Madden NFL 12 Video - First Look Reveals Custom Playbooks, What Else Can You Find?

[jhogan3132]

Dynamic Lighting ala NCAA custom playbooks, and Scoring updates, perhaps halftime show is what i got out of it

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by CHooe

This is a completely unfair and ridiculous standard by which to judge the merits of a video game. Who are you, myself, or any of us to decide what EA should have put into previous iterations of the game?

I don't think it's a ridiculous standard. For one, custom play-books were in Madden 2004 along with the ability to create your own plays; we don't know if we'll have the ability to create our own plays in Madden 12 just yet. How is it ridiculous to expect something from Madden 12 that was in the game previously.

Quote: Originally Posted by rangerrick012

So to answer the question of what should be in, it's not too much to ask for Madden to be up to the standards which have been set by other franchises year after year, which it has not been in recent years.

It's also not too much to ask for Madden to live to up to it's own standards. Many of the things we've been clamoring for have been in previous iterations of Madden.

[tktnuri]

Wasn't 12 supposed to be the Year of the Franchise?

[LiquorLogic]

We're way past that. Madden 12, 13 and 14 need to be the year of franchise, game-play, and presentation.

[BestServedCold]

Quote: Originally Posted by CHooe

This is a completely unfair and ridiculous standard by which to judge the merits of a video game. Who are you, myself, or any of us to decide what EA should have put into previous iterations of the game?

We are the customer. We are the ones that they need to be convincing to buy their games.

Notice that I said convincing, not expecting as it seem they are.

[Hooe]

[quote=LiquorLogic;2042243514]I don't think it's a ridiculous standard. For one, custom play-books were in Madden 2004 along with the ability to create your own plays; we don't know if we'll have the ability to create our own plays in Madden 12 just yet. How is it ridiculous to expect something from Madden 12 that was in the game previously.[quote]

When have these features been in the game on this generation of consoles? We have to take EA's words that they started the codebase over for next-gen at face value, regardless of how true people want to guess that may or may not be. Thus these features haven't yet existed as far as EA is concerned with regard to the current code base.

Further, the custom playbooks feature in the PS2-era Madden games I never really used due to the severely limited capacity of the playbook (~80 plays) and the limited aspects of the play designer (could not include playaction in a play, for example).

This is not to say that I don't want to be able to draw up my own playbook. I do, and I've wanted this feature in Madden forever. Even if Madden only matches the playbook customization tool of All Pro Football 2K8 (which let the player pick formations and plays which were included in the game), I'd be fine with that for a starting point.

[LiquorLogic]

Quote: Originally Posted by CHooe

When have these features been in the game on this generation of consoles?

They haven't; that's my point.

Quote: Originally Posted by CHooe

We have to take EA's words that they started the codebase over for next-gen at face value, regardless of how true people want to guess that may or may not be. Thus these features haven't yet existed as far as EA is concerned with regard to the current code base.

Take EA's word for it ? You take EA's word for it. I've been down that road. These features have existed, and the fact that they were on last-gen consoles invalidates any excuse that they (EA) can give, or that you can make for them.

[Hooe]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

Take EA's word for it ? You take EA's word for it. I've been down that road. These features have existed, and the fact that they were on last-gen consoles invalidates any excuse that they (EA) can give, or that you can make for them.

This is where my viewpoint has become different recently.

We can either continue to call these things excuses and continue to get angry at EA and vent on these forums, which is what people have been doing for years, or we can accept the fact that little-to-nothing we say at this point in the way of rants is going to really control what EA Tiburon does, accept the company's stated reasons for the direction it goes with the Madden franchise and also with regard to what features it added / tweaked / didn't get around to implementing, give them constructive feedback when the opportunity exists and is appropriate, and finally speak with our wallets as to whether or not we agree with the direction of the game. All the while in that latter process we achieve much greater peace of mind.

Being an informed and shrewd customer is the only way one can really hold EA accountable if you don't like what it's doing with the franchise. If the lack of custom-drawn plays is that big a deal, don't buy the game and tell EA that is why you aren't buying it. That's the only way they will listen.

I don't mean for this post to have a rude tone if I come across that way; the arguments and continued bashing of EA, deserved or not, gets pretty tired, however.