The response to Madden 08

by pastapadre
Posted August 20th, 2007 at 10:35 am

Something I have been fascinated with over the last week has been the reaction to Madden 08 on various forums. Despite getting high reviews there seems to be more negativity than ever.

Now, negativity is nothing new around release time. Especially for EA Sports games that seem to attract a crowd that just loves to bash them for any given reason (real or not). So that in itself isn't new. However it seems as if more people than ever are demanding drastic changes.

The interesting thing is that like never before EA was open and communicative about the game and they did far more to address what the hardcore community wanted than ever. The gameplay was the main focus, and it clearly paid off in that area. It also offers a deeper experience with more variety than any sports game to date with the offline modes.

There certainly are numerous issues with the game. I know personally I wouldn't have given the game a score as high as most of the media sites have. The online is deficient at best, fumbles and injuries happen too often, the kicking game is ridiculously overpowered, and Superstar mode isn't as good as NCAA Football 08's Campus Legend.

In some sense there are many people who go into release expecting to dislike the game, or specifically look forward to bashing it. Nothing is going to change their minds, even if it were to arguably be the best sports game ever. There will always be that crowd that revels in attacking a particular game. Those are the vocal ones. The millions of people out there enjoying the game don't have the same motivations.

The concern would be that EA follows this response and alters their strategy due to it. When they worked hard to appease the hardcore fans of the game, and they look at the forums where there is such overwhelming whining and complaining, will they believe that represents the true feelings of the community? I sure hope not because that certainly isn't the case.

Tags:

the decider

ORANGE GLOVES IN MADDEN 09, THATS ALL THAT WE ASK. FIVE TEAMS, DOLPHINS,BROWNS,BENGALS,BEARS,BRONCOS.IF EASPORTS, AND THE GAMEMAKERS ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAMES THEY WILL REALIZE “HEY, THESE TEAMS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WEAR ORANGE GLOVES BECAUSE THERE IS ORANGE IN THE UNIFORM, DUH. ORANGE, NOT THESE FAKE GLOVE COLORS YOU GUYS COME UP WITH OTHER TEAMS HAVE THEM WHY NOT THESE FIVE PROMINENT TEAMS? I GUESS YOU GUYS ARE TOO LAZY.
the decider

ORANGE GLOVES IN MADDEN 09, THATS ALL THAT WE ASK. FIVE TEAMS, DOLPHINS,BROWNS,BENGALS,BEARS,BRONCOS.IF EASPORTS, AND THE GAMEMAKERS ACTUALLY WATCH THE GAMES THEY WILL REALIZE “HEY, THESE TEAMS ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY WEAR ORANGE GLOVES BECAUSE THERE IS ORANGE IN THE UNIFORM, DUH. ORANGE, NOT THESE FAKE GLOVE COLORS YOU GUYS COME UP WITH OTHER TEAMS HAVE THEM WHY NOT THESE FIVE PROMINENT TEAMS? I GUESS YOU GUYS ARE TOO LAZY.
Brent

Don’t forget the fact the Broncos wore blue pants for most of the home games last year. And in 08 on the 360, there still aren’t any blue pants.
Brent

Don’t forget the fact the Broncos wore blue pants for most of the home games last year. And in 08 on the 360, there still aren’t any blue pants.
frtiz

the game plays like it’s in FF (fast forward)
I don’t like the depth of field or lense used because it seems like i’m playing in a fish bowl or something
frtiz

the game plays like it’s in FF (fast forward)
I don’t like the depth of field or lense used because it seems like i’m playing in a fish bowl or something
LWJ

What baffles me is that Madden 08 forces you to work to like the game. Why do I have to spend hours upon hours working with the sliders to get a reasonable experience? Make no mistake, I’m speaking of turnovers here. It cripples the game at first… but, hey… after 20 or so hours of testing and re-testing you can get it right by turning off weapons and ajusting the sliders and… sigh. Where are the beta testers? I want names, email addresses, phone numbers… what do they get paid? 10 bucks an hour? well i spent those 20 hours getting the game to be playable so I feel i should get a cut. I like the game, don’t get me wrong. But is it where 2k5 was? Heck, is it where madden 94 was? What about Cyberball even. At least Joe Montana Football gave the player a feeling to the gamer that you were moving an object with mass up and down the field. IMO if they get the simple things right (balance, turnovers, uniforms, stadiums, uniforms, player models) the rest will follow. Note to EA: Okay, you’ve got the fluff, but please… more fundamentals.
LWJ

What baffles me is that Madden 08 forces you to work to like the game. Why do I have to spend hours upon hours working with the sliders to get a reasonable experience? Make no mistake, I’m speaking of turnovers here. It cripples the game at first… but, hey… after 20 or so hours of testing and re-testing you can get it right by turning off weapons and ajusting the sliders and… sigh. Where are the beta testers? I want names, email addresses, phone numbers… what do they get paid? 10 bucks an hour? well i spent those 20 hours getting the game to be playable so I feel i should get a cut. I like the game, don’t get me wrong. But is it where 2k5 was? Heck, is it where madden 94 was? What about Cyberball even. At least Joe Montana Football gave the player a feeling to the gamer that you were moving an object with mass up and down the field. IMO if they get the simple things right (balance, turnovers, uniforms, stadiums, uniforms, player models) the rest will follow. Note to EA: Okay, you’ve got the fluff, but please… more fundamentals.
Cheez

I have to agree. Why can’t the people at EA test the game and get the sliders right by themselves. Why is it that the gamer spends $60 and then has to spend weeks trying to get the damn game play like football.

Example
I started out throwing tons of picks and even worse then that I got more picks. Champ Bailey had six interceptions in my very first game on All-Pro and I beat the Bills 44-0. Bailey had three int return touchdowns. As a team by the sixth game of the season I had 11 more ints than the next closest team.

So I go to All-Madden and crank my offense sliders up so I can compete. This way the other qb is good enough to not throw it right to Champ Bailey every play. After feeling that I had finally gotten it right on defense I began to not be able to pass on offense. I thought I just have to play smarter. Well it got to the point that I started to be scared to throw the ball and then I started to get sacked on every passing play because no one was open enough to dare to throw it to.

Needless to say I spent the entire first season (16 games) trying to get the game to play like football. I still don’t feel like its there and am not sure if I even want to enter season 2.

By the way I am in the process of adjusting sliders and crap for nhl 08 now!!!!!! When will it end!!!!!
Cheez

I have to agree. Why can’t the people at EA test the game and get the sliders right by themselves. Why is it that the gamer spends $60 and then has to spend weeks trying to get the damn game play like football.

Example
I started out throwing tons of picks and even worse then that I got more picks. Champ Bailey had six interceptions in my very first game on All-Pro and I beat the Bills 44-0. Bailey had three int return touchdowns. As a team by the sixth game of the season I had 11 more ints than the next closest team.

So I go to All-Madden and crank my offense sliders up so I can compete. This way the other qb is good enough to not throw it right to Champ Bailey every play. After feeling that I had finally gotten it right on defense I began to not be able to pass on offense. I thought I just have to play smarter. Well it got to the point that I started to be scared to throw the ball and then I started to get sacked on every passing play because no one was open enough to dare to throw it to.

Needless to say I spent the entire first season (16 games) trying to get the game to play like football. I still don’t feel like its there and am not sure if I even want to enter season 2.

By the way I am in the process of adjusting sliders and crap for nhl 08 now!!!!!! When will it end!!!!!
droptwo

for the 360 this game blows away the 07 version.the only real complaint i have is that its still impossible to defend the high pass.i’d like to throw in a few ideas for the 09 suggestion box…1)…for online play add the fairplay feature even if its optional.this way those of us who like sim style football can play just that.when u stop the cheesers on 4th down over n over and they quit when u start crushing them… having the option to finish against the pc defeats the purpose of playing online.2)…please add o-line slide protection so u can roll out and counter nano blitzes.3)….most important…please add the camera view option so u can see the the flats as well as the rest of the field when u snap the ball.it also makes user picks alot easier on defense.also with an overhead view u can see how plays develope after the snap on both off and def.its also another way to counter nano’s cause u can see every part of the field.
droptwo

for the 360 this game blows away the 07 version.the only real complaint i have is that its still impossible to defend the high pass.i’d like to throw in a few ideas for the 09 suggestion box…1)…for online play add the fairplay feature even if its optional.this way those of us who like sim style football can play just that.when u stop the cheesers on 4th down over n over and they quit when u start crushing them… having the option to finish against the pc defeats the purpose of playing online.2)…please add o-line slide protection so u can roll out and counter nano blitzes.3)….most important…please add the camera view option so u can see the the flats as well as the rest of the field when u snap the ball.it also makes user picks alot easier on defense.also with an overhead view u can see how plays develope after the snap on both off and def.its also another way to counter nano’s cause u can see every part of the field.