Madden 12 News Post

Madden NFL 12 to Kick Off Another 3-Year Plan

07:59 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

# 41 GGEden @ 04/14/11 12:38 PM

EA's Madden is never going to change. In the end, all our wishes and complaints are in vain.

# 42 Bgamer90 @ 04/14/11 12:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rgiles36


	I don't think that it's all that different. At all. I always have a scratch-my-head moment when people praise NCAA and belittle Madden. There are marked differences, but not enough to say one game is lightyears ahead of the other.

NCAA 11 is just a more enjoyable game to play than Madden 11. Gameplay feels better, hurry up offense is better replicated, lighting is better, it's dynasty modes are better than Madden's franchise modes, etc.

I mean, yeah, as a whole NCAA 11 isn't lightyears ahead of Madden though I will say that the game made Madden 11 look like "Madden 10.5" (at least in my opinion).

# 43 Pared @ 04/14/11 12:56 PM

Enough with the rants. They are getting extremely old.

Some of you are repeating yourselves in multiple threads now.

# 44 PVarck31 @ 04/14/11 12:56 PM

Gentlemen, I understand the frustration a lot of you feel about Madden. However, the personal attacks and insults stop now. Whether it be attacking the dev team, another member for any reason. This goes for both sides of the spectrum. If you can't get your point off constructively then think twice before you post.

This goes for all threads in the Madden forum.

# 45 Bgamer90 @ 04/14/11 01:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Details


	So Madden NFL 12 is the culmination of a 3-year plan while also being the start of another 3-year plan? Hey, look. Overlapping plans! That's some funny stuff.

Exactly what I was thinking.

# 46 marshallfever @ 04/14/11 01:58 PM

Quote:


	three year plan� underway with features already mapped out through Madden 14. The size of the development team is expected to be doubled as well

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats the biggest news i've heard on this entire issue yet!!!!!!!! Doubling the team sort of implies a lot more things getting done doesn't it? The the size of the team doubling, i'm thinking they're really going to try to push a lot of new content or really dig deep into their engine to get it to perform the way the fans what it too.

Or maybe i'm reading too much into it, but thats a big thing right there if its accurate.

# 47 Crimsontide27 @ 04/14/11 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RiderGH


	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?

The issue at hand is the target market for the game. For the record, I am not talking about the sim vs hardcore vs casual market either. EA has a plan in place for each iteration of Madden to be only 1 step forward and 1 step back of each previous installment to limit production costs. They do not care to hold onto the long term fan, instead there is a new " generation" of Madden fans approx every 6 years.

While one segment leaves the market, the new ones come into it thinking it is an amazing product and will support it for the next 6 years..give or take.

Many goal presentation and focus meetings have addressed these same core issues. If Madden was to come out and blow you away, what would they add next year? Sales would decline even in their target group.

Studies have been done on several major sports titles ( EAs included ), and it has been found that when one product is so good that you dont feel the need to upgrade, the consumer doesnt feel it necessary to buy the next years product.

Madden has been seen as free money over the past years due to no competition. Yes, they spent several hundred million to lock up the name, but spend very little on development and improvement...so it almost cancels itself out.

The goal there was to make Madden "the name" of football for the next 2 generations of video game players. When all is said and done, there will be 2 generations of players that have never played any other game than Madden...which they feel will lock up their title for next 2 generations of hardware.

# 48 HealyMonster @ 04/14/11 02:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Crimsontide27


	The issue at hand is the target market for the game. For the record, I am not talking about the sim vs hardcore vs casual market either. EA has a plan in place for each iteration of Madden to be only 1 step forward and 1 step back of each previous installment to limit production costs. They do not care to hold onto the long term fan, instead there is a new " generation" of Madden fans approx every 6 years. While one segment leaves the market, the new ones come into it thinking it is an amazing product and will support it for the next 6 years..give or take. Many goal presentation and focus meetings have addressed these same core issues. If Madden was to come out and blow you away, what would they add next year? Sales would decline even in their target group. Studies have been done on several major sports titles ( EAs included ), and it has been found that when one product is so good that you dont feel the need to upgrade, the consumer doesnt feel it necessary to buy the next years product. Madden has been seen as free money over the past years due to no competition. Yes, they spent several hundred million to lock up the name, but spend very little on development and improvement...so it almost cancels itself out. The goal there was to make Madden "the name" of football for the next 2 generations of video game players. When all is said and done, there will be 2 generations of players that have never played any other game than Madden...which they feel will lock up their title for next 2 generations of hardware.

yeah thats actually a good point about the generations, Ive never really thought about how 17-18 year old dudes really never had much of a choice other than Madden, unless they were hardcore under 10 which, at what age do kids start really getting into videogames these days? But those same people who were just getting into gaming in 05-06 when the license was done, are now going to be the target market, and the majority of Madden players will be just madden only players.

# 49 Hooe @ 04/14/11 02:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marshallfever


	!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Thats the biggest news i've heard on this entire issue yet!!!!!!!! Doubling the team sort of implies a lot more things getting done doesn't it? The the size of the team doubling, i'm thinking they're really going to try to push a lot of new content or really dig deep into their engine to get it to perform the way the fans what it too. Or maybe i'm reading too much into it, but thats a big thing right there if its accurate.

The intention is to get more done, certainly.

That said, there's the whole idea of the mythical man-month, the law of diminishing returns, or whatever you want to call it. Adding programmers to a project is not always a good thing for productivity. I'm going to assume EA thoroughly looked into the matter and decided the investment was worth the risk.

# 50 Bgamer90 @ 04/14/11 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHooe


	Adding programmers to a project is not always a good thing for productivity. I'm going to assume EA thoroughly looked into the matter and decided the investment was worth the risk.

Yep.

"Social Loafing":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_loafing

..Hopefully that won't happen.

# 51 evad @ 04/14/11 04:01 PM

Maybe this 3-year plan will help in defining the direction of the game. To me, Madden seems to be going through an identity crisis and cannot pick between arcade or simulation.

I think the last few Madden's have proven that it is impossible to create a football game that excels in both areas.

But EA please prove me wrong on this

# 52 mjcolosk @ 04/14/11 04:16 PM

For 40 years, the Detroit Lions have been unveiling new "3 year plan" regularly.... At their pinnacle they achieved mediocrity.

I fear that Madden may be destined for the same fate.

# 53 DustinT @ 04/14/11 04:22 PM

They aren't starting from scratch guys. It's a pretty new team on the game so they came in and set goals. Let them do their **** and make a game.

Regardless, even if Madden was released and was the greatest video game of all-time (not just sports) people here would still find something to bitch about, like the color of face masks or the tint on Vick's visor.

So just sit back and relax. You're buying this game anyway. We all do.

# 54 Hooe @ 04/14/11 04:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bgamer90


	Yep. "Social Loafing": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_loafing ..Hopefully that won't happen.

It's not necessarily even social loafing that's the cause for the diminished productivity.

When a dev house adds ONE new programmer to a project, that programmer has to be brought up to speed on:

what exists in the current code base and how to properly use it;
the programming practices, standards, code organization, and paradigms the studio subscribes to;
and finally, the programmer's own place on the team, i.e. he feels into his spot and gets comfortable interacting with others on his team with related responsibilities.

Beyond that, there's also the debugging aspect; the new programmer, and any programmer ever, is not going to write flawless code on his first try, and as such time will need to be spent to check back on this developer's code, be it writing test cases or holding code reviews or what have you.

There's a number of hidden costs here, and though the mentioned social phenomenon is a concern, I'd contend the programming logistics concerns are greater. Again, though, this isn't EA's first time around the block; I'm sure they've taken all this into account when making this decision.

For those interested, there's an entire book dedicated to this issue.

# 55 BezO @ 04/14/11 04:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hickhitchell33


	yeah of course it sucks, but whatr else would you rather them say?

For my personal preference & curiosity, I'd like specifics. "By 2012, we'll have much more realistic animations & player interactions. For example, edge rushing & double teams on gunners will look like what you see on Sundays."

In other words, my problem is with the 3-year plan being a secret. Let me know what I can look forward to. Let me know the direction you plan on taking. Let me know what you can or want to accomplish for the 2012 release.

A 3-year plan can mean anything. How do we know where they plan to be at the end of those 3 years? How do we know they're on schedule?

# 56 Bgamer90 @ 04/14/11 04:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CHooe


	It's not necessarily even social loafing that's the cause for the diminished productivity. When a dev house adds ONE new programmer to a project, that programmer has to be brought up to speed on: what exists in the current code base and how to properly use it; the programming practices, standards, code organization, and paradigms the studio subscribes to; and finally, the programmer's own place on the team, i.e. he feels into his spot and gets comfortable interacting with others on his team with related responsibilities. Beyond that, there's also the debugging aspect; the new programmer, and any programmer ever, is not going to write flawless code on his first try, and as such time will need to be spent to check back on this developer's code, be it writing test cases or holding code reviews or what have you. There's a number of hidden costs here, and though the mentioned social phenomenon is a concern, I'd contend the programming logistics concerns are greater. Again, though, this isn't EA's first time around the block; I'm sure they've taken all this into account when making this decision. For those interested, there's an entire book dedicated to this issue.

Yeah don't get me wrong. There's multiple reasons why it might not turn out to be a good thing. I was just using social loafing as an example since it states the fact that sometimes members of groups put less effort into tasks as more people getting added to the group.

# 57 LingeringRegime @ 04/14/11 04:43 PM

I think it is a wise move for the long term to go back to the drawing board. They have no competition, so they can afford to make slow, deliberate progress.

Especially if a new physics engine get implemented.

# 58 spankdatazz22 @ 04/14/11 05:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DEFTFUNDAMENTALZ


	I think it is a wise move for the long term to go back to the drawing board. They have no competition, so they can afford to make slow, deliberate progress. Especially if a new physics engine get implemented.

It they're asking people to wait three more years, then I'd view a physics system as a baseline must. I don't see how anything less than better-than-what's-come-before-it should be accepted; Madden/NCAA 11 should've been the best most feature-rich football games to date by default.

# 59 Dazraz @ 04/14/11 05:57 PM

Well then guys, let's get ready for another 2 years of minimal upgrades, then in the 3rd year another staffing crisis followed by a brand new 3 year plan. We get it EA. While you have the exclusive license to the NFL you in turn have the exclusive right to screw us year on year.

# 60 Broncos86 @ 04/14/11 06:15 PM

At this rate, I might only be purchasing NCAA 12 this year. The demo for Madden will need to blow my socks off.

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