OS - Press Row Podcast: Episode 41 - Madden NFL 25 with Gus Ramsey and Ian Cummings

[homeycool]

It may be par for the course in many fields, but software developers are highly sought after and generally are given a lot of leeway from employers because good developers are so hard to find let alone keep. The game industry is one of the worst work environments for software developers and it sounds like EA isn't doing itself any favors by providing that kind of culture for its developers.

[ghettogeeksta]

Going to listen to the podcast while I am at work here in a bit. Can't wait to here what Ian has to say!

[CarryTheWeight]

I'll echo the sentiments of most of the replies with Ian's portion of the interview, and I'm glad that he understands and echoes a lot of the criticism and gripes people have around these boards. This criticism doesn't exist in a vacuum if the former lead designer also talks about it candidly.

Also interesting to hear his honest opinion of commentary and living sidelines during his time at EA and how he was interested in implementing them. Makes me wonder how much was left on the cutting room floor during his time.

His comments about stability in the development teams and in the feature set speak volumes. Always respected the guy's ambition and community involvement, but what's done is done. Hopefully someone from the front office hears his criticism and improves the stability inside and outside this franchise.

[Big FN Deal]

Well the part with Ian seemed to illustrate that "bubble" that exists when affiliated with Tiburon because the Ian in that interview would likely have been on Madden Creative Director Ian's OS ignore list, lol. Stating things like "x is a still a mess", "I was breaking down video of y in instant replay", "z is just a back of the box feature which adds nothing to the game", "BackBreaker had the kind of physics I want to see in a football game", etc, boy the forest sure is easy to see without the trees obstructing your view. That interview reminded me of a politician reflecting on their time in office after leaving, too bad it wasn't done periodically while actually in office when it might have mattered.

I won't dig up quotes or bash Ian because to err is human but this is someone that criticized gamers about making YouTube videos showing Madden's issues using instant replay and defended Tiburon's product for years. I'm not naive, I understand one shouldn't bash a company they actually work for but that doesn't mean they have to defend it. The same stuff he is saying now, about then, was just as true then.

Anyway, I ain't mad at you Ian, glad to see you were able to parlay your time at Tiburon into more lucrative endeavors. Can't knock the hustle.

[The_Balm]

Fantastic interview! I could listen Ian for hours. I hope he's back on the show soon. He has some really great insight on Madden development. I was sad to see him leave the Madden team, I always thought he had a really good vision for Madden, but couldn't go at it 100%, this seems to confirm my thinking. I'm a huge fan of his current wishes (physics like Backbreaker with consistent momentum, a lot better commentary, more little things etc.).

[Kaiser Wilhelm]

Quote: Originally Posted by Big FN Deal

Well the part with Ian seemed to illustrate that "bubble" that exists when affiliated with Tiburon because the Ian in that interview would likely have been on Madden Creative Director Ian's OS ignore list, lol. Stating things like "x is a still a mess", "I was breaking down video of y in instant replay", "z is just a back of the box feature which adds nothing to the game", "BackBreaker had the kind of physics I want to see in a football game", etc, boy the forest sure is easy to see without the trees obstructing your view. That interview reminded me of a politician reflecting on their time in office after leaving, too bad it wasn't done periodically while actually in office when it might have mattered. I won't dig up quotes or bash Ian because to err is human but this is someone that criticized gamers about making YouTube videos showing Madden's issues using instant replay and defended Tiburon's product for years. I'm not naive, I understand one shouldn't bash a company they actually work for but that doesn't mean they have to defend it. The same stuff he is saying now, about then, was just as true then. Anyway, I ain't mad at you Ian, glad to see you were able to parlay your time at Tiburon into more lucrative endeavors. Can't knock the hustle.

If Ian were an independent artisan, creating the games as his own boss, then yes he could have. When Ian was a Madden developer, he also had to keep up public relations. He no longer has to maintain any PR for EA Tiburon, thus he can be candid.

With the games that are now coming out on Kickstarter that are the ideas of longtime vets of the business and you here their side of the story, you might finally begin to realize just because somebody has the titles of Creative Designer, doesn't mean they are designing their own creation.

I can't find the link but David Sears had a very decent interview where he talked about "management."

[Big FN Deal]

Quote: Originally Posted by Kaiser Wilhelm

If Ian were an independent artisan, creating the games as his own boss, then yes he could have. When Ian was a Madden developer, he also had to keep up public relations. He no longer has to maintain any PR for EA Tiburon, thus he can be candid. With the games that are now coming out on Kickstarter that are the ideas of longtime vets of the business and you here their side of the story, you might finally begin to realize just because somebody has the titles of Creative Designer, doesn't mean they are designing their own creation. I can't find the link but David Sears had a very decent interview where he talked about "management."

I respect what you are saying but I think it's different than what I was referring to or at least trying to in my post. I understand that he can be more candid now and in that candor he admits that some of the things he did have creative control over weren't the best decisions, in hindsight. I'm not crucifying him for it, we all can reflect on past mistakes. I'm just highlighting the fact about how different those same decisions, that he defended at the time, now seem when looking at the game in a different context.

That's what many gamers tried to get Ian to do back then and others to do today in relation to EA football, only to be rebuffed by Tiburon speak. I call it that because they often state things that only seem to make sense in relation to the way things work at Tiburon.

[gr18]

Many thought that while Ian's reign started off well ,it didn't reach the level as expected.In retrospect,he got it pretty darn close and they would've been better off building on '12 and thus would be further along.

You wouldn't have thought that at the time.What has transpired over the last couple of years is a product with promise and great potential that is sloppier,frustratingly shallow for the intended framework and lending more of a pompous,deaf ear to the consumer.

Of course,just about all the reviews will always look at 'innovation' with no regards to stability and are just about as oblivious as a company that releases a product with bugs that should be obvious if you test it.