Madden Creative Director, Ian Cummings is Leaving Tiburon

[Other Guy]

A few thoughts...

• None of us really know how it is behind the scenes, and I think only time will tell. We will have to give the new lead designer 2-3 years, and see where Madden is then. If huge improvements are made or if we're dealing with the same issues should be a good indicator of who's holding Madden back right now.
• A big part of Ian's tenure that I hardly see mentioned was fixing Ortiz's mess that he left behind. It's not like he took over a top of the line product. He took a game that was in shambles (08), and took it to decent (09) and then to actually pretty good (10). That alone is a big accomplishment, IMO.
• Who they choose for the new lead designer will be HUGE. If it's someone from the current Madden team, we may not see too many big changes, since this Madden is a product of their work. If they hire someone from outside of this group then there's no telling where Madden may go from here.

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

So you're getting a cheeseburger with a bunch of fillers. Wouldn't a cheeseburger with some grade A beef be nice right about now ?

Oh yes I would love nothing more than a grade A beef cheeseburger, and I don't even eat red meat! Seriously though, I see the point you were trying to get across. We all for the most part are on the same side, we just want a better quality of football game. We all get caught up in our own agendas(mine is presentation/animations, others are franchise and other off the field logic), we just have to remember we all want the same thing in the grand scheme of things.

If most of us hate madden we wouldn't be here in the 1st place. We just want a more realistic representation, that I feel we have been deprived of since the license. Just my opinion though. I would love for Madden to totally knock me out of me seat this year.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

If you buy cheeseburger, from the only place that sells cheeseburgers, and you don't like it, you'll be upset. When you decide not to buy a cheeseburger, from the only place in the galaxy that sells them, you've saved your money, but you're either still hungry, or you had eat pizza, tacos, something from a deli, or whatever else you didn't feel like eating. Don't you have the right to be mad at the owner of the business who made it so their cheeseburger is the only cheeseburger you have the opportunity to eat. Shouldn't you also be mad at the cook, who year after year, fails to make a cheeseburger to your liking ? Don't you have the right to be even more upset when a the cook tells you it can't be done, when you know for a fact that it's been done before ? It's eat a cheeseburger that tastes like crap, or give up cheeseburgers. We, as customers, want a choice, and what I described above is not a choice; it's a dilemma.

And so the agenda becomes clear.

No I wouldn't get upset. I would simply stop eating cheeseburgers. If they wanted my business they'd improve their product. If they don't I'd move on. I certainly would't keep throwing good money after bad if they made a product I didn't like, and I knew they made a product I didn't like. If I keep buying cheeseburgers, knowing I don't like them, then that's on me, not the cook or the chef or resturaunt.

It goes down to the how many times do you have to burn your hand before you learn. If you keep spending your money over and over and over again, on something that you don't like, that's quite simply your fault.

Quote: Originally Posted by LiquorLogic

So you wouldn't go out of you way to illustrate the things that are wrong with the game. That's your choice, but does your choice invalidate what they are saying ? You said it yourself: Madden was mediocre. Poking fun at their spelling doesn't change that. Weight means nothing in the trenches.The tackles get no push. The interactions are too clean : the dlineman either beats the tackle cleanly, or they both start courting each with some ball-room dancing. There are no animations where the offensive lineman stays in between but loses ground; there is no vertical interaction, only horizontal. It's been this way for years and I refuse to believe that the "suits" are to blame for that. I refuse to believe that more money was allocated to the development of other games in the past. Take consecutive-hit tackling for an example: it's in the ps2 version. You mean to tell me that EA is spending more money on a last gen title ?

Didn't poke fun at his spelling. I poked fun at the fact he was going on and on about physics, and the guy really has no idea what physics really are.

As I said, I could certainly see that ratings did indeed matter for line play.

From the past few days, it's become quite obvious you really know nothing about software development. I am not sure what the spending more money on this or that means. If you have techincal issues, simply throwing more bodies and cash at the problems does not mean they are going to get fixed. Software development simply doesn't work that way.

It's quite obvious you don't like the game, never will. It's also quite obvious as to what your endgame is. Why you spend so much time and effort ranting about something you don't like, I don't get. It's a hobby as soon as it stops being fun, move on.

[PVarck31]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

Oh yes I would love nothing more than a grade A beef cheeseburger, and I don't even eat red meat! Seriously though, I see the point you were trying to get across. We all for the most part are on the same side, we just want a better quality of football game. We all get caught up in our own agendas(mine is presentation/animations, others are franchise and other off the field logic), we just have to remember we all want the same thing in the grand scheme of things. If most of us hate madden we wouldn't be here in the 1st place. We just want a more realistic representation, that I feel we have been deprived of since the license. Just my opinion though. I would love for Madden to totally knock me out of me seat this year.

This is very well said. And like some say, I would read again. And I just did.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by Other Guy

A few thoughts... [*]Who they choose for the new lead designer will be HUGE. If it's someone from the current Madden team, we may not see too many big changes, since this Madden is a product of their work. If they hire someone from outside of this group then there's no telling where Madden may go from here.[/list]

I disagree with this. With a title this big, with such a large amount of different groups working on the project, I am skeptical how much impact the lead designer really has/had.

Just a guess on my end obviously but I don't think the impact is that big.

[bkrich83]

Quote: Originally Posted by SageInfinite

Oh yes I would love nothing more than a grade A beef cheeseburger, and I don't even eat red meat! Seriously though, I see the point you were trying to get across. We all for the most part are on the same side, we just want a better quality of football game. We all get caught up in our own agendas(mine is presentation/animations, others are franchise and other off the field logic), we just have to remember we all want the same thing in the grand scheme of things. If most of us hate madden we wouldn't be here in the 1st place. We just want a more realistic representation, that I feel we have been deprived of since the license. Just my opinion though. I would love for Madden to totally knock me out of me seat this year.

You and are in the same boat. I think we pretty much have been for the last 5 or 6 years.. But there are others out there who simply post in here to take their shots, and we all know why.

I have no doubts that EA could make the greatest football game known to man, and there would be a core group of people taking shots at it for the exact same reasons they have for the last 7 years.

[SageInfinite]

Quote: Originally Posted by bkrich83

You and are in the same boat. I think we pretty much have been for the last 5 or 6 years.. But there are others out there who simply post in here to take their shots, and we all know why. I have no doubts that EA could make the greatest football game known to man, and there would be a core group of people taking shots at it for the exact same reasons they have for the last 7 years.

Oh yea I totally agree. You will always have those select few who feel the need to go "there". EA/Tiburon has definitely given them alot of ammo this gen though, lol.

[Tengo Juego]

Found this in the comments of the latest picture Phil Frazier tweeted:
http://yfrog.com/h0qtyljj