A gripe about commentary

[adembroski]

I know, I know, there are plenty of gripes to be had about commentary, and there's the other side of the coin; there are plenty of games that should get the commentary complaints before this one. I agree on both counts, but there's one specific thing that annoys me more than other things.

Inane, self-evident comments. The kind of comments that really make you realize it's video game commentary.

I realize commentary has to be somewhat neutral, as the computer can only be so aware of situations and it must be able to adapt to a lot of circumstances. But some things are just plain pointless and make the commentators seems stupid.

Example: "Ya know, penalties can really ruin a team's chances of winning when they commit too many."

Thanks, Herbie, what insight! Did you learn that watching John Madden? "Anytime you score a touchdown, BOOM! That's worth six points. Heh heh, and then you even get to kick an extra point. That's worth one. So if you score a touchdown and your kicker can make the extra point, you get seven points. Of course, you don't have to kick the extra point, you can go for two and... hey, Pat, what's with all the whiskey?" "Thaaanksh Joohhnnn... *hic* "

I think commentary could be made appreciably better by simply finding these lines (and I'm sure we can provide a list!) and rewriting them in a way that doesn't sound so damned disinterested and lame.

Most of the "we'll see" lines fall into this category. "We'll see what the offense can do here." "We'll see how this rain affects these two teams." Really, Brad? Will we? Or will we watch 60 minutes of football and look back saying, "You know, I'm really not sure how the offense did on that drive."

So, drop every line in the game that starts with "We'll See". Rewrite the inane filler babble and insert something of an opinion.

Example: Instead of the penalty comment, Herbie could say, for instance, "That's just wreckless, undisciplined football! You've gotta be more aware than that." Simple, perhaps still a bit of a filler line, but at least its something I can imagine him actually saying, and it doesn't shove the words "VIDEO GAME" down my throat.

[kobe882]

No doubt, the commentary in this game needs so much work..

I like the suggestions that you have... Really tho i would be very happy, and i'm sure others would be too if they decided to redo all the commentary for next year. Throw almost all of it out, or at least half of it, add way more in, make it so much more dynamic.

Do whatever you can EA to make the commentary feel at least half of what a real college football game feels like. However you can do that.. It has to be possible somehow to make this game feel like it feels when i watch it on television..

I think everyone would agree that while there are always lots of things that could be better.. I feel that we have had basically the same presentation and commentary for almost 10 years now.

[hitch450]

I totally agree. And one more thing.

I broke my schools all time sack record with my DE and he's still a junior. Now everytime he makes a sack in a game, or at least the first one for the game I have to hear about how he just broke the school record. Really annoying and frustrating after a while.

[kobe882]

Quote: Originally Posted by hitch450

I totally agree. And one more thing. I broke my schools all time sack record with my DE and he's still a junior. Now everytime he makes a sack in a game, or at least the first one for the game I have to hear about how he just broke the school record. Really annoying and frustrating after a while.

the worst part about this? i believe it was like that at least 2 years ago.. so yeah its been like that for 3 years and they have known about it, and havent fixed it.

[mwink31]

My favorite (not verbatim) is after a win, Herbie says something about the score surprised him, He thought the two teams were very closly matched.

Not a terrible line when Michigan State plays Michigan (those two teams have almost the exact same overall ratings), but when Michigan State plays FCS, I don't expect to hear that comment. An 86 overall, is not close to a 60ish FCS team.

[The Amaizen Blue]

I think this game has great commentary (compared to other sports games). Like for instance, they took my favorite announcer of all time in Gary Thorne (EA NHL series) and took the enthusiasm out of him. Now he sounds like a monotone commentator, but if you hear some of his real life calls, they'll give you goosebumps. Yeah, this game's commentary could use work too, but I hope they fix the "super jumping LBs" before this lol.

[Bullet Sponge]

The commentary could EASILY be so much more. They game has oodles of stats to draw from. You should be hearing things like this:

"Boise hasn't lost at home in 15 games, but Fresno has a 10 game road winning streak. Something has to give today!"

"This is Jones' 3rd 300 yard passing game of the season"

"This kid is averaging over 100 yards a game rushing"

"These teams are tied for the conference lead so this game is huge"

"Utah state hasn't beaten a ranked team in 8 years"

etc etc etc. Have the game check the stats and come up with some MEANINGFUL commentary. It would change the whole experience.

[z Revis]

I completely agree. Commentary adds so much to a game. And like gameplay, we want it to be realistic and 'sim like'. EA needs to take a look at the way 2k handles commentary in their NBA games. It's so fluid and the things they say are actually things that you would hear in real life.