Does EA even care anymore?
posted by prfctlotus (CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA) Aug 14, 2008
Member since May 2006
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I may be a singularity in this opinion, or I may be lost in the wash, but is EA even trying anymore? Madden '09 has hit shelves, been bought, paid and popped into consoles everywhere, and all I thought when it started was "Not this again!"
First, It will always sell well, no matter what. EA has the only pony in the race, so everyone loves it, of course. But it still begs the question, "Does EA having exclusive rights to the NFL gaming franchise hurt the game in the long run?" and I say, resoundingly, "YES!"
When I first played it, I thought, "hmmm, the Madden test is a bit innovative. It adjusts the games AI to your skill level, depending on which aspect of the game your strong or weak at." Then upon further play, i realized, beyond that, it is the exact same game, save for updated rosters, and maybe a few graphical tweaks. The Superstar mode (my favorite) has not changed ONE IOTA in three years. not a tweak, nothing. You can tell no one's playtesting this aspect of the game, or someone would have noticed that your "Coach" is congratulating you for being a team leader, when you haven't even been drafted yet. My list of gripes is short. But they are, to me, the most essential. Gamers love advances, new engines, smoother animations, higher framerates, revamped HUDs, you name it, we love seeing our favorites pushed in new and exciting directions. Madden, for all it's pomp and parade, draws nothing more than a yawn from me anymore. I feel I shouldn't have to buy a new copy of the same old game every year, when they can just as easily update rosters over Xbox live, or PSN.
EA, if you truly are passionate about gaming, as you say you are, then screw timely release dates and revamp the franchise. Make it worth our while again. Make us remeber why we started buying your product in the first place.
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