Madden 12 News Post

Madden Creative Director, Ian Cummings is Leaving Tiburon

02:05 PM - April 12, 2011 by Benicio10

According to PastaPadre, Ian Cummings, Creative Director of the Madden franchise, is leaving Tiburon.

He also states there are quite a few other big names going with him.

What do you think about this news?

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Member Comments

# 81 RGiles36 @ 04/12/11 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	I'm sorry; I don't believe you. To this day, people blame Ortiz when trying to cut Ian some slack.

You must've missed the thread just a couple months ago where videos were made saying how good of a game M08 was.

# 82 Hooe @ 04/12/11 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheShizNo1


	Was Ian the one that worked on HC09?

I think the brains behind the off-field stuff in that game was Josh Looman. Again, feel free to check that.

# 83 RedZoneD25 @ 04/12/11 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHooe


	I think the brains behind the off-field stuff in that game was Josh Looman. Again, feel free to check that.

No, you're right. Josh Looman and Donny Moore were HC09.

# 84 Garrett67 @ 04/12/11 04:43 PM

Regardless of who is at the helm, the game needs to improve. EA is in business to make money and as long as the same people buy the game every year just because it has a new date added to the title, they won't need to change much.

I know some employees care and want to produce the best product but sadly, they're not the decision makers and not always does their vision shine through to the finished product.

I will say I'm just as guilty as anybody. I have bought EVERY Madden game that has been released since the first one, just because that is what I do when Madden comes out.

Every year, I hope THIS is it! But think about it, it will never be IT... how could it be IT? Then what?

# 85 TheShizNo1 @ 04/12/11 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ


	No, you're right. Josh Looman and Donny Moore were HC09.

They should be given free reigns over Madden's franchise mode. HC09 is one of those games I refuse to sell. The off-season mode in that game was like no other for a football game

# 86 Bgamer90 @ 04/12/11 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ


	It's not about popular opinion, in my case. Yes, he made fun NFL games, but fact is the same things missing from when he got the Lead Designer title back in 09 are still missing from the game at the current time. Show me franchise depth and deep Superstar mode...Show me the initiative to do more than Play Now. It's not about him doing a BAD job, it's just that nothing has really changed outside of improved gameplay and new menus/fonts. That said, I'm still interested in Madden 12, just as I'll be interested in 13.

Remember though, Ian did have a "3 year vision" and Madden 12 is his last Madden [which will obviously have Franchise and Superstar mode improvements (madden 12 blog outline)]. I mean, while I did think that Madden 11 would get franchise improvements, I also on the other hand knew that it was going to take more than 1 game to get Madden on the level of other sports games this gen.

# 87 Gotmadskillzson @ 04/12/11 04:44 PM

Yeah Josh was the lead deigner for Head Coach 09.

# 88 Hooe @ 04/12/11 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tazdevil20


	What good would it be to hate/bash Madden just to do so?

That's a really good question.

Quote:


	Most people on here are not 10 year olds. However, many folks are just realists. They call it like they see it, that includes the good with the bad. There are plenty of folks who would rather convince themselves that the game is something it isn't so they feel better.

So my enjoyment of Madden 11, along with the vast majority of its consumer base, was artificial? Was I missing something that these people clearly smarter and more observant than I am easily saw? Forgive me if I don't believe this. I know game opinions are subjective, but there's a certain demographic on here that goes out of their way to find things to complain about in these games.

Quote:


	The fact is that Madden is still light years behind the other sports games. Many things that have been broken for years are still completely broken, and anything new that was added was simply left incomplete and unpolished.

"Completely broken" is up to interpretation. I don't see a game that frequently crashes, I don't see a game with features that don't work, I don't see a game that is horribly unbalanced. "Completely broken" is not what Madden is.

I will give you that Madden is a very shallow game with regard to off-the-field offline modes. That is my biggest complaint with the series right now. My point is some people take their points of criticism with the game way too far.

# 89 HealyMonster @ 04/12/11 04:45 PM

well, things like these are bound to happen, its isnt like Ian was going to work there forever. Id say he was around for a long time there compared to some of the other representatives that have come and gone over the years. Hard to imagine going from Madden to making Facebook games, I know its all about family and $$ and quality of life and not all about Madden and the big time, but the fact that they are making this choice raises my ears to whats going on behind the scenes at Tiburon

# 90 RedZoneD25 @ 04/12/11 04:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bgamer90


	Remember though, Ian did have a "3 year vision" and Madden 12 is his last Madden [which will obviously have Franchise and Superstar mode improvements (madden 12 blog outline)]. I mean, while I did think that Madden 11 would have franchise improvements, I also on the other hand knew that it was going to take more than 1 game to get Madden on the level of other sports games this gen.

Absolutely. I never thought it would be an instant transformation either. It's not even Ian's fault that those things were missing, they were missing long before he got the lead gig too....but I'm still beyond dumbfounded there was literally minimal effort put on the offline modes last year. Especially when you take the guys who made such a beast of a franchise game in HC09 and put them on MUT.

My main issue with Madden is not it being a "bad" game, because it isn't. As CHooe said, it's just shallow.

# 91 Gotmadskillzson @ 04/12/11 04:46 PM

If Josh and Donny stays.....one of those two going to be the new creative director. IMO Josh is the front runner because he had held that title before in other games.

# 92 Bgamer90 @ 04/12/11 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Tell me about it. You would think, with something as technical as developing video games, that you'd need a degree in a related field, or at least some sort of experience that demonstrates your competency. EA is a huge company, and Madden is it's flagship title. You would think a degree in a related field is a given, and that it would be impossible to get your foot in the door as a game tester. Maybe those people, with degrees and/or experience, command higher salaries, and it's kinda hard to pay top dollar when you've already committed to spending over a half a billion dollars on licensing fees.

FYI, game design degrees are pretty new.

I'm pretty sure that the people with the most experience in game programming/design are the ones who don't have a degree in game design.

I mean a degree is only as good as what you learned to get it. I wouldn't be surprised if many of the game designing degrees out there are for teaching ones how to make more simple/XBLA oriented games.

# 93 Hooe @ 04/12/11 04:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Tell me about it. You would think, with something as technical as developing video games, that you'd need a degree in a related field, or at least some sort of experience that demonstrates your competency. EA is a huge company, and Madden is it's flagship title. You would think a degree in a related field is a given, and that it would be impossible to get your foot in the door as a game tester. Maybe those people, with degrees and/or experience, command higher salaries, and it's kinda hard to pay top dollar when you've already committed to spending over a half a billion dollars on licensing fees.

Do you honestly believe that people without computer programming education of some kind were and are spending the majority of the time working with the Madden code base and making the game work?

# 94 Bgamer90 @ 04/12/11 04:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ


	My main issue with Madden is not it being a "bad" game, because it isn't. As CHooe said, it's just shallow.

Definitely understand where you are coming from considering the fact that I feel the same way.

# 95 spit_bubble @ 04/12/11 05:05 PM

Meh. Doesn't surprise me.

Mr. Cummings seemed dedicated to putting out a game for the hardcore. My guess is the environment at EA wasn't conducive for that.

Gotta have the personnel match the scheme, or else it just ain't gonna work.

# 96 Bgamer90 @ 04/12/11 05:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Computer science or software engineering degrees aren't new. Ian started as a game tester, and majored in finance while at college.

So because of that Ian doesn't have experience?

As tazedevil said, there's many capable people without degrees. I've also seen first hand people w/o degrees get jobs over people with them due to the former having more job experience and knowledge.

I mean, there's more ways one can learn something outside of college. Also in many ways college isn't all it's cracked up to be (and I can say this since I'm currently a college student) though lets not go off topic...

# 97 bkrich83 @ 04/12/11 05:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	I don't know, I don't work in that studio. I only know what the teams members said about their own credentials, and most of them stated that they didn't have a degree in a related field.

I've worked in software develepment since I was in college (Two decades). Previosuly at some very big name houses.

Some of the most brilliant programmers/designer are guys without a degree in a related field or without a degree at all.

Actually the guy who I would say is the be all end all programmer I worked with at Apple, never even graduated High School.

In this field in particular a formal degree does not guarantee great programming nor does not having one preclude you from that. Many great, real high end guys actually had degrees in fine arts, probably because of the creativity..

# 98 bkrich83 @ 04/12/11 05:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LiquorLogic


	Computer science or software engineering degrees aren't new. Ian started as a game tester, and majored in finance while at college.

You don't need a computer science degree to be a great programmer/designer.

# 99 frankrizzo380 @ 04/12/11 05:17 PM

I think suprise onside kicks did it, it pushed him over the edge. Is it safe to say that madden 12 is completed? Or did he leave them before completion of the game?

# 100 Palo20 @ 04/12/11 05:24 PM

Well this is too bad. I've enjoyed Ian's work and his direction for Madden.

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Madden Creative Director, Ian Cummings is Leaving Tiburon