milquetoast programming where the better marketing strategy wins.

It's no secret I'm a fan of madden football. But i was also a fan of 2k football and bought 2k3,4, and 5 on the day they were released. I also bought apf and backbreaker on day 1, although I really didn't like it.

I think the problem is that there's so much garbage posted on these boards on a day to day basis that sometimes it looks like I'm blindly defending the product. I'm not. I barely played the first 3 versions on next gen and only recently have I been able to play multiple seasons of it. I've also talked in- depth about my problems with the decision to not update franchise.

Now to the points of your post. By and large I agree with you. However, whereas others make those points and present them as an indictment of ea sports, the developers, the nfl, etc etc, I look at it like this: ultimately it's just a game. Either you like it or you don't. For example, I don't really like Borderlands, even though a lot of people do. It's no big deal to me, I just play something else.

Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk.

[mrprice33]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

Ido not have any last gen Maddens anymore. I can almost guarantee that if you went on YouTube though, you will find "psychic DB" videos containing last gen Maddens, if you are so inclined to look. Beyond that, and I do not mean this personally against you, so please don't take it that way, but beyond that, I will not spend my time hunting "evidence" down for you, because it really doesn't mater to me whether you believe me or not. Again, I don't mean any offense by that, but the fact that this issue was on last gen, is WIDELY known. It is what it is.

Well people not providing evidence of their claims is part of the problem with discourse in general and the internet in particular. I'll be home the next few days, maybe I'll do a quick video of last gen madden compared to this gen coverage wise.


Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk.

[Only1LT]

Quote: Originally Posted by mrprice33

Well people not providing evidence of their claims is part of the problem with discourse in general and the internet in particular. I'll be home the next few days, maybe I'll do a quick video of last gen madden compared to this gen coverage wise. Sent from my HTC EVO 4G using Tapatalk.

I hear you, and I tend to agree, but I don't know what else to tell you. By all means, don't believe me. The Sun will still come up tomorrow... hopefully lol.

[MAzing87]

Quote: Originally Posted by Only1LT

True. Competition will not guarantee a better product, but that is only if you are looking at competition making MADDEN better. I think that is where some people get slightly confused. Competition will not FORCE EA/ Tiburon to do anything. Bad products are made by companies who compete for consumers everyday, and no i am not saying that Madden is a bad product, I am just speaking in generalities. But what CAN be said, is that if there were more Football videogame products on the market, that any particular individual will have a better chance of finding one that he/ she likes.

I second this. Competition will never guarantee a better product but will give a gamer the power to choose. I miss those days where I can stand at the gaming store or game aisle at Best Buy or some other retailer, look at two NFL titles made by different companies, and it was up to me, to decide which game gets my $65 dollars. NFL exclusive rights tying to one franchise stripped my right to choose. I just want that power back.

[bfindeisen]

Video games are a luxury for most. Now that the economy has corrected itself, the video game industry "bubble" has burst. People are prioritizing more and unfortunately for the video game industry, games are not vital.