Madden 09 News Post

Video Game Football Stinks, and No One Seems to Notice

02:55 PM - August 4, 2008 by RaychelSnr

Today at Operation Sports we have a very special guest writer, Todd Zuniga of 1Up fame. Zuniga is writing about a topic which has been heavy on his heart lately, the fact that Video Game Football Stinks, and No One Seems to Notice.

Quote:


	"You�re all suckers. You�ve been waiting around for, what, seven months now, awaiting the next Madden -- or maybe you�re an NCAA guy. Regardless. And you�ll soon celebrate or condemn the tweaks, changes, fixes and faux pas in Madden 09, but you�ll still miss the big picture: American football is a terrible video game sport. And no one seems to notice."

Game: Madden NFL 09Reader Score: 7/10 - Vote Now
Platform: NDS / PS2 / PS3 / PSP / Wii / Xbox 360Votes for game: 88 - View All

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Member Comments

# 21 wurstman3000 @ 08/04/08 06:54 PM

After you successfully helped sinking NHL 2K8 you could give it at least a little credit in this article, as the defense controls are way better than in EAs effort.

I agree with your points; when I think about it, I had only real fun playing defense in PES2008 and NHL 2K8 this year.

# 22 spankdatazz22 @ 08/04/08 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by lowlevel


	Sure, we notice. We've noticed for a long time now. Unfortunately, as long as consumers and "critics" keep giving game developers a free pass on their broken feature sets, it seems the developers and publishers will have little motivation to change thier thinking. Really Todd, you've mentioned your distaste for defense on your podcast and even in your recent NCAA review. But then you give EA a swat on the *** and a "Good effort guys, you'll get 'em next year ...", and score them a freaking A-. Broken AI, broken online dynasty, and chronically broken/"unfun" defense, and they still get an "A-". "No one seems to notice", huh? It seems that includes the "critics" as well.

Well said.

# 23 muggins @ 08/04/08 07:59 PM

Hey young man, I can't see so good... did Colin Cowherd write this article? I can't tell. Let me get my glasses...

# 24 Jgainsey @ 08/04/08 08:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stux


	Ah go back in your mini van, drive away and leave it to us men to discuss a man's sport. Never like hearing some guy in a skirt talking about football.

It's a Conversion Van mother ****er.

# 25 ghm125 @ 08/04/08 08:44 PM

hmmm?

# 26 jclentzthadon @ 08/04/08 09:55 PM

LOL!! SOCCER??? Here is exactly how I feel about weaka$$ soccer compared to american football...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rf6oH2agCmE

# 27 thescoop @ 08/04/08 10:00 PM

I liked some of what you said, but like the man you named at the end of your article, Obama, you talk about change but give us NO ideas.

Come on. Instead of just telling us what we already know is wrong how about you come up with an idea or two? Can't do it? Too busy just complaining? And all this after you gave the game an A?

I started off reading your column and thought it was going somewhere other than, "football sucks." I played soccer. I love it and do agree that some we've seen those games get better in giving us a real feel.

So how about you actually give some answers to the problem of defenses instead of just posting rants about they suck. You could just have been a random poster on here to put that droll up.

Instead you paint a world where it can't be fixed, but close with asking for a fix with no suggestions. What a joke.

# 28 LingeringRegime @ 08/04/08 10:30 PM

I used to say, "Soccer Sucks" too. When I was ignorant about the rules and didn't understand anything about it. But, when I play Winning Eleven (Pro Evolution) a few years ago I was hooked. You never see the same goal twice! You have unprecedented control of your players. So, for everyone who just says "soccer sucks." Do you yourself a favor and buy PRO EVO 2008, it is really cheap right now, and if you play Master League, and are really honest with yourself, you will have a lot of fun.

# 29 maddcatt @ 08/04/08 10:36 PM

Man OH Man this just kills me !!

NCAA does have some defense and also some nice defensive adjustments that you can make with audibles and defensive hot Routes......
HOWEVER !! You just don't have the time to make all the adjustments you would like to make with all the clowns online that play offense with a HURRY-UP mentality, Knowing this is the games biggest weakness.

I have this one buddy I play and we play it like a real game of college football and this in turn means you have some time to get a quick look at your matchups on defense and make the proper adjustments.

We are having great games with some good very defense.

This might be considered House Rules !! but the ONLY House Rule we really have is just to play it like a real game of college football.

# 30 slickdtc @ 08/04/08 10:42 PM

This is kind of a strange thread...

Anyway, the topic at hand. I agree that football defense, midplay, does suck. But there's not many fixes to it. And I kind of think it's a good thing. Football is a very team oriented game -- if one player screws up, it could ruin the whole thing for the team on that play. So I should rely on my teammates to make the right decisions. If they don't, eh, then we'll get 'em next play. If they do, great, good job. Just like in real football, one player doesn't make a team.

The real culprit here is the game AI. It has sucked, does suck, and will suck in the future.

# 31 quietcool72 @ 08/04/08 10:58 PM

So everyone knows I'm not pulling the "A-" claim out of my rectal cavity, here's the link to the NCAA 09 review on 1up by this same Todd Zuniga.

http://www.1up.com/do/reviewPage?cId=3168741&p=4

A-

"..This may be the only NCAA football game in town (EA's got exclusivity), but even with competition, there's no question this one's national-championship caliber."

Todd, if you are reading this- I think you are a funny guy and I like your stuff on the Sports Anomoly, but you gotta admit, giving NCAA 09 a ridiculously high score two weeks ago ...then coming here and posting about how football video games suck... I think you have to admit its very strange.

# 32 Kaanyr Vhok @ 08/05/08 01:16 AM

You cant talk about great sports video games without talking about College Hoops 2k8.

# 33 gbx34 @ 08/05/08 03:28 AM

American Football? Wait theres other football games out there? CFL?

# 34 azcardsfan81 @ 08/05/08 03:49 AM

whatever man ncaa 09 fooball for the 360 is a fun game learn to play it before you bash it, and while soccer is okay to watch only for lets say the big national tournaments most of the soccer games suck and is to boring. Go back to your england pub and watching some soccer

# 35 thegoons21 @ 08/05/08 07:29 AM

I think he's saying that the game of american football just doesn't translate well to videogaming. That's not to say EA can't make an A rated game with what they have to work with. I tend to agree. I love football but don't think the game translates well to videogames. Or maybe no one has figured out a way to make it work really, really well. There are too many seperate things going on to get it right. Plus it's just so stop/start. Plays take all of what, 10 seconds, then 20 seconds of menu navigating, then another 10 seconds of actual gameplay. I, too, have had more fun with hockey, soccer, and for the most part basketball games, over this last year.

# 36 Axel40 @ 08/05/08 08:58 AM

"If I have completely missed the point of the article, I apologize"

Pike, you seem to forget halfway through your long post that he was talking VIDEO GAME football and VIDEO GAME Soccer.

He was not trying to destroy your national sport

# 37 therizing02 @ 08/05/08 09:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stux


	Ah go back in your mini van, drive away and leave it to us men to discuss a man's sport. Never like hearing some guy in a skirt talking about football.

Great...intelligent..well thought out FIRST post. Did you get banned from the EA boards or something?

# 38 sportyguyfl31 @ 08/05/08 09:18 AM

Well, Soccer hardly "sucks"..it just isnt a part of American Sports Culture, and that is that. Nothing will ever change that..ever.

I'm glad to see Im not the only one who thought "wait, didnt this site give NCAA a 8.7 2 weeks ago??"

# 39 zoltranite @ 08/05/08 10:50 AM

2 things that can fix defense

-Line and Linebacker Gap control with different fronts within the 4-3 and 3-4. That way everyone has a responsibility and its not just like... okay... get set... now tackle the guy with the ball.

The second things that I believe will fix this is that they need to up the awareness of Defensive guys just a tad. I know they cant make them that smart and in tune with whats going on becuz people would complain about not getting much offense. What they should do is increase awareness all the way around. Defense needs to react to the ball all the way around. Have tendency ratings that determine whether or not a defender is likely to try for a jarring hit or if he would rather go for the ball. On offense we already have a Catch in traffic and spectacular catch rating so lets do something on defense to off set that more than just having a hit stick.

One more thing for defense. If a guy is running the same play over and over again.. especially in the same type of situations, make the defense more likely to catch on. If Im a corner and my man runs 15 yard outs more than 50% of the time, Im gonna start jumping that route.

Oh yeah... add two types of cover 2 zones. Hard and soft. Hard cover 2 the corners jam and play strongly in the flats. In a soft cover two they back pedal off the line and they'll play anywhere from 7-15 yards deep just to keep everything in front of them. Also, The safetys in cover two need help. In NCAA everyone just goes to a certain area which is not true in real life. You have responsibility of an area, but the opposing offense dictates how fast you get to that area. God, I hope the right people are reading this.

# 40 Trevytrev11 @ 08/05/08 11:16 AM

I think defense in baseball games has become the biggest joke. Go back almost 20 years to Basball Stars and you still run to a spot to catch a ball. In most football games, you have to throw the ball with the QB, switch to the receiver, complete the route and press a button to catch the ball. In baseball, you just run to the spot.

Throwing has gone through a minor change. Instead of pressing the B button on the right side of the buttons, you press the R stick to the right. This adds a little more variation to the throw, but not a whole lot of difficulty. It's just a press either way.

Catching is still the same. From the original baseball on Nintendo, to MLB 2K8 on the 360-run to the circle where the ball will land and your player will catch it regarldess of what direction he's facing or if the sun is directly in his eyes.. It's time for a catch button in baseball. Another degree of difficulty is needed in a game where it takes multiple actions to execute a pitch.

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