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Only NFL Game This Year Gets Lukewarm Response

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the exclusivity-a-hail-mary-and-receiver-drops-the-ball dept.

aendeuryu writes "The first reviews are in for Madden '06, and the reception is underwhelming -- it's scoring an average rating of 79% on gamerankings.com (at the time of this submission). The reviewers on Gamespot (7.8) and 1up.com (9.0) have different takes on the game, but the readership of both sites doesn't (7.4 and 7.8 respectively). Gamespot's criticisms put the game in a less-than-exciting light: the new QB-vision feature adds realism but takes away from basic fun, and (perhaps most damning) the graphics rate a 7 out of 10 on what was supposed to be a next-generation title. Normally, a mediocre game release isn't a big deal, except that, because of EA's negotiated exclusivity deal with the NFL, this is the only NFL title you'll get to play this year. So, what are the players to do?"

61 of 400 comments (clear)

  1. Learn a real sport by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Funny
    So, what are the players to do?
    Learn how to play a real sport, like rugby?
    1. Re:Learn a real sport by KingPrad · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Naw, you pretty much confirmed the widely-shared opinion that golf isn't a sport, just another game of skill, ranking around the same spectator excitement as solitaire.

      --
      Stop the Slashdot Effect! Don't read the articles!
    2. Re:Learn a real sport by wasted+time · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Having participated extensively in both, I can confirm that neither golf nor pool should ever be considered a sport. Although both games require skill to be played at a high level, they are simply social activities which give men something to do while drinking a lot of beer and telling lies. The main difference between the two is that in pool your object is to pick up women and in golf it is to avoid the women you previously picked up. You may notice a few similarities with yet another ball game in which one drinks a lot of beer and tells lies - bowling. Bowling is generally practiced by men and women who are hopelessly trapped in a relationship with each other. The fact that bowlers have the bigger balls is a sad conundrum.

      On the other hand, skydiving falls under my personal definition of sport:
      Sport - an individual or group competitive activity involving physical exertion and skill, sometimes practiced while wearing a helmet which provides little or no protection from massive trauma if one fucks up.

      Having also participated in the sport of skydiving, I can confirm that beer and lies are universal. Hell, skydiving has Beer Rules. http://www.skydiving.org.vt.edu/Beer.htm Skydiving is certainly more fun than either golf or pool and the sport is full of attractive, fit women, unlike bowling or video games. It's also not uncommon for three female skydivers to approach a male skydiver when looking for someone to fill out a four-way formation called a horny gorilla!

      --
      The Stone Age did not end because humans ran out of stones. - William McDonough
  2. Madden by mfh · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I happen to love football, the actual game, not really most of the video games (for a number of reasons). Before we get a slew of comments making fun of Madden's often repetitive commentary, I wanted to add my 2 cents. NFL football is a game that does not change every year... the rules are pretty much the same from one year to the next, and the real life games themselves were far more interesting in the seventies and mid-eighties than they are today, barring of course some of the big plays (and big win streaks) you see from time to time. New players and annual player turnover only makes the competition slightly more interesting, but the actual systemic variance between each year is minimal.

    Systemic differences and improvements are what drive the typical gamer's series purchases. Video games, for the most part, try to deliver a REVOLUTION on each upgrade. About the only revolution you could get with a series like Madden is having the guy come up with something original to say (hasn't happened yet), improving the UI, and making the players look more realistic. But there is a time when this effort stalls, because the game of football itself doesn't change enough to keep fans as interested in purchasing an upgrade to a game that they already own.

    Any football fan here would agree that there is very little difference between each new Madden release, except for possibly the player names, stats and some minor UI changes, and Madden saying something slightly different from time to time. But most of his old bricks stay in the game.

    Someone could easily reskin and redevelop the game using Madden's engine to make it far more interesting. Like how about a game of medieval football where you have to slit the guy's tendons with your sock-knife, like they used to do back in the day? Seriously... there are a lot of different avenues game developers could be taking to add some spice to these types of games.

    If you break it down and see Madden 04 and Madden 05 sitting in either the week rental or the 2 night rental, you'll pick 04 so you can have it a few more days... or at least I would.

    My point is that they have to really do something different if they want to improve their ratings and this has to be one of the hardest challenges facing any game designer in the world right now. How do you take a regular sport and make a game out of it that will release a new title each year, without boring the hell out of your fans? It's hard.

    --
    The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
    1. Re:Madden by Skim123 · · Score: 4, Interesting
      Any football fan here would agree that there is very little difference between each new Madden release, except for possibly the player names, stats and some minor UI changes, and Madden saying something slightly different from time to time. But most of his old bricks stay in the game.

      Serious footbacll fans who dig their video games upgrade each year primarily because of the one item you didn't list - the evolving team roster. A player might have a favorite team or two and want to be able to have his video game playing mimic the real season in the sense that he can have the 'real' QB throw to the 'real' wide out and so on. Plus, usually the graphics do improve year after year.

      Personally I'm an NBA fan, never really into football. My purchases in the Sega basketball series (NBA2k2, 2k3, and then the ESPN line) were primarily driven by roster changes. Wanted to be able to play the Lakers when they had Shaq, Kobe, Malone, and Payton; then wanted to be able to play with Shaq and D-Wade, or a Nash-led run and gun Suns team.

      Speaking of the basketball series of games, though, one thing they do seem to do a good job of is introduce some nuisance each year. For example, in early versions of 2kX the fast breaking was horrible, players would come to a dead stop to catch a pass rather than having one player lead the other with a pass - very frustrating when you have a 2 on 1 break and you pass it to the lead man who stops dead in his tracks and waits for the ball to arrive. So they fixed that with lead passes, but then they made the computer's point guard too good, always able to blow by you defending him. Even if you were a long, atheletic NBA guard who is well-known for his defensive prowress, and guarding an old, slow guy who is all thumbs in real life, you'd get taken to school every time. It would end up where the other team might score 50 points in a game w/their PG racking up 40 of those. So they improved that in the next year's game, but then went and made the post play too easy. Throw it down low, do the drop-step, and you're shooting like 90%, doesn't matter who you are or who's guarding you. Etc., etc.

      The point is, there always seems to be a nagging reason to upgrade, and the developers always seem coy enough to always add some new, 'This sucks, can't wait til next year's release' "feature."

      --

      I could not justify my existence if I were a turkey farmer. Would I terminate myself? Undoubtably, yes.

    2. Re:Madden by kfg · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Serious footbacll fans who dig their video games upgrade each year primarily because of the one item you didn't list - the evolving team roster.

      I understand that this is, in fact, the driving force behind sports game sales. I can't say I've ever really understood it.

      I play sports games for the game, so when I find one I like I'm perfectly happy sticking with that edition until a truely superior simulation comes along.

      . . .the developers always seem coy enough to always add some new, 'This sucks, can't wait til next year's release' "feature."

      And I'm alergic to being treated like a hamster who is expected to keep dropping fifty dollar bills into the slot just to be allowed to run on a wheel that goes nowhere.

      KFG

    3. Re:Madden by BackInIraq · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I agree. I don't really have much desire to spend $40/$50 on a game that really only updates the stats that it draws upon. However, I may be interested in buying a game that had updates that cost say around $10 per year. That way, I cut down on my expenses, get to play a game that has up to date stats and not have to re-learn a new game.

      Here is an idea that might make me interested in sports games again. I can see it now...all the team/player information is kept in a consistant database across versions (perhaps even uniform textures, if storage space allows). That data can be downloaded via a service such as Xbox Live (or the publisher's own service), allowing updates of data across versions...so 2005, 2006, 2007, and so on could all draw from the same standardized database. Then players could actually stick with the version they enjoy (which for many is NOT the current one), and just update the rosters.

      Granted, this will never happen. They LIKE making you pay 50 dollars every year. At least, EA does. But imagine you are a small/independant publisher...you could put all the development time in just once (maybe twice) over the course of a console generation, and still bring in small yearly update revenues in addition to actual title sales. Every year you could press a new copy with the updated database, to keep the rental market fresh. And if your graphics/controls were good, you might find yourself selling a lot more copies than you'd expect. I think a majority of people want off the EA treadmill.

      Of course, the rosters and team data are property of the league, so you'd have to find a way to woo them away from EA (or at least get them to cheat on EA)...and I imagine most leagues are an expensive mistress.

      Anyway, I imagine there are a lot of people like me who don't buy sports games anymore. And it isn't really even the price...usually I find I don't like the newest version as much as some of the older versions, but I want updated rosters. Since that simply isn't available to me at any price, I choose to keep my money. Haven't bought/rented a sports game for about two years now.

    4. Re:Madden by BlueStraggler · · Score: 5, Funny
      Verging on flamebait, but I'd mod it as insightful...

      Americans seem to love sports where nothing happens. Football has a lot of standing around while the clock is running. Baseball is even worse - football at least celebrates its moments of high action, but baseballs' great feats are all ones where nothing of interest to spectators happens. Imagine a sport where a "perfect game" is one that you could sleep through and not miss a damn thing. Even a home run involves precious little action--and yet it's guaranteed to make the evening highlights!

      And it's not just Americans. The British are even worse! British football (okay, soccer) pretends to have more action since there is actually movement on the field for 90 whole minutes, but when you actually distill it down to the highlights, it's clear that almost nothing happens. And cricket - all the excitement of baseball, except the games last several days.

      The French once had the right idea with fencing - a couple of guys having at it with swords seems like a good recipe for spectator fun, but for some reason that dropped off the radar. Now their idea of fun is the Tour de France - ie. waiting for hours on a god-forsaken country road for a glimpse of--oh shit! there they go!--and then fighting the crowds for hours trying to get home.

      The Japanese, like the French, once had a thing for sports where two guys beat the tar out of each other. But with all the salt throwing and whatnot, specators there eventually turned to baseball for some action, so they clearly lost their way...

      I give points to the Canadians for fast-paced, violent games like hockey and lacrosse. On the other hand, the dirty secret of Canadian sport is that the most popular game in the country is curling, so the broken noses and missing teeth is all just an elaborate charade. Ditto for the Aussies and their Aussie rules football--it's just a decoy for the fact that they're all actually playing cricket.

      As for the big international events, you have the World Cup (but I've already dissed soccer), Formula 1 (will somebody please pass somebody else? Anyone? Please!???), and the Olympics (which is gradually being taken over by judged sports in which the competitors wear sequins).

      Face, people around the world don't much like watching sports, so the successful spectator sports are ones that you don't really have to watch. The real point is to sit around with your buddies for a couple of hours, and drink a few beers. If sports were really that interesting to watch, you'd stay sober and tell your buddies to fuck off 'cuz you're busy.

    5. Re:Madden by aiken_d · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You're right that football involves a lot of standing around. However, if you think that's the sport, you're seriously missing the point.

      The *reason* there's so much standing around in football is that the 4-10 seconds when a play is happening is a pretty serious exercise in complexity. You have 11 people on offense and 11 on defense, all dynamically reacting to each other.

      In a basic play where things go pretty much right on both offense and defense, there are probably about 100 human interactions in 5 seconds. In more complex plays, and plays where something doesn't go right, that number is much higher. Between planned blocking assignments, adjustments to blocking by the QB, center, or defensive captain (often a linebacker), then the defensive backs who are trying to 1) cover a receiver, but 2) come back in to help if it's a running game, but 3) not get tricked by play action, and 4) either block the reciever or not be blocked themselves... the permutations can get pretty enormous.

      It takes some time to reset and get ready to go again, because if you didn't stop, you'd have something more like rugby, basketball, or (everywhere else in the world) football. All of them great sports, mind you, but all of them too fluid to allow for highly compelx plays, let alone highly complex gamesmanship by coaches.

      The reason Americans like football is that sense of stop/start. Everyone lines up, and other than what players are on the field (it's different each play), nobody knows what's going to happen in the next few seconds. But *something* involving about 5,500 pounds of human flesh is going to go down.

      Because football has those stops and starts, coaches have time to play a mental game with each play. It's 3rd and 2; will they go for the (relatively likely) run play, or will they bet that the defense is heavily stacking against the run and therefore more vulnerable to play action or a pass?

      As you might guess, I'm a huge football fan. I hate TV timeouts (commercials), and there are certainly times when the game grinds to a halt. But you're dead wrong in thinking that 1) not a lot happens in football, and 2) football fans like it that way.

      Now, baseball I can't explain the appeal of.

      Cheers
      -b

      --
      If I wanted a sig I would have filled in that stupid box.
    6. Re:Madden by FatRatBastard · · Score: 4, Informative

      The French once had the right idea with fencing - a couple of guys having at it with swords seems like a good recipe for spectator fun, but for some reason that dropped off the radar.

      I say this as a fencer: fencing isn't exactly the greatest spectator sport. Points are determined very quickly -- the action last a few seconds at best -- and without the lights/official its damn difficult sitting in the stands knowing who actually scored. Don't get me wrong, its a great sport to play, but a spectator sport it ain't.

    7. Re:Madden by operagost · · Score: 2, Funny

      Please don't waste your time with morons who can't comprehend any more complexity than kicking a black and white ball towards a huge net.

      --

      Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
    8. Re:Madden by leshert · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It would, if the game company made it possible to import a full roster with artwork, and if it didn't take an army of very football-savvy statisticians and artists to come up with a full roster to download.

      Even more to the point, that feature just won't happen. That would be asking the game company to expend effort on a feature that would kill their revenue.

  3. What are the players to do? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Buy another game? Oh, no, it's NFL with the latest roster. BOO FRIKKIN HOO. You want to show the NFL/the game maker you don't like the monopoly on the NFL? Don't give them your money. Sheesh.

  4. Suggestion by swordgeek · · Score: 5, Funny

    "So, what are the players to do?"

    Um...buy a football perhaps?

    --

    "People who do stupid things with hazardous materials often die." -- Jim Davidson on alt.folklore.urban
    1. Re:Suggestion by Mathonwy · · Score: 5, Funny

      It's not a peripheral, silly!

      It's a boot device!

      *boot!*

  5. orrr..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    or they could just charge you a subscription fee to add new rosters and occasionan texture/model updates. Then you only buy it once, and assuming the fee is reasonable, it would make more sense.

    But that's not nearly as moneymaking as having 10 million people just rebuy a small update every year...

  6. Easter Egg by PeeAitchPee · · Score: 5, Funny

    Word has it there's a "hot cocoa" mod available showing hidden footage of a naked John Madden being dragged onto an airplane, lashed into a jumpseat and flown city-to-city over the course of the season. Decency advocates, NFL officials and Hillary Clinton are already threatening to sue . . . :-P

  7. Don't Buy It by BobPaul · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If sales drop, maybe the NFL will look to renegotiate their deal
    --
    Downloading in Firefox got you down? Cheer up

    1. Re:Don't Buy It by Brandon+K · · Score: 2

      No way.

      The mindless drones who bought an Xbox solely to buy the newest sports games every year will gobble this up as soon as it comes out.

    2. Re:Don't Buy It by iainl · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why should the NFL care if EA fail to sell lots of copies? They get their millions of dollars either way.

      --
      "I Know You Are But What Am I?"
  8. Monopoly and Inovation by ilyaaohell · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I'm sure there'll be a lot of comments here about the whole monopoly not causing innovation thing, except for one thing. EA is currently in the same position as Microsoft is regarding their Office suite. They may be a monopoly, but if they don't offer significant upgrades on a regular basis (once a year for EA, maybe some extra time for Microsoft), nobody will buy their product.

    Nobody will buy these games just to upgrade the rosters now, since you can download this information online. If EA wants to keep selling titles (monopoly or no monopoly, they still cost millions to produce each year) they better offer something good with each new upgrade.

    --
    UNIX: A computer user is defined as a programmer. WINDOWS: A computer user is defined as a consumer.
  9. Another misleading Slashdot summary... by aixou · · Score: 4, Informative


    If you'll notice, it's the PC version of Madden 2006 that has a collective 79% rating. The Xbox and PS2 versions (presumably more popular than the PC game) are at 87.4 and 88.2 respectively, only 1 or 2 points behind the score of Madden 05.

    1. Re:Another misleading Slashdot summary... by crutchman · · Score: 2, Informative

      One group of people who WILL slap a game on the back of it's hands and say "No" are Morgan & Adam on X-Play. I just saw two reviews of 2/5 on it's last showing. I think I have even seen some 1/5's. EGM, GameSpot, etc... all give fluffed up scores.

      Now, I can see the "fear of giving bad marks" as being true in some cases. I used to review PC hardware for a now closed site (stupid .Bubble Burst), and at times I made my reviews a little more tame than I wanted to so I didn't lose industry contacts. Does that mean I gave everything much higher than it deserves? NO, it means I said "You may want to consider X or Y" rather than saying "This is a peice of crap that should have never been made" because one man's peice of crap, may be another man's pot of gold.

      The same goes with the movie industry, the automotive industry, etc... How often does motortrend call a car a peice of crap? Not often. They are more critical than most and they still seem to be padding ratings of cars.

  10. I'm actually pretty happy about the poor reviews by angst7 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Maybe this will mean less people buy the game. I was thrilled with ESPN NFL2k5 last year. It was arguably as much fun as Madden '05, and only cost $20. When I heard about the EA exclusivity with the NFL I decided not to buy another Madden title until there was competition again. This flop serves two purposes. It will hopefully diminish the number of people who buy the title, ultimately leading to a lower revenue to both EA and the NFL, and secondly it shows that a lack of competition leads to a lack in quality.

    That said, EA has been turning out some great titles lately. Burnout 3 for Xbox, and Battlefield 2 for the PC are just great.

    --
    StrategyTalk.com, PC Game Forums
  11. Cyberball... by eunos94 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If the NFL titles suck, then support other titles that don't need NFL endorsement. Cyberball rocked in the day. No NFL needed. Support great games, don't support big name trademarks and monopolistic organizations.

  12. So, what are the players to do? by frovingslosh · · Score: 2, Insightful
    "... this is the only NFL title you'll get to play this year. "So, what are the players to do?"

    Oh My God! The tragedy! How awful to only be able to play other football titles that don't have the sacred NFL trademark, but may be much better games. Such games might even cost less besause a few bucks didn't have to flow to the NFL, or play better because dollars that would have gone to the NFL can be spent on coders or testing, how can players accept that??? How horriable it would be to play completely different games and have to stretch one's mind beyond the limits of NFL football! And lets not even think of actually putting the console down and actually going outside and throwing around a football or playing other sports. What in the world are players to do when they have been deprived of the sacred NFL logo by the evil forces of EA????

    Doing anything except just playing the official NFL labeled game is completely unthinkable. Players must accept what they are given. It will be good.

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
    1. Re:So, what are the players to do? by cliffski · · Score: 2, Funny

      couldn't agree more. Who Gives a toss what the players names are or what logo is on the box. at least other games wont brainwash you into challenging everything.

      --
      DRM-free indie games for the PC and Mac: Positech Games
    2. Re:So, what are the players to do? by kreyg · · Score: 2, Insightful
      While perhaps a reasonable suggestion, sales figures don't lie: people prefer to play make-believe with real players than just "play a game."

      --
      sig fault
  13. I broke my promise... by DeionXxX · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I promised myself that I wouldn't buy the game when I heard about the exclusive deal with the NFL. I really got turned on to the football games starting with NFL2k for the DC and continued to buy the NFL2k line until this year, when they didn't produce a game.

    I was pretty close to not giving in but as the season got closer and I saw the preseason game, I gave in and bought it. I agree with the reviewers that the game isn't that special. It's basically a less fun version of 2k5.

    Ohh well, I guess EA knew what they were doing. Even though everyone bad-mouthed them and swore not to buy their games, EA knew people would still buy their game because it was the only one available. :-( for capitalism.

  14. yes by rebug · · Score: 2, Informative

    Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl.

    --

    there's more than one way to do me.
  15. Crazy Talk by frovingslosh · · Score: 2

    That's just crazy talk. It must be purchased. It has the NFL logo on it! Who cares about quality or gameplay, that's clearly only secondary. This game must be purchased, after all, it's the only officail NFL game this year!!!!

    --
    I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  16. What *are* players to do? by slavemowgli · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What are players to do, you ask? Isn't it obvious? If someone comes to the conclusion that the game isn't worth the purchase, be it based on reviews, word of mouth, test-playing it or whatever, then simply don't buy it. There's lots of other games that you can choose from - or you could even go outside for a change instead of just playing computer games all the time.

    If you're an absolute die-hard fan that wants a great new NFL game every year (and who thinks that this isn't it), then write to them and tell them what you think about their "exclusive license" deal. Send a snail mail letter, too - these are taken far more seriously than angry emails, who're probably just deleted without anyone really reading them.

    That's what I would do - if I cared about football or football games.

    --
    quidquid latine dictum sit altum videtur.
  17. Which "other football titles" are those? by tepples · · Score: 2, Interesting

    How awful to only be able to play other football titles that don't have the sacred NFL trademark, but may be much better games.

    One problem is that all the well-known American football leagues (NFL, CFL, AFL/af2) are belong to EA. Is there a CFL video game on one of the consoles? What about Gaelic football, Australian Rules football, Rugby Union, or association football?

    1. Re:Which "other football titles" are those? by frovingslosh · · Score: 2, Insightful
      It's not a real problem! Nothing stops a game company from coming out with titles football or pigskin or any other generic football term in the title. There is only a restriction on using property like NFL (and, I expect actual NFL team names and likenesses). Who cares? This doesn't affect game play, it only makes the games more expensive as a cut has to go to the NFL. If the complaint is that there are no good football games, then that should have been what was stated, but it wasn't, the complaint is that the only game with the NFL logo all over it isn't very good. Boo Hoo!

      And if there are no good football titles than that only says that it's not a market that others want to try to tap. Maybe it's something that programming geeks just don't relate to. Maybe it just been done to death and cranking out a new group of titles every single year really isn't needed. I hardly care.

      Quite frankly I think that the NFL should only be allowed to sell rights to one game company. Otherwise it would be like being told that Budwiser was the Official Beer of the NFL, then the next day after you had stocked up on BUD being told that Coors was the Official Beer of the NFL and, after resolving that conflict, you learn that Molson is the Offical Beer of the NFL. Life is too hard already without conflicts like that!

      --
      I'm an American. I love this country and the freedoms that we used to have.
  18. Re:I'm actually pretty happy about the poor review by fractalus · · Score: 2, Informative

    Burnout 3 is a great game, but it wasn't developed in-house at EA, it was created by Criterion in the UK before EA bought them (a deal that went through partway through development of the title). I remember working with the Criterion guys before I left EA last year. BO3 does have some really fun bits, I remember being impressed with it even at the early stages.

    --
    People are never as simple as their stereotypes. This applies equally to Christians, Muslims, and Emacs-lovers.
  19. Re:might be big next year by damiangerous · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Why can you buy a 2006 car right now? Why does the 2006 fiscal year start in October 2005? Because years/seasons/whatever that extend across calendar years need to be called something and it's easier to pick (arbitrarily or not) one of the two years and get everyone used to it. The football season runs from Sep 2005 to Jan 2006. Since the Superbowl is in 2006 and the winner will be referred to as the "2006 Champions" it makes sense to refer to the season as the 2006 season. You would logically refer to the game modeling the 2006 season as the "Madden 2006". Not doing so would be misleading.

  20. Arcade Football Game by richman555 · · Score: 2, Insightful

    I think it would be cool to avoid this whole mess and create a better arcade style football game. A game like this could take some cues from Sega Soccer Slam as an example. Or someone could develop a great football game for the Nintendo DS. Drawing up you own plays would be fun to do with a stylus. I think the possibilities are out there, its just no developers want to take the risk.

  21. Hmmm, what to do? What to do? by Impy+the+Impiuos+Imp · · Score: 5, Interesting

    > because of EA's negotiated exclusivity deal
    > with the NFL, this is the only NFL title
    > you'll get to play this year. So, what are the
    > players to do?"

    Have a little pride and refuse to buy it? And thus punish both EA and the NFL?

    --
    (-1: Post disagrees with my already-settled worldview) is not a valid mod option.
  22. A non-NFL endorsed game by NNland · · Score: 2, Insightful

    As was suggested by some friends last night during a random gaming discussion: Sega should put out a good "Mutant League Football" game.

    Make it as good or better than Madden (which doesn't look to be a challenge according to the reviews), and they can print their own money.

    1. Re:A non-NFL endorsed game by eLDeR_MMHS · · Score: 2, Funny

      Um, Mutant League Football was made by EA.

      http://www.gamespot.com/genesis/sports/mutantleagu efootball/

      --
      -Victor Chow (Elder_MMHS)
  23. Inflated by Psionicist · · Score: 3, Insightful

    79% is considered bad? Game reviews have always been inflated, why not do anything about it? 79% is practically the same as 8/10 or 4/5, and that's considered really good in, say, book or movie reviews. Look at IMDB, the best movie there, The Godfather, has a score of 9/10.

    Really, a score of 40-60% should be an avarage game, but it appears the game reviewers give this score to games that suck completely.

    Oh well.

  24. I'm shocked! by Cyberllama · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The quality of a product dropped after it became a monopoly? Surely this must be some sort of oversight . . .

    1. Re:I'm shocked! by TrappedByMyself · · Score: 5, Informative

      The quality of a product dropped after it became a monopoly?

      It did? Hmmmm, lets actually look at the Gamespot scores over the years.

      Madden NFL 97 6.4
      Madden NFL 98 8.1
      Madden NFL 99 8.8
      Madden NFL 2000 7.4
      Madden NFL 2001 7.0
      Madden NFL 2002 6.7
      Madden NFL 2003 9.2
      Madden NFL 2004 8.8
      Madden NFL 2005 8.8
      Madden NFL 06 7.8

      Hmmm, seems pretty inline doesn't it? It's amazing what facts can do to FUD.

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  25. Dave Swanson visted my class once by DesiVideoGamer · · Score: 5, Interesting

    For computer graphics class , Dave Swanson, the Director of Madden, gave us a lecture about the "process" of making a new Madden game. I decided to joke around and ask him "Why do you need to do anything? Don't you have a monopoly?". He replied saying that he actually still works as hard as he did before the monopoly; and that his current aim is to get people who were not intrested in the Madden series before-hand into the game.
    He also said that all the stories in the press are mostly an exaggeration of what is really going on.

  26. Little Improvements that Matter by jtwJGuevara · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I agree with your argument for the most. However, I own Madden 2005 and have recently rented '06. In doing so, I have noticed small little improvements that go a long way with the more meticulous football fan, such as myself.

    For example, the article's aforementioned QB vision light, which is based on the QB awareness rating and determines the field of vision for a QB. You can control this yourself with the right analog stick or focus in on different receivers. Make a pass to someone not in your field of vision and you will make a duck pass. This feature will need some tweaking, but it is one step closer to making the game realistic and prevents previously awseome madden players from exploiting passing the ball all game.

    Another small improvement has been in line play. The animations that determine positioning of linemen during the play are improved. Defensive lineman in a 4-3 now finally line up as they are supposed to (in gaps instead of headup), and the ability to slide your offensive line protection, while not perfect, definitely lets you control logic for your lineman that never existed in previous games.

    The last one I'll mention are smart routes. In older games. WR's were restricted to predetermined routes based on the play you call, or you could hot route them, but the distance they run in the route is always the same. Now you can make their curl routes and in/out routes go all the way to first down marker. Again, a small improvement, but one that makes the play in this game a bit better.

    In all honesty, I think people expect too much of this football game series. There are only so many things you can add each year and each year everyone wants something revolutionary. All I want is steady improvement so that when I play this game in 2015 (assuming it is still being produced) it should be much closer to the real thing. Just look at at how far it has advanced in 1995 to see what I mean.

  27. XFL video game by ipjohnson · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I can see it now cross maden with the WWE series and you've got a multi million dollar hit. Now if I can only work in NASCAR and I can target every rednecked american ... I mean red blooded american.

  28. Meanwhile lemmings flock to buy by gorbachev · · Score: 2, Insightful

    http://investor.ea.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=88189&p=iro l-newsArticle&ID=744892&highlight=

    Madden 2006 sells a record breaking 1.7M copies in its first week.

    So it doesn't seem to matter to the lemmings that the game has very little to offer in terms of innovation.

    $49.99 for a new roster either means people have more than enough disposable income to waste, the reviews are wrong or mass consumtion is good. Or something else.

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  29. Re:Hot from the press! by TheRaven64 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I find it somewhat depressing that a rating of 79% is considered poor. There are 100 percentage points (obviously), and rating all games between 70 and 100 seems something of a waste of numbers. Last time I bought a game magazine (about 10 years ago) one of the games was given 27% - a score which really shows you that it's not worth buying (Lemmings 3D, as I recall).

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  30. Is this a trick question? by Shamashmuddamiq · · Score: 3, Insightful
    this is the only NFL title you'll get to play this year. So, what are the players to do?

    Uh... why can't they play Madden '05 or Madden '04 or even ... I don't know... Madden '03?

    Someone who enjoys video football enough to buy a new version every year probably isn't very difficult to entertain. He'll buy Madden '06 even if it's just a feature-creep of '05.

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    ...just my 2 gil.
  31. Games suck ;) by BobPaul · · Score: 2

    Meh.. I won't buy it...
    --
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  32. Nothing a good ol' Fireball spell won't cure... by leftie · · Score: 2, Informative

    Check out http://www.chaosleaguegame.com/

    Chaos League is similar to the old Game Designers Workshop board game Blood Bowl. Orks vs. Elves pigskin play. It's a nice little game that got kind of overlooked. They just released the Sudden Death expansion.

  33. Well then by mcc · · Score: 5, Funny

    If EA says their monopoly isn't harmful, then that's good enough for me.

    After all, if you can't trust a multibillion dollar corporation with no accountability to anyone except their shareholders, who can you trust?

    --
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  34. Re:Who's gonna pay by Hellasboy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    EA was in serious danger of losing the football crown.
    LINK

    ESPN NFL FOOTBALL (2004)
    216,000 units sold
    $10.1 million in sales

    MADDEN NFL 2004
    3.4 million units sold
    $167 million in sales

    ESPN NFL 2K5
    1.2 million units sold
    $24.4 million in sales

    MADDEN NFL 2005
    2.3 million units sold
    $111.4 million in sales

    A 50 million dollar drop and 1/3 drop in numbers sold with sega's strategy of selling 2k5. Imagine if they had a 2k6, especially with the buzz they had with 2k5 (2k5 was/is so much better than madden 2005/2006). that's the general consensus.

    Madden has "fixed" the same damn problems year after year. I mean, how many times can they fix a same passing game problem? or fix the same running game problem? Hopefully someone will release a 2006 roster update for NFL2K5 (basically what EA does with Madden, but charge an extra 40$ for).

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  35. when did by Turn-X+Alphonse · · Score: 2, Insightful

    When did 70% become bad? Surely anything below 50% if bad. Anything above is above average no?

    When did a rating system become 70 = bad 80 = okay 90 = good?

    --
    I like muppets.
  36. The Gamerankings average is as expected. by Kaboom13 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    At the time i'm writing this, according to gamerankings.com, the scores for madden games (ps2 version) are:
    2006: 88%
    2005: 90%
    2004: 91%
    2003: 91%

    These scores are pretty respectable, especially for a sports title. If you are expecting any respectable gaming mag to ever give a "realistic" (as opposed to a mario sports title) sports game 100% you can pretty much forget it. Sports games appeal to people who like the sport, and want to relive a little bit of it at home. They don't really appeal to hardcore gamers, who could care less about having an updated roster. The real test will be the sales numbers on this title, I'm betting lots of people will buy it and enjoy it. What the /. obsession with Madden is I'm not sure, they are average games that fit a certain niche market perfectly. Besides that I have a feeling this year's Madden got less development time because the developers are busy preparing for the upcoming Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 titles. Madden could potentially make or break these consoles so I'm sure Sony and MS are putting all their weight on EA.

  37. Mutant League Football by jeek · · Score: 2

    http://www.petitiononline.com/MLF/

    Mutant League Football managed to be one of the most entertaining football games ever released for a video game system, eschewing petty realism and NFL line-ups in favor of silly things like mutated robotic alien players and playbooks that included such classics as "Kill the Ref".

    Instead of churning out the same old 3D crap over and over year after year they should take a look at putting out titles that sacrifice some of the realism in exchange for something unique.

    Bring Back Mutant League Football!!

    http://www.petitiononline.com/MLF/

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  38. Rugby? by adremeaux · · Score: 3, Insightful

    As for international sports, you missed rugby, which is without a doubt one of the most exciting sports out there. Talk about non-stop action...

    And how about Basketball? Not enough action for you? A couple points every 30 seconds seems pretty good to me.

  39. Then there's the CFL?!? by Phronetix · · Score: 2, Informative

    As in Canadian Football League. We've been waiting for a decent video game for our league. Now's the time I say. C'mon, the field is 25% wider, 10 yards longer, the end zones are twice as long. You can score single points on missed field goals or on punts, our balls are bigger (ahem!), and we only have 3 downs to make the ten yards. That, and you can knock a zero or two off of the salaries. Anyone know the contact particulars for 989 or 2k Sports? ;-)

  40. Duh by timothykaine · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, what are the players to do?

    That's simple. Don't buy the game. All a company that would seek out a monopoly cares about is money. If you arent giving them money, they dont have any money. If they dont have any money, theyll do anything it takes to get money. In this case, make a decent game.

  41. Re:79% is a C by 1u3hr · · Score: 2, Insightful

    At my school, and also university, A was 80-100, B 70-79, C 60-69, D 50-59. It's all relative, of course, but pushing the curve up so that almost everyone gets over 90 gets silly and defeats the point of having a percentage scale. Reminiscent of those arcade games where points are awarded in multiples of 1,000 or 10,000 because it's more cool to say you got "one million" rather than "one hundred".

  42. And yet it is selling in record numbers by twelveinchbrain · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Despite its lukewarm reviews, it appears that EA is selling Madden NFL 06 in record numbers, selling 1.6 million copies in its first week. If consumers will eagerly buy a warmed-over rehash of last year's game, what incentive does EA have to innovate?

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