Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 to Kick Off Another 3-Year Plan

08:59 AM - April 14, 2011 by brza37

Multiple sources are reporting that Cam Weber, EA's General Manager of Football, is touting a new 3-year plan for Madden, starting with Madden NFL 12.

Didn't Ian have a 3-year plan for an in-depth franchise mode and "Everything you see on Sunday" that was supposed to be fulfilled with Madden 12? Hopefully, he didn't leave because some suits or this new GM put MUT, Gameflow or the Need for Speed type Autolog feature ahead of Ian's vision.

Let the speculation begin...

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Member Comments

# 1 Jukeman @ 04/14/11 09:01 AM

LoL they're still going with this strategy?

What they're like 0-2 with this plan right?

# 2 RedZoneD25 @ 04/14/11 09:06 AM

This is tricky. On one hand, it's great that Tiburon has their priorities set for the long term. On the other hand, we just got done waiting three years from the last plan, and the jury is still out until August (or whenever the final title update drops in the fall). I hope this coming 3-year-plan is executed more aggressively and effectively, but I'm still open on M12.

There will be a lot of people who read this and cry wolf, but I don't think it is as worthy of eye-rolling as it appears. To me it just means that there will be some extra stability in the future editions of the game. Nothing more, nothing less.

# 3 GGEden @ 04/14/11 09:08 AM

They say they've already mapped out the plan thru to Madden 14. That says to me it's the same old same old.

# 4 rooney8 @ 04/14/11 09:08 AM

This is what needs to be done to get Madden back on track. Once you build a good game you can then go tweaking it year to year but not before. However I have heard this all before.

# 5 RedZoneD25 @ 04/14/11 09:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GGEden


	They say they've already mapped out the plan thru to Madden 14. That says to me it's the same old same old.

It's a business thing. They want to map out where their work is heading in the future and set goals. Nothing wrong with that.

# 6 GGEden @ 04/14/11 09:12 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ


	On the other hand, we just got done waiting three years from the last plan, and the jury is still out until August (or whenever the final title update drops in the fall). I hope this coming 3-year-plan is executed more aggressively and effectively, but I'm still open on M12.

This is a good point on two counts. Unbolded = same old same old.
Bolded....see, before i used to just buy madden on release, believing hype and EA's pre-release videos etc.

But enough was enough, and backbreaker's engine itself has now set a new bar for me as a consumer. From now I'm downloading the demo, if it's not up to my standards, I wont be buying it. If it's got all the same problems that the SimStandard guys often point out, I'm not buying it.

# 7 PAPERNUT @ 04/14/11 09:22 AM

EA has an every year plan to take as much money as possible regardless of game quality and people continue to buy it. Until that ends, nothing will change.

# 8 brza37 @ 04/14/11 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WTFitsDaveyJ


	It's a business thing. They want to map out where their work is heading in the future and set goals. Nothing wrong with that.

I know what you mean. It just bothers me that they're already talking about the next 3 year plan when we still haven't seen the last 3 year plan come to fruition. Hopefully M12 blows me away and really does accomplish everything that was planned back between M09 and M10. But the two sentences below lead me to believe that vision won't be fulfilled in M12 because thats basically the same thing Ian said 3 years ago.
"Among other things, Tiburon plans to focus on "investing heavily in the core gameplay." That includes making sure that player behavior is flawless from "whistle to whistle," Weber said."

One huge positive though is that he says they have plans to double the development staff over the next couple years.

Hopefully the majority of that staff will be used for features (in-depth franchise mode), details (immersion, highlight shows etc.) and gameplay issues (consecutive hit tackles) we've been clamoring for instead of stuff like MUT and Autolog.

# 9 sniperhare @ 04/14/11 09:53 AM

If this isn't the year of the franchise they're are going to have a lot of annoyed customers wanting answers.

# 10 RGiles36 @ 04/14/11 09:54 AM

IDK, it is what it is: some hyperbole to keep people fired up about the Madden franchise. Even if they didn't make public that they have a 3-year plan in place, generally I think they develop their game with the near future in mind. So in my opinion, this is nothing substantial at all.

# 11 DaveDQ @ 04/14/11 10:24 AM

Madden needs a visionary, someone to step in with realistic goals and then move toward achieving them. They need to stop meandering around message boards and lay off these silly teaser scenarios. There's a guy on Twitter claiming that if he gets so many followers he'll release another photo of Madden 12. We don't need that. The Madden team doesn't need that. It's chasing the wind on both ends.

Sound bytes, Hidden white board messages, mysterious videos hinting towards possible features...All these things need to simply go away. I don't know much about Madden's current GM (Cam Weber), but perhaps his comment about a 3 year plan is to introduce his goals for the franchise. Maybe so, but please stop with your ground men hinting and raising speculation about your product. this link that Chase provided does give a good outline of what they are introducing in M12, so I give them credit there:

http://www.ea.com/madden-nfl/1/madden-nfl-playbook

Outline what your vision is. Create realistic goals that are achievable. Present it in a clear and readable way so that those who are legitimately interested in the depth of your game aren't going around on a treasure hunt trying to discern what a picture of cheerleaders means.

# 12 djordan @ 04/14/11 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DaveDQ


	Madden needs a visionary, someone to step in with realistic goals and then move toward achieving them. They need to stop meandering around message boards and lay off these silly teaser scenarios. There's a guy on Twitter claiming that if he gets so many followers he'll release another photo of Madden 12. We don't need that. The Madden team doesn't need that. It's chasing the wind on both ends. Sound bytes, Hidden white board messages, mysterious videos hinting towards possible features...All these things need to simply go away. I don't know much about Madden's current GM (Cam Weber), but perhaps his comment about a 3 year plan is to introduce his goals for the franchise. Maybe so, but please stop with your ground men hinting and raising speculation about your product. this link that Chase provided does give a good outline of what they are introducing in M12, so I give them credit there: http://www.ea.com/madden-nfl/1/madden-nfl-playbook Outline what your vision is. Create realistic goals that are achievable. Present it in a clear and readable way so that those who are legitimately interested in the depth of your game aren't going around on a treasure hunt trying to discern what a picture of cheerleaders means.

Good Post Dave

# 13 guaps @ 04/14/11 10:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by brza37


	One huge positive though is that he says they have plans to double the development staff over the next couple years.

This is the part that excites me. Doubling the size of the core football development team might mean a return towards more sim like football, but then again... the exclusivity deals is ending soon, so it's a move they have to make

# 14 TreFacTor @ 04/14/11 10:58 AM

I'm one of those jaded individuals that has come to take any information released with a grain of salt. Every year until M10 I thought I knew what I was getting be doing my due diligence; gathering all the information, downloading the demo only to find the end result was nothing of what I expected. my biggest issues with Madden is the maybe "next year" mantra. Every year I wait to see if legacy issues are fixed, and they never are. A 3 year plan for Madden... makes no difference if the plan is excellent but poorly executed like the past 3 years. If they get rid of the smoke and mirrors, remove the gimmicks and simply stick to the football first mentality I think everyone would be pleased including myself.

# 15 djordan @ 04/14/11 10:59 AM

This scares me from the gamepro article..

Quote:


	We'll be taking a closer look at Madden 12 soon, so expect more detailed info before too long. Whatever new features Tiburon rolls out though, expect them to be just the beginning of the process.

So we should expect Madden to be sub par this year...

# 16 SageInfinite @ 04/14/11 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by djordan


	This scares me from the gamepro article.. So we should expect Madden to be sub par this year...

I mean is that idea any different from what we've come to expect this gen, lol. Madden 10 was a bright spot imo, but everything else has been sub par. We know the drill by now. Keep expectations low and you might be surprised.

# 17 BezO @ 04/14/11 11:03 AM

Doubling the size of the development team sounds good. I always thought they could use more hands on deck.

3 years is a long time though, especially since I've already been waiting 5-6. I don't know if it's my age, other interest, games not meeting my expectations, but I might not be playing video games in 3 years.

I hope this 3-year plan includes re-doing the AI, animations / player interaction & defensive play calling. The word "features" always scares me when it comes to Madden.

# 18 DaveDQ @ 04/14/11 11:15 AM

Here's a "point" the GamePro article makes:

"Among other things, Tiburon plans to focus on "investing heavily in the core gameplay." That includes making sure that player behavior is flawless from "whistle to whistle," Weber said. In other words, players may finally stop running through walls after scoring touchdowns."

I quote this to show how pointless the shallow article is. First off, if you quote him as saying from whistle to whistle the intention is to have flawless behavior, don't bring up something that would happen after the whistle. Hold their feet to the fire and say something like, "Players may finally be able to execute consecutive hit tackles."

That may be nit picking, but it just goes to show how shallow all of this is. That article is very poorly written, and just proves Gamepro is not digging deeper.

# 19 TreFacTor @ 04/14/11 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BezO


	Doubling the size of the development team sounds good. I always thought they could use more hands on deck. 3 years is a long time though, especially since I've already been waiting 5-6. I don't know if it's my age, other interest, games not meeting my expectations, but I might not be playing video games in 3 years. I hope this 3-year plan includes re-doing the AI, animations / player interaction & defensive play calling. The word "features" always scares me when it comes to Madden.

If find the older I get the less patient I become with the Madden series for this exact same reason. I'm getting old, real old real quick, and I can't wait another 10 years for a decent edition of Madden. The "features being already mapped out till M14" doesn't instill any confidence in me either...I know they can change, but what happens when one idea is connected to another idea and the first is a flop []*cough* gameflow[].

I'm 40 for anyone wondering. been a madden fan since the beginning.

# 20 HealyMonster @ 04/14/11 11:27 AM

IDK man, I cant believe they are throwing the "3 year plan" out there again. This is the most overused gimmick on this generation of consoles. its almost unbelievable that this company is still fumbling around trying to put out a quality NFL game, I mean seariously what is the issue tiburon?

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