Madden NFL 12 - Switch Teams in Offseason, Scouting Reworked, Free Agent Bidding Wars

[TheTodd84]

Wow. I read this article and I was almost in shock, really. This is all amazing news. Incredible stuff, EA. I was seriously 99% positive I was going to pass on Madden this year and just stick with NCAA. I might have to go drop $5 on a pre-order now. I'm still going to wait and see on some of these other features, but if they are good, EA might have my money again for Madden. Damn them, lol.

I'm most excited about the improved scouting and playing the pre-season games. That's so sick.

[b22gamer]

This all sounds exciting. Franchise mode has always been my favorite offline mode. My ONE and only thing that I think they still haven't tweaked (and this is so minor, I'd be surpised if I was the only one who cared about this) The names on the back of the jerseys when they are longer. Just saw a clip of Rashard Mendenhall in the Gameplay Virtual Playbook video, and his name is all scrunched up. Doesn't look realistic and I wish it was something the guys at EA could address. Anyone else ever notice that?

[Thinking Out Loud]

Quote: Originally Posted by canes21

I guess with a better Injury Reserve system, that just means it works like it is supposed to now? I can't see how they could improve it and still have it not work properly.

Reading this prompted me to go back and read the small article again. It says "fixes" to the Injury Reserve system, not upgrades, so that probably just means, now it works right.

That said, after thinking more about the potential BIG gameplay announcement still to come possibly at E3, that could be a new "Wear N Tear" injury system. I originally thought maybe a new pass mechanic but they have already shown passing in videos and talked about the new pump fake. So the most feasible gameplay upgrade I can think of would be a new injury system. Plus, in either NCAA 12 or Madden info, it has been mentioned a few times how tackles and injuries actually relate better in this years EA football games. I think that improved tackle and injury logic probably means a new injury system.

[jjsmitty34]

Not to be that guy but why wasn't this effort put in every year...

[fitch94]

Great the Patriots will be trading down during the draft. Actually I am very excited about this feature of the new Madden. The Preseason and the Scouting have badly needed to be revamped and it appears that they have done it. Hopefully more features from Head Coach make it into the Game.

Does anyone know about the trading logic for draft picks?

[jmurphy31]

Quote: Originally Posted by LorenzoDC

I've always thought that they should be building the brand from the hard core fan outward anyway. In other words, if they want to rope in a new generation of new players, they should make the loyalists so overjoyed that they become your big viral salesforce. Maybe they'll try that for a couple of years now. Having said that, WOW. They really amped up franchise and listened to what we wanted. Assuming the execution of all this is decent, and of course I expect some hiccups that can maybe require a patch, this should be a helluva lot more fun to play than any Madden, maybe, ever.

I have always agreed with this idea as well...Any game, no matter the genre, should try to please its core gamers and than try to reach out to new markets. Companies make money by having customers make repeat purchases, not selling to new customers once.

I play mostly sports games, but I have friends who have turned me onto other games like Gears of War, Dead Space, etc. I tried to get them to play Madden and they were not having it (They miss the Old days of Madden).

On the flip side...If sales do drop this year with this recommitment to the hardcore community, what changes would we see in the future.

[PSRusse83]

Quote: Originally Posted by LorenzoDC

Ok, funny thing. I'm gonna say this, and I actually think it's funny, as in hah ha funny. I'm not snarking. I am not one of the people who says OMG these features are old generation so Madden suX0r!!! But the line about 90% of players trying franchise stuck out to me. Last year we got all kinds of stats about how many people went online once and never stuck with it, so they did things to make the game a lot simpler for newbies to learn, and ignored offline modes. They used stats last year to make their case for why they were telling sim and offline franchise players, sorry, no soup for you. Now, this year they're sharing a stat to talk about how many people try franchise but find it, I guess, too shallow and unrealistic to football. I just think that's funny! I've always thought that they should be building the brand from the hard core fan outward anyway. In other words, if they want to rope in a new generation of new players, they should make the loyalists so overjoyed that they become your big viral salesforce. Maybe they'll try that for a couple of years now. Having said that, WOW. They really amped up franchise and listened to what we wanted. Assuming the execution of all this is decent, and of course I expect some hiccups that can maybe require a patch, this should be a helluva lot more fun to play than any Madden, maybe, ever.

To me the new ideas and Features for a Franchise mode are so simple. Its all out there in plain site to see every day of the year (except in a lockout) The hard part is making sure it works in a video game without having major flaws or crashes and thats what i see these past two years being. We waited while Looman and his team worked to get this game in the direction fans want it to be headed. From what I've been reading it looks to be paying off.

[PSRusse83]

Quote: Originally Posted by sniperhare

I'm hoping it can be something like you can control 1 team for the season then control 32 teams for the draft and FA then switch back to 1 right before the preseason. Love the edit feature, this way I can adjust players to make my own franchise storyline and have injuries impact ratings.

Remember when youre players would get injured and depending on what type it was it would affect their speed throw power etc? I loved Madden 07. To me that was the most fun I had playing a two team Franchise with my room mate.