Madden NFL 13 Video - Gameplay With Jim Nantz and Phil Simms In-Game Commentary

[bichettehappens]

Anybody expecting the commentary in this game to be on par with NBA 2K and The Show in the first year of implementing new technology and recording all-new commentary from a new crew simply has unrealistic expectations from the start. Aside from the fact I believe football commentary to be the most difficult to replicate in a fluid manner (my own assessment/opinion), it takes time for a development team to familiarize and master new technology, let alone starting from scratch by throwing out all the previously recorded audio.

Will the commentary be on the same level as the other top sports titles this year? I'm certain that it won't, but from what I've heard it sounds like they could potentially be making a huge leap from the mess we were stuck with in M12 and providing a solid base to continue building on and perfecting in future years.

Anyone hoping for anything more than an improvement over last year with potential to grow had the bar set too high in the first place, in my opinion. With all the other improvements made, and pending whatever this monumental change is, I can certainly live with the fact commentary is not yet on the level of NBA 2K.

[CRMosier_LM]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jimi XIII

So, the playbook/preview for commentary is done, although it's still a WIP, they are obviously giving us the best of what they got. So far its very so-so and not anyway near the rest. I doubt they are saving previews or info of Jim & Phil giving individual names, talking about individual performances and how well or poorly a player played a previous game or season. The Madden team hasn't mentioned their commentary going that deep & the tease is over for this portion of the game. If they had player names, weekly/seasonally individual performance info, or anything else truly mind-blowing that others offer I'm sure they would have showcased that. I gave them the benefit of the doubt in the first few previews but the more commentary they expose the more I know it just won't be as good as other games and will just see what else Madden will offer this year. It's alright as long as they actually progress this time around year-to-year and the other aspects of the game have improved, but let's not fool ourselves thinking this is as good as it can get or extremely better play-by-play from last year.

You are correct ... You saw/heard a WIP. They have even said that several times. You have not heard everything. They showed what they were ready to show.

Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk 2

[Jimi XIII]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big FN Deal

Wait a minute now, I don't intend to offer any excuses for Madden not being better but we shouldn't compare slower paced baseball commentary to play by play in football, imo. I think the pace of baseball lends better to flowing commentary than more action filled sports like soccer, basketball, football, etc. That's like comparing the commentary in golf to football, when we know full well it's apples and oranges. That said, when just showcasing the stitch tech for M13, that commentary had a nice flow but it's how it sounded during the actual game play, that was lacking. I think we all need to see how effective this new tech is at E3 before we critique the inevitable flaws it will have.

Since when has it been unfair to compare two sports games commentary? It's not apples to oranges when it comes to putting in the work and putting out quality. But if that's the case with you than what about a faster pace game like basketball having better/much more detailed and smooth commentary?

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

It's definitely much better than last year, Phil Simms sounds great if you ask me, it's just that they need to add more names and stuff for Nantz. This team knows that they aren't there yet. I'm done trying to defend what this team is doing though, they've done more for Madden than has been done in the last 8 years and when Madden 13 comes out you guys will see it first hand. Everyone always has to find some reason to complain and now that we finally have a legit team that is going to make Madden an elite sports game for many years to come, people still complain. There's more to life than Madden guys. As long as we have a solid game this year with solid gameplay and is feature deep I really don't know what more you could ask for in year one of the new team's Madden. Let me just throw something else out there, what football game's commentary sounds better than what we have heard so far? As they mentioned in the podcast they didn't want to just throw names in there for the sake of having them there because it sounds choppy and lame. Just like 2k5, 2k8, and previous Madden games have. As long as we are hearing names or he and not number so and so, then I will be satisfied for a year one foundation. Anyway I've rambled on enough. I for one really appreciate all the effort and hard work this team is putting into Madden 13. This won't be the same old Madden guys, get that through your heads.

It's only better if you just didn't like the previous commentators so far (besides the pre-game as I mentioned is way better). But of course there's more to life than Madden, but we don't come to OS's Madden forums to talk about those things obviously lol. But commentary isn't most likely to be where it should be this year. I just get the feeling you've never really witnessed the things other games have done in this aspect of gaming to be so in awe.

[ChaseB]

Can I just say I'm happy to see so much discussion about commentary? I just care that people care -- only can make things better long-term.

[Big FN Deal]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jimi XIII

Since when has it been unfair to compare two sports games commentary? It's not apples to oranges when it comes to putting in the work and putting out quality. But if that's the case with you than what about a faster pace game like basketball having better/much more detailed and smooth commentary? It's only better if you just didn't like the previous commentators so far (besides the pre-game as I mentioned is way better). But of course there's more to life than Madden, but we don't come to OS's Madden forums to talk about those things obviously lol. But commentary isn't most likely to be where it should be this year. I just get the feeling you've never really witnessed the things other games have done in this aspect of gaming to be so in awe.

Did you read my entire post before you replied? Reason I am asking because you seem to not realize I mentioned basketball and soccer as more comparable in pace to football play by play rather than slower paced baseball or golf.

[jpdavis82]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big FN Deal

Did you read my entire post before you replied? Reason I am asking because you seem to not realize I mentioned basketball and soccer as more comparable in pace to football play by play rather than slower paced baseball or golf.

Football is by far the hardest to duplicate IMO, it has so many highs and lows and stops and starts. I'd give this commentary a solid C+ to B-, last year was probably a D-, so yeah I'm happy. Realistic expectations for a one year improvement and starting from scratch from what we had last year would be in the C range, anything better than that is a testament to just how much effort this team has put in. It seems to me people are expecting Madden 13 to be an A or even A+ in every category, just not realistic. Heck NBA2k has been out a very long time and 2k12 was very mediocre in gameplay and online gaming. There isn't and never will be a perfect sports game, the sooner you realize that the more you will enjoy these games. Madden 13 should be a very solid sports game, hopefully Madden 14 will take the next step and become an elite sports game. Then maybe Madden 15 goes one step further and becomes THE sports game and a legit GOTY contender. That is the kind of improvement we are after.

[DeuceDouglas]

Quote: Originally Posted by Jimi XIII

but let's not fool ourselves thinking this is as good as it can get or extremely better play-by-play from last year.

I don't think anybody is trying to fool themselves into thinking that this is as good as the commentary can get. And I don't know if you heard last year's commentary but it was god awful. It was the first Madden ever where it was so bad that I wanted to turn it off rather than listen to it.

With that being said, I do believe this year will be a very nice improvement over what we got last year. Am I expecting it to be the greatest sports commentary ever? No. But I do believe it's a good start, and a better start, than we've seen in previous iterations of Madden.

[jbd345]

Quote: Originally Posted by jpdavis82

Madden has a new commentary engine for Madden 13, not outdated, and completely new commentary lines, over 82 hours.

I know. I was referring to past maddens and sports games in general.