Madden NFL 11 Screenshots and First Details (IGN)

[prettyrik]

Quote: Originally Posted by LoostheMoos

Underwhelming. The game is at a crossroads this year in many ways. I am sure that Ian is expected to produce a product that INCREASES sales year-over-year and that alone creates an enormous amount of inertia that is tough to overcome in any corporate setting (for the youngsters on this forum, pray you never have to learn the inner working of a large conglomerate/corporation like EA). I feel badly for him because it really is the ultimate no-win scenario. Change too much and alienate the "base" of customers and casual game buyers who routinely buy Madden every year. Change too little and you piss off the hard core crowd who always buys the game and always complains about its lack of depth and changes by October 1st each year. Its like trying to make porridge for Goldie-locks without any idea of what she would define as "just right". On the other hand, a lot of the quotes are starting to sound canned and repeated year after year. This has been true for a long time, but it becomes jarringly so when it is the same person making the annual statements and promising the same fixes as the previous 2 games. Ian is in year 3 of a job that really should not have more than a 2-year public shelf-life. David Ortiz suffered from many personal attacks and some that were partially justified, but the visceral hate he engendered at the end of his tenure was IMO due to staying on too long in a stagnant franchise. Madden is going to be Madden. There will be a few things done better, a few things left 100% the same from games as old as 2006 and a few things promised that don't "get into the game though we REALLY wanted that one this year". This is all part of the annual cycle, nearly as predictable as spring thunderstorms and summer sun. A brief recap: 2006 --> crap game, should have been killed and did so much harm to the series in terms of not meeting even basic expectations that it truly has poisoned the well for the entire series on current gen hardware... 2007 --> better than 2006, but still FAR short of "next-gen" expectations. EA got some credit for making the game playable initially, but glitches came in torrents and the game was generally a big disappointment on the 360 and in its PS3 debut. 2008 --> still progressing over 2006 and 2007, but not at a pace that satisfied many of the game's hardcore fans...worth noting - the 2006 game was done on a very compressed timeline to coincide with the release of the XB360 (November 2005) and THAT decision led to a similar compressed timeline on 2007 (released August 2006). Madden 2008 was truly the first game on this generation to get a full 12 months in development - from September 2006 to August 2007. 2009 --> anger was already boiling over in the fan base for not having a "classic" Madden to play on the PS3 and XB360. In the previous generations, by the 4th title - say Madden NFL 2004 on PS2 or Madden NFL '94 on PS1 - Madden had hit new series highs and won a ton of approval. To date that is still missing this time around... 2010 --> a truly decent Madden in many, many respects; but by this time the "Hate-Madden-is-cool" bandwagon was at full speed and circling the building with sign-waving zealots. The common thread though all of these releases has been a carefully controlled media circus that starts in the spring and hits a peak with the release of NCAA in July and 4 weeks later culminates in the "new" Madden. Between now and then, about 5,000 times people will say "its still early...wait until 'x,y,z' " and another 5,000 retorts will say "yeah, but what about 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 or 2010?" The long and the short of it is that if you expect too much change in any single Madden then you simply have not been paying attention to the Madden Cycle very well or you are still new to the series. Madden 11 will satisfy some and disappoint others, but what personally disappoints me is that Backbreaker shows a real attempt to change the perspective of how we play video football and introduces Euphoria-based unique tackles (in place of canned animations) and the only talk out of Orlando is about superficial and following the usual script. It will be enough to trounce Backbreaker in sales for certain, but not in originality and that counts for a lot. Another year and another Madden that gets incrementally better when most people want something revolutionary every 12 months.

Well said!!!! Bravo!!!!! You captured the essesnce of what has been going on these past 4-5 years and why people feel the way they do about Madden whether pro Madden or not. Ian Cummings does have a job I honestly do admit that, but he knew what he was getting into when he took the job as Lead Designer.

[N@X_WiZaRD]

Quote: Originally Posted by Pacman83

Not broken, just not what some folks want. But theres no need for them to get so upset. (at N@x_Wizard)

I beg to differ. I think the animation system actually is broken, or at the very least severely deficient.

I mean, how is it that EA adds hundreds of new animations to the game every year, and yet, we still see the same stiff movement (particularly DB/WR interactions and RB running) that's plagued Madden since 06.

The problem isn't the animations. Yet everyone on this forum continuously barks out the same fix to Ian every year.

"Get rid of this animation"

"Add this animation"

"Make this animation look more realistic"

We're all missing the point! They are modeled after REAL movement with REAL actors. They can't be anymore realistic! The problem is that these realistic movements are plugged into a system that transitions them in an unrealistic way. And until Ian and the crew find a way to make a system that more organically presents their realistic mo-cap, we'll see the same crap.

EA's patented blending technology IS the problem.

[Segagendude]

Last year:
I was pumped to see refs measuring for the first down. I didn't know though that there were only two scenes, and after a handful of games, I'd know the outcome already...

I was pumped to hear refs would get together and discuss TD's. I didn't know that I couldn't skip the scene, and that it happens waaaay too often.

I was pumped to see that cutscene shown at E3 of Romo being patted on the shoulder while on the phone after a big play. I have yet to see that scene in the game...

I was pumped to hear of FINALLY getting a halftime show. I didn't know it would be extrememly generic and stripped down.

I was pumped about Pro-Tak. It's not bad, but not that great either...


So forgive me if this time around I'm not breathless with anticipation.

[SomeStrangeSin]

Im actually happy the graphics didnt change much that just means they spent more time on gameplay and other features (hopefully) maybe a 65/35 split I hope for. But yea once i get my hands on the demo of backbreaker and madden 11 ill make my decision... I really need a football game this year

[TheCreep]

Quote: Originally Posted by SomeStrangeSin

Im actually happy the graphics didnt change much that just means they spent more time on gameplay and other features (hopefully) maybe a 65/35 split I hope for. But yea once i get my hands on the demo of backbreaker and madden 11 ill make my decision... I really need a football game this year

You took the words right out of my mouth. One thing that the pics definitely show is that nothing else can be done with the graphics. Looks just like 10.....and thats GREAT.

Maybe now they'll focus on transition animations, getting the engine to cycle through ALL animations (not just 4 or 5 lol) and just some general things under the hood ya know. A.I, player interaction, etc.

Maybe they can do a 80/20 thing in favor of everything but the graphics. Graphics are nowhere near the problem. I can have the slickest paint job on my car, but if the engine is jacked up it means not a thing.

[DaveDQ]

Quote: Originally Posted by albert_24

Its off to a promising start. Better than last years first details about situational awareness that kinda didn't exist. Just make sure to add smooth transitional animations. Damn I'm excited already. No matter how hard I don't get my hopes up I always do when the first news hits. August is such a long way off once again.

Just like anyone else, I like the blogs and bits of information, but the above comments frustrate me. No offense at all, but if you are saying they said something would exist in last year's game and then didn't, why would you be excited about another promise in this year's game?

I'm sure it will look nice, but what needs to be addressed is how the AI pays no attention to the possibility of yards after a catch. Most of the time the AI catches the ball close to the sidelines and then is pulled out of bounds. Hopefully this is fixed.

[PhillsPhan26]

They are still running that same receiver/DB fight for the ball as last year? They need to get some new running animations in this game cause it is really getting old.

[RGiles36]

Quote: Originally Posted by womalee23

To me the new Ncaa 11 screenshots look 100x better.

Quote: Originally Posted by Pantherbeast

Umm I wouldn't say that my friend. Both games are still in production right now. I wouldn't judge madden11 off photos. People are judging way to soon. I think people really need to take a step back and just chill out some. First info a few photos and people are suddenly jumping the gun.

Panther -- ALL of your posts reek of glass-half-fullness LOL. How about some balance? Womalee is correct; the NCAA screenshots do look better. I don't think that'll be indicative of what we see in July & August, but as far as screenshots, he's right.