Madden NFL 12 Super Bowl Halftime Blog: Tuner Sets and Surprise Onside Kicks

[blklightning]

from what little footage they showed, it didn't look that impressive. and i didn't like seeing the ea logo on the score board. where is espn? or the nfl channel? they have the licenses, but they don't use them. that's just ridiculous, imo. and surprise onside kicks are cheese, so i'm not interested in that. but the addition of tuner sets is promising.

[johnprestonevans]

I can only speak for myself, but I reluctantly have grown weary of the Madden franchise. This is a game that I LOVED deeply on last generation systems. While the gameplay has improved since the atrocious '06 season, when you set Madden down and compare it to other sports games of the day - it just doesn't hold up. I want to see Madden return to Hall of Fame form and that means the game engine, animations, AI and most of all presentation need to take big steps forward. I am underwhelmed by this initial blog that talks about an extremely rare play call and AI tuners that should be in every sports game. I really don't want to be so negative, but I remain heavily guarded based on 1) What I have seen in this year's (early) game footage. and 2) The repeating trend of EA hyping up new features and ultimately fall short of the total package. I do appreciate when the team makes those steps forward in gameplay improvements and broadcast integration (Madden 10 was the biggest step forward this generation), but as we approach the end of this cycle of consoles, we still appear to have a long way to go.

I sincerely hope to see some big things for Madden 12 in the months ahead.

[roadman]

Quote: Originally Posted by johnprestonevans

I can only speak for myself, but I reluctantly have grown weary of the Madden franchise. This is a game that I LOVED deeply on last generation systems. While the gameplay has improved since the atrocious '06 season, when you set Madden down and compare it to other sports games of the day - it just doesn't hold up. I want to see Madden return to Hall of Fame form and that means the game engine, animations, AI and most of all presentation need to take big steps forward. I am underwhelmed by this initial blog that talks about an extremely rare play call and AI tuners that should be in every sports game. I really don't want to be so negative, but I remain heavily guarded based on 1) What I have seen in this year's (early) game footage. and 2) The repeating trend of EA hyping up new features and ultimately fall short of the total package. I do appreciate when the team makes those steps forward in gameplay improvements and broadcast integration (Madden 10 was the biggest step forward this generation), but as we approach the end of this cycle of consoles, we still appear to have a long way to go. I sincerely hope to see some big things for Madden 12 in the months ahead.

I don't disagree with much of this except for the tuner sets and the underwhelming part. The tuner sets will be a welcome addition, whether they could have, should have, been in a year or two ago.

Heck, I could have said the blog was underwhelming, but it's exactly what I expected, a few nuggets of information.

Also, I feel that having a former college QB at the top will help out as well.

[RedZoneD25]

Quote: Originally Posted by roadman

I don't disagree with much of this except for the tuner sets and the underwhelming part. The tuner sets will be a welcome addition, whether they could have, should have, been in a year or two ago. Heck, I could have said the blog was underwhelming, but it's exactly what I expected, a few nuggets of information. Also, I feel that having a former college QB at the top will help out as well.

How do you figure? It was said that the marketing team has a pretty big say on what the main features are and the game itself. The former college QB is a current EA employee, which means he too has to go by what he is told to do.

I don't disagree, I'm just playing devil's advocate. For all I know, he could be the missing piece of the puzzle that drives Madden over the hump. Both EA football games are already offense driven, so hopefully his (former) position doesn't affect the future premise of upcoming editions too much. Madden needs some defensive work.

[Hova57]

I think the tuner sets will be a good addition, NCAA is was a good addition too, but they didn't monkey with the right things , plus I believe there was a built in flaw with the linebackers and corner play. ncaa team werent happy with the level they had with the tuners. So it should be happy for the ncaa team too.

[BostonJay14]

Quote: Originally Posted by Ian_Cummings_EA

Glad to see some of you guys dug it though...it's obviously extremely early so I'm happy to release one so called "fluff" feature and one important feature.

Which one was the important feature? To me they are both fluff.

1) Tuner: Great, im glad you added something that allows you to correct things on the fly. however, to me this isnt a feature, its just a debug tool for you guys. If you want to put it in, great, but please don't sell it to us as some "feature".

Thats like me painting someones car and leaving the spare paint in the back seat and telling them "hey its a special no feature... if the paint scratches, then i can fix it!"

2) suprise onside kicks: Nice to have, it fits "if its in the game its in the game" but to me, its not even fluff. its like "oh hey thats kinda neat i guess".

to stick with the car analogy, its like getting a new car, then finding like some kind of cool pop out cup holder. its neat, but its not something you should be promoting to sell the car.

For me, id much rather hear about something useful that is going to bring madden back to being a top 3 sports game(up there with NHL '11, MLB the show, and NBA2k11)... I mean even if its gotta be fluff this early, id rather something useful like...

"this year during replays you can press X to skip and it will skip cuts scenes/menus, instead of you having to wait through it only to have 'x' select gameflow, which you turned off in the settings anyways and dont want to use"

or even

"on the fly audibles are back!" even though thats not something new, but having it back would be great.

or best yet

"classic defensive controls!" so instead of having to hit "x" before playmakering a defender into a zone/blitz, i can do it the old PS2 way where i can assign 6 guys before the snap.

Don't take this as a complain... i liked the strides made for madden 2011. it just kind of annoys me when i feel like things arent continuing to go in the right direction. and when i hear stuff like "important feature" and im looking at tuners/suprise onside... that really makes me scratch my head.

If your gonna get back to being a top 3 sports game, you really need to look at what the other games are doing well. sure they all have great presentation and the "little things". but what those 3 games do best are:

- Controls/UI (including stuff like menu navigation and skipping things)
- gameplay (it always comes down to this)

the prettiest most authentic game in the world doesnt mean jack if I hate the controls and dont find the gameplay insanely fun.

[djordan]

Quote: Originally Posted by BostonJay14

Which one was the important feature? To me they are both fluff. 1) Tuner: Great, im glad you added something that allows you to correct things on the fly. however, to me this isnt a feature, its just a debug tool for you guys. If you want to put it in, great, but please don't sell it to us as some "feature". Thats like me painting someones car and leaving the spare paint in the back seat and telling them "hey its a special no feature... if the paint scratches, then i can fix it!" 2) suprise onside kicks: Nice to have, it fits "if its in the game its in the game" but to me, its not even fluff. its like "oh hey thats kinda neat i guess". to stick with the car analogy, its like getting a new car, then finding like some kind of cool pop out cup holder. its neat, but its not something you should be promoting to sell the car. For me, id much rather hear about something useful that is going to bring madden back to being a top 3 sports game(up there with NHL '11, MLB the show, and NBA2k11)... I mean even if its gotta be fluff this early, id rather something useful like... "this year during replays you can press X to skip and it will skip cuts scenes/menus, instead of you having to wait through it only to have 'x' select gameflow, which you turned off in the settings anyways and dont want to use" or even "on the fly audibles are back!" even though thats not something new, but having it back would be great. or best yet "classic defensive controls!" so instead of having to hit "x" before playmakering a defender into a zone/blitz, i can do it the old PS2 way where i can assign 6 guys before the snap. Don't take this as a complain... i liked the strides made for madden 2011. it just kind of annoys me when i feel like things arent continuing to go in the right direction. and when i hear stuff like "important feature" and im looking at tuners/suprise onside... that really makes me scratch my head. If your gonna get back to being a top 3 sports game, you really need to look at what the other games are doing well. sure they all have great presentation and the "little things". but what those 3 games do best are: - Controls/UI (including stuff like menu navigation and skipping things) - gameplay (it always comes down to this) the prettiest most authentic game in the world doesnt mean jack if I hate the controls and dont find the gameplay insanely fun.

CO-F'N SIGN!!!! Great POST!

[jeremym480]

Quote: Originally Posted by djordan

CO-F'N SIGN!!!! Great POST!

Maybe if we were in July but, we're in February