Madden 12

[tubba marxxx]

Anybody play?

If so, what's your favorite thing to do with the game?  (Shout-out to the wise-ass that will say "play it!")

Long-time fans - what do you want to see in next years installment?

[Dave Gray]

Not to be a troll, but I stopped buying Madden years and years ago.  I switched over the 2K series after being a long time Madden fan, since I just didn't know any better.  They were much better games.  Ever since the NFL and EA teamed up to shut SEGA out, the games died out.

I just have issue with annualized Madden games.  It's a racket, frankly.  It's the same game with a slightly different feature and updated rosters.  In this age, those should be downloadable, not a $60 disc.

At their heart, Madden is the same game that was released 15 years ago.  It just got more complicated and they add a new focus each year, which they usually ditch in the next.

Even though I love football and I love games, I can't bring myself to get excited over the same thing over and over every year.

[tubba marxxx]

Not trolling at all.  I completely understand where you're coming from.  I'm a lifelong fan of the game, but recently stopped buying Madden the last couple years for the same reasons you stated above.  This year however, I received it as a gift for Christmas.  I like what they've done with the franchise mode.  You can now trade away (finally) future draft picks, and they have a new "dynamic player system"  bases fully on momentum and "hot" and "cold" streaks.  The tag line is "you'll never play the same season of Madden twice"  And it works.  Example:  My buddy and I are knee deep in a franchise mode.  In my journey, Tim Tebow is always a favorite for MVP voting, whereas in his version, he's not even in the league!


Flaws:  The commentary.  Ignore the fact that Chris Collinsworth is the "color" man, it's beyond patchy and outdated.  The same lines over and over again.  You can tell when something was added in.  Example:  Gus Johnson mid game will say "MIAMI, on the 20 yard line"  The "Miami" being in a completely different tone than the rest of the sentence.  I'm glad you brought up 2k because they're far superior.  I haven't gotten around to playing NBA 2k12, but I have 2k11 and the commentary blows my mind with how smooth it is. 

EA should definitely take the time out to learn something from 2K

[Dave Gray]

I get why people like it.  If you only play a few games a year, Madden probably gives you a lot of value.

I think that football games need to be reinvented.  However, when you only have 1 team making licensed games (in both pro and college, mind you), they just can't afford to drastically rethink it.  I feel like the games market needs some competition in the NFL space, so that they can all improve.

I look at how much boxing games have changed over the years, by comparison and it's pretty drastic.  What used to use buttons for punching now uses the sticks.  It's innovative and completely different than how it used to be.  Hockey, too, from what I understand.

One thing that I'd like to see in these games (which I thought Madden might incorporate at some point) is coaching into your headset and verbal audibles.  It would be cool to have the coaches be able to "radio into your headset" the sideline plays and your outs, while you could actually call out your audibles into the mic.  It seemed like a natural progression that never happened.  The tech is there...why not use it?

Edit: Here's a link to a piece I wrote about this in 2007.
http://www.gamespot.com/users/DaveGray/show_blog_entry.php?topic_id=m-100-24891983

[Dolphin-UK]

I've bought the last few maddens but have lost interest in general apart from the odd 15 minute quarters game with my brother when I see him.

I just find it too unrealistic, it seems to be designed around the idea that everyone loves passing the ball, the running game is old school and no one wants to play defense.

I've heard about things about NCAA series from EA, but can't play it because it's not released over here and XboX is region locked.

I agree with Dave they bring in and the remove "New" features and then re-introduce them as "new" a few years down the line.

I'd like to be able to build my own plays (rather than just add pre-designed plays to a playbook),

[Dave Gray]

I just find it too unrealistic, it seems to be designed around the idea that everyone loves passing the ball, the running game is old school and no one wants to play defense.

I agree that this is generally true.  In the old 2K games, I'd run more than I'd pass. 

I've heard about things about NCAA series from EA, but can't play it because it's not released over here and XboX is region locked.

I haven't played too much of the NCAA series, but it's generally like last year's Madden game, with college playbooks that are crazier.

I'd like to be able to build my own plays (rather than just add pre-designed plays to a playbook),

I love that idea.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

I just find it too unrealistic, it seems to be designed around the idea that everyone loves passing the ball, the running game is old school and no one wants to play defense.

While I haven't played the game.  I have seen that complaint about the NFL on this board and other football forums, so doesn't sound too unrealistic for games to mirror that. 

[bsfins]

I think '08 was the last version I played,the last one on P.C. (1 year with the "Modded Version" I love Modders! )

You were able to design your own plays,(but you were limited on a certain number of plays).I always built my custom playbooks taking certain plays,based on formation.The run pays out of the Strong,Weak I formation...I could never run up the middle out of an I formation, the QB tended to get stuck between the FB and the center too many times.and would flail around till someone tackled him through the center...

They were saved with your profile,all the plays you made,and leached from other playbooks..but you still had set your audibles everytime you played!

It's been a while, IMO there were SOOoo many things wrong with the Madden game,they seemed like they kept getting worse...

I never bought into the greatness of 2K,I'm not a big fan of their MLB2k- Baseball game,I can't imagine their football game would be much better...

[Brian Fein]

I agree with Dave.  I think it was 2003, I had both Madden and the 2k3 game and the 2k3 game was far superior.  When Madden shut them down, it made me mad, and I've been boycotting EA games ever since.

However, the wife bought me Madden 09 and I played it maybe once or twice.  I just for some reason couldn't get into it.  It had become more difficult to play, and as pointed out here, was all about the passing.  You could just call Hail Mary on every play and get 40 yard chunks at a time.

Madden is not for me.  I was hoping that with the new CBA, there might be some help to revive competitors in the football games arena, but I guess it has nothing to do with it.

[Dave Gray]

It's not that I think Madden is bad.  It's just the same thing.

I get tired of Call of Duty, and even they have new level maps, new features, new story, new guns, etc.  Football doesn't even have that.  It's the same fields, mostly the same players, the same plays, and the same general features, and the same control scheme.  It hasn't really changed very much over 20 years, in terms of what you're actually doing.

What's worse, though, is that making a game every year constantly puts the Madden team on a rush.  Great games take several years to come out.  Madden rushes to market by football season every year, so they don't really have time to innovate.  And it's a cash cow -- can you blame them?  Just stop buying it.

[EKnight]

I've always wondered why/been annoyed at the fact that they don't simply allow you to download upgrades (ie, new drafts) or additional things. A buddy has a WWE wrestling game that has like 50 wrestlers, and if you want to get Macho Man (Dig it!) or some other guy not in the game, you can download him for like $5-6 I think. The technology is there, but it will never happen becuase of the deisre to make more cash. -EK

[Brian Fein]

^^ Agreed but why would they?  You will go buy the $60 game, or they could sell you a roster update?  Would you pay $60 for a roster update?  What's the price you'd be willing to pay for an update?

[Doc-phin]

The last couple of years of madden have been outstanding, particularly Madden 12.  The physics engines have gotten so much better and it continues to get harder and harder to use game glitches and tricks to get an advantage.

They revamped franchise mode this year and by my understanding they will work on the online franchise for Madden 13.  I am excited to be able to truly take my team building, drafting and contract negotiation skills up against friends. 

I would really like to see the game become a bit more stable in other online modes. 

I would like to be able to update my roster throughout the season (if I want to).  I like to play my week in my franchise (offline) around the same time of the actual game.  It would be great if I was using the same players that would be in the game that week.  Maybe they could have a season mode separate from franchise mode for this.

I would also like to see the difficulty level online match a little closer to the difficulty level offline.  It is great that it can be adjusted, but All Madden online and offline are two very different things.

I am ok buying a new game if there are significant updates.  I get a lot of value out of the game now that I am not just running the same plays over and over.  For a while there, I didn't see the value and purchased a new one every 2-3 years or so.

[el diablo]

Madden 11 was the 1st playable Madden I have for the 360. I love the presentation. The fact that they got rid of the sprint button. I can actually have a "patient" running game now. I like what I see from madden 12. But I'm holding out for madden 13. I can only hope the disappointment will be minimal.

[Cathal]

Man I wish Back Breaker took off and maybe someone like 2K sports picked up the engine.