Madden 09 online update
April 30, 2008 by pastapadre
In his latest forum posting, Madden 09 lead producer Phil Frazier notes a couple of things relating to the game including a statement that they are likely going to be able to get variable weather into online unranked games. In the course of one week it has gone from no online weather, to talking about the possibility of it, to it being a 95% certainty that it’ll be included. Hopefully that will include online league games which are in essence unranked games as well and would add to the experience that comes from playing a real season.
In speaking with Phil Frazier at the NCAA event last week I was able to express the frustration of the community around the general neglect that online play has received in the past several years. Admittedly it was somewhat of an overreaction on my part to lay it all on the lack of weather online but it came from that place of overall frustration and that it could possibly be a sign of the neglect continuing. He addressed the issue of online performance issues by mentioning that they have four engineers dedicated solely to getting the online games running well. That is a significant commitment being made. The discussion took place shortly before hearing about the inclusion of online leagues which appear to be well thought out (as long as they have playoffs). So clearly online play is getting some focus this year.
I didn’t limit it to just online weather and increasing the options in unranked games. I also brought up the desire to have stats and records tracked in them. Essentially the idea should be that unranked games offer pretty much every option there is offline to be selected (that is why they’re unranked) but at the same time they shouldn’t be treated as if they didn’t exist. It has always bothered me that I can’t look back upon what I’ve done throughout the year because the games were unranked. He seemed open and understanding of those thoughts so we’ll see where that goes in the future.
So I feel much better about the online prospects this year and encouraged that the community’s thoughts are really being heard. Hopefully at a minimum the online performance is up to par and the online leagues function as expected. Along with the focus on those areas adding in options such as variable weather is a sign of good things in the coming years.
Pasta as you see the 70 amount of people complaining about the online leagues being full 32 teams its not and I posted the update on that, askearl360.blogspot.com
Good News.
He addressed the issue of online performance issues by mentioning that they have four engineers dedicated solely to getting the online games running well. That is a significant commitment being made.
Having all that money and all they can get is 4 guys, and they say thts an improvement..wow thats freakin sad. How many did they have last year…1? some commitment.
Zack wrote:
You post twice under two names, sorry but did I miss the big news here? I see 71 people complaining that they aren’t getting Madden because you have to have all user teams when that isn’t TRUE.
thx Pasta! I am relieved to hear that they are actually listening to the FANS (people who keep their pockets phat). Even if they only include weather in unranked games I’m OK w/that. As long as they allow for alt. uniforms and time of day stuff as well. Like I’ve said many times, I don’t do franchises and frankly I don’t like playing the CPU (boring and predictable) so online is EVERYTHING and it usually feels “stripped” to me.
Go BILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
i dont like that you cant have a league if you dont have 32 people.
GO STEELERS!!!!
Maurice N. wrote:
I just posted you can have a league with as many people as you want the IGN interview is misleading check the details at ASKEARL360.BLOGSPOT.COM
Maurice N. wrote:
For the last time!!!!
If you want a league and you don’t have 32 people that is okay!!!!!
You can set the number of users at any number!
PASTA,
any word if we will be able to use alternate unis online this yr? this goes for madden and ncaa
thanks
In a regular franchise, will u still be able to play someone through xbox live with them being the opposing team on ur schedule? cant remember if this was in 08 or not..it was called live opponent or something
Mark wrote:
No, askearl360.blogspot.com
1. CAMERA FLASHES IN THE CROWD?
2. GLAD TO HEAR HE’S 100% NOT HAPPY WITH THE GAMEPLAY FOOTAGE FROM IGN
This is big news. They are really listening to the fans.
I feel though that it’s a disappointment that there will be no new weapons. They should add new weapons to the game, they really need to.
Also, smart weapons sucked so they need to fix it up since there were games where you wouldn’t even get to read a play once.
Madden has just become this one big giant online game. I’m sorry, I honestly feel franchise mode will no longer ever be important as it once was on PS2.
franchise mode has been flat out awful for 3 years with just pointless updates that get hyped for no reason. I’m just crossing and my fingers that EA doesn’t push the franchise mode to the side, again. But with all this online league stuff going on I kind of have a funny felling that’s the case.
Dawson’s Creek wrote:
NFL HeadCoach says “HI!”.
Dear Phil Frazier,
I love the changes to the game that I have seen. Why not update the equipment that the players wear? Those long white/black things that look like socks that is supposed to be tape, get rid of it, please. Most player in the NFL wear Nike cleats, I know Reebok is the uniform sponser but not the shoes, so please change this. While at it add the teams colors to the shoes. We need offical gloves, not just the primary color of the team, orange Chi. Bears’ gloves (and orange cleats). Fix the player model sizes. Linebackes should not be as large are larger then D-linemen. Change the play selection back to what it was for last-gen. Even the Wii Madden got it right. CPU vs CPU. Let me watch the games. Make us love Madden Football games again. PLEASE!!!
We Need Horse Collars, Neck-Roll, Cowboy-Collars, Rib-Protectors, Hand-warmers, Eye-paint….Where is all of the things that the NFL player wears?
I saw this written on the IGN boards and I tried to put it in the EA sports board but for some reason I couldn’t. In the snow games, the players’ footprints appear in the snow (which is really cool), but when players get tackled the snow is undisturbed. Also the ball doesn’t make an imprint in the snow either. Hopefully they would catch it and fix it, but maybe it should be mentioned just in case.
By the way, this is a great site. I just recently came across it and I think it’s pretty cool.
Telling me you have 4 people working on online doesn’t mean anything unless they can actually fix it. I have little faith in them at this point.
I guarantee that EA wouldn’t be saying they didn’t like the IGN video if everyone was posting positive things about it. What they don’t like is that they didn’t get a chance to put out one of their stylilzed trailers like they always do that makes everything look way better than it is first. Now people already know the sad reality of Madden 09.
The problem is that Madden 09 is the same as Madden 04 for the PS2 was, minus some features and fun that were in 04. It is just a prettier version of that game and lacks all the innovation that people expect from a next-gen (now current-gen) football game.
Look at a game like MLB The Show or something like GTA or the upcoming MGS4 as examples of games that are truly of this generation and have innovated and gone beyond last-gen.
How about instead of worrying about online, they should focus on gameplay details; specifically passing and tackling animations… quarterbacks look too robotic in madden games. 2K always did a better job at realistic throwing animations. Just check out the sig throws that are in All-Pro Football; why can’t madden do this?
LWilkins wrote:
Playskool’s NFL Fashion Show and Dress-up says, “Hi!”
Why is the star on Dalla’s helmet always ginormous? And another thing with regards to online leagues, Suppose you dont have 32 friends, but you have 20…….I dont understand why you have to play in an online league with every user a team? Why cant the remainder of the NFL teams that are not controlled by users play as the CPU?
Roaddoglive wrote:
Because thats not an online league. Online leagues have always contained just user controlled teams. The whole point of them is user vs user competition.
Hey Pasta!
Have you or anyone else heard if the EA Locker will be in Madden 09? (To spawn games and have an online ‘chise) I know it’s in NCAA 09 for sure! If you or anyone else could please confirm, that would be appreciated.
Thank you!
Stikskillz,
I have been trying to find out the same info. The spawn/merge feature is often overlooked as one of the better ideas in Madden. I think the developers were onto something great with it but never refined the system. The merge error caused by creating a pre-set limit of the amount of games that could be merged basically caused people to never accept it as useful. If EA would have taken the time to correct this then online franchises could be formed quite easily. A company called Simsportnet was able to reset the error for the PS2 version of Madden last year enabling many multi-season leagues to be run. Was it a perfect set-up? No. Drafts and free agent signings had to be done on a forum or in a chat room, but it worked. Unfortunately Simsports folded I believe. I just wish EA would have followed through with the refinement of the merge feature. I have my fingers crossed, but I am guessing we are SOL. At least NCAA developers got it right.
JB,
Thanks for the feedback! Hopefully Pasta or someone else has some more insight for us. It would be disappointing for NCAA to have it and Madden doesn’t. I still play 08 on Xbox for that feature, along with all the other features that make legacy gen better than next gen. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
LWilkins wrote:
exactly what i was thinking…how hard would it really to get this in?…i HATE the Reebok cleats so much
Mark wrote:
I must say… that in my 25-odd years as a gamer… that I have never looked at my character’s shoes and noticed that they were the wrong kind. Honestly, I wouldn’t know one way or the other anyway… nor do I care.
Really… how do you even know that they wear Nikes over Reeboks? Is this just something you notice during a tense game on a Sunday afternoon?
My hope for Madden 2009 and all Maddens in the future is for them to steadily make the game more and more realistic…From visuals, uniforms, sidelines, stadiums, etc. down to every little nuance of the real game…
If it’s in the game, I want it ‘in the game’…
Ya know?
I hate the Cowboys but I sure hope EA fixes their helmets. The star has always been way too big….
Also, I hope that they include classic jerseys. Dallas’ dark uniforms from the late 80s were sweet….
Darkheath wrote:
its not that i notice whether its Reebok or Nike in a real game, but u can easily see that there is variation in what they wear in regards to color/design–not specific brands. in the video game u definitley notice so i should be able to control all aspects of what the players wear. my gripe is on the same level as the people wanting field goal nets, towels, refs, etc. if they have it in real life it should be in the licensed game…like different cleat options.
to me there is a big difference between these:
http://www.whodeyfans.com/uplo.....758420.jpg
and these
http://sports.ign.com/dor/obje.....40430.html
–in NCAA 08, these
http://sports.ign.com/dor/obje.....49186.html
and these
http://www.spokesmanreview.com.....4BQRBI.jpg
Check it out!!!http://www.gametrailers.com/player/33493.html