Gronk on Madden 17 cover

[Seahwkgal]

Obviously I hate the patriots, but its impossible not to like Gronk, seems like a fun dude, beast on the field. Ok with that pick.

Apparently our own Richard Sherman is too.
https://sqor.com/hashtags/MaddenCoverClub

 

[Largent80]

 

[Hasselbeck]

this past year's version was probably the best ever.

The draft champions mode was the first time ive ever been compelled to play online. Visually it's awesome and the franchise mode is really fun.

I think most people dont quite get what goes into making a game. To change it significantly from year to year is a tough task as everything needs to be tested and re-tested and fixed; not to mention the risk of changing something that annoys fans, and the fact that they have done a very good job in recent years of keeping the rosters updated. Any tiny fragment of code that changes has to be thoroughly tested for bugs, not to mention the graphical and engine optimization improvements between releases.

EA sucks and is a greedy corporation, that is true, but its a little unreasonable to expect big changes in a matter of months.

They could just release a new game every other year or so, and charge $0.99 for roster updates in the interim. I know, crazy right?

they could if only that were the business model fans had come to expect for the past 27 years, or if the number of fans complaining about the yearly installment weren't a vocal minority compared to the overwhelming majority of madden players who look forward to the annual release, and are gonna drop their 60$ regardless.

Also, their agreement with the NFL probably requires a game every year and there is likely an NFLPA agreement keeping them from doing roster updates to older versions. Given EA's exclusive rights to the title, the NFL probably has a lot of influence over things that cause complaints leveled against EA.

In the mid/late 2000's they experimented with adding a lot of new things but the fact of the matter is after so long, there's a formula for the series that works and I'm happy to see they are slow to integrate new systems and sweeping changes. The game plays very well this year and I hope they don't mess with the formula too much. Improve the graphics engine incrementally, tighten up some things, but really the current version is so good I hope the tweaks are marginal.

I'm not sure what everyone expects them to do every year, add another lame QB vision cone?

nobody is forced to buy it every year. and yet everyone does.

Now, What I would really like to see is a subscription based persistent madden that you subscribe to for say like, 39.99 a year or even 49.99 a year, or a small monthly cost. This is the "shell' of madden that is continually updated with one big yearly update. Your franchises, careers, ultimate team, etc would all carry on persistently. I'm sure this is the way they will do things eventually.

To me the problem is two fold. For one, they are marketing the game to teenagers and people in their early 20's. The high school to college demo basically. When you market to a younger audience, that younger audience is going to crave fun over realism. So instead of having a sim like feel to a game, they will let midget receivers jump 12 feet in the air and make a one handed catch with the simple press of a button.

Secondly... The best Maddens ever happened when NFL2K was also releasing games. Almost like competition brings the best out of companies trying to earn your hard earned dollar.

The exclusivity deal they have with the NFL gives EA no sense of urgency to improve serious flaws with the game. Last years showed some promise in a few areas I will admit, but there are still a ton of things missing from it or otherwise broken elements of the game that NFL2K was tackling with ease on the PS2 and Xbox.

If you like Madden, more power to you, but the game IMO has barely changed for AT LEAST the last 5 or 6 years. The NFL needs to scrap this stupid monopoly and let other gaming companies produce their own game. Maybe then Madden can find a happy medium between fun and realism, or another company can cater to the audience that wants a much more realistic feel to the game while Madden continues to teeter the line that rivals NFL Blitz more than an actual sim like game.