johnprestonevans's Blog
When I look back on Xbox360/PS3 Madden, I look at a missed opportunity to really push the series forward. In 2005 when new hardware was available to take NFL football games to the next level, the developers started from the ground up with extremely blurred focus. Looking even further back to previous console (PS2/Xbox) versions of the game, each year brought a shinier polish to an already fundamentally sound game.
Enter the launch of Madden 06 on the 360 and suddenly all those great features and presentation were stripped to the bone in favor of higher fidelity. A simpler and quicker Madden was born - which would years later become the tagline of Madden 11. Over those first few of years it became evident that a deep, rich and authentic NFL experience was not the direction EA was taking with its flagship game. Yearly improvements were more cosmetic and gimmicky than they were building a great game of football. I will use Madden's questionable audio issues to make my case as I think sound design is a major factor in any game's success.
John Madden and Al Michaels were replaced by the boring "Radio Guy". For years we complained how dull and disjointed the "commentary" had become. It took 3 years, but EA listened when they installed veteran broadcaster Tom Hammond to change things. Well, poor Tommy turned out to be almost as lame and uninteresting to listen to as Radio man. After a couple more years EA listened again and got excitable booth personality Gus Johnson to save the day. Unfortunately he turned out to be just as confused and un-natural sounding as the rest of the current generation announcers. So why after 3 different commentary teams since 06 does the game sound just as bad? Couldn't focusing on a new and more intelligent commentary system be a good idea? Clearly patching in a different booth personality isn't going to fix one of the game's key and longstanding flaws. That is like laying a new coat of paint over a wall that is cracking from the ground up. You need to rebuild that wall.
The issues with Madden run much deeper than the talent of its programmers or the individuals calling the action in the booth. It seems to be a problem with the focus and vision that has been evident for this entire life-cycle of home consoles. I feel like it's the decision makers in the boardrooms that prohibit the developers from maintaining a true and steady focus with their franchise. EA signs an exclusive deal with the NFL and suddenly their games fall as flat as one of JP Lossman's passes. How can arguably the biggest sports game on the planet turn into a mediocre annual release that continues to fall short of expectations? You would think that with all the resources and revenues at EA Sports that the team would finally get things on the right track.
Things did start to look up with Madden 10. That game's mantra was to take out all the extra fluff and put out a solid fundamental NFL football game. Gameplay was vastly improved, commentary issues were at least considered and presentation received some attention as well. What happened a year later with Madden 11? Suddenly the focus for the game shifted once again away from polishing and building upon a solid foundation and instead marketing a simpler game with flashy box-worthy features to increase profits.
When you place Madden side-by-side with other sports games you see a game heading in the opposite direction from its competitors. Today's modern technology allows developers to push the realism and thus immersion of the audience in their games. You see this in games like MLB The Show and NBA2K which get more authentic every season. Gameplay is tweaked. Commentary sounds more and more lifelike. Television quality presentation appears to be a driving force behind these elite sports game experiences. It transports us into the game and ultimately makes it feel more real. Why has Madden failed to capture this basic sense of simulated reality? Why must everything be a trial and error back-of-the-box feature that gets retooled a year later?
I love NFL football and I long for those days when both EA and 2K Sports were putting out great games - like bitter division rivals in a playoff race. What is it going to take to get Madden up to speed and transform itself into the sports game of the year it used to be? I know we all can pick at little things like corner-back AI, unrealistic tackling or missed blocking assignments, but Id like to know from a macro standpoint - from the top level looking down - what does EA need to do? At this point I fear we have to wait for next-gen technology to lay a new and more solid foundation for the series. Perhaps the expiration of NFL exclusivity will resharpen the tools at EA to once again build a definitive football game.
# 17
MHammer113 @ Jan 19
The pathetic thing is by the time they get things right on these consoles now PS3 and Xbox 360 they will start all over again with incomplete games for the next round of consoles. What a freakin shame
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A deeper franchise mode would be awesome--people talk all the time about how cool it would be to combine Head Coach with Madden, but that isn't necessarily in EA's best interest. No, what they want is not deeper gameplay but shallower and more arcade-like gameplay that has plagued the next-gen consoles.
When I first picked up 10, I remember thinking, "why can't I train my players in franchise." But just like concession prices and jersey sales, I think that EA is trying drop the complex and in depth features to build an approachable for the ****** fan. The choice to dumb down the game makes things like an online dynasty more approachable for someone who doesn't necessarily live and breathe football.
Until they either give up on the ****** fan or someone else comes in to target the more hardcore market, I think we can expect more of the same in the years to come...