Are Weak Madden Sales Signaling Trouble in Gameland? (1 Viewer)

[Dave]

Just one week after its flagship franchise hit the streets, EA is already seeing retailers dramatically discount this year’s installment of “Madden NFL”. Amazon , Wal-Mart and GameStop have all dropped the price from $60 to $50.
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One possible way to interpret that is the 2010 version of the game hasn’t been selling at the same pace as the 2009 version (which, incidentally, failed to match the 2008 numbers). That’s troubling, since EA relies heavily on Madden for up to 10 percent of its annual revenues.

Admittedly, there were concerns about this year’s game prior to its launch. Pre-orders were flat and Colin Sebastian, an analyst with Lazard Capital Markets, noted that the 2010 installment was “a ‘show-me’ story … People who are tired of what ‘Madden’ has become are saying ‘I know some of my fiends are going to pick it up and I’ll see what they have to say first.'”

The price cuts could indicate the initial word of mouth was fair to middling. Critics have given the game fairly high marks—Metacritic.com, which compiles game review scores, gave “Madden NFL 11” a ranking of 85 out of 100. User scores on that same site, though, only rank it 5.3 out of 10.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/38786847

 

[xpuma20x]

This could be extremely good news in the long haul. However, I'm curious if its because of the drop in the PS2 push, which continued to hold strong sales all the way up to what..a year ago? Perhaps its because of the continued slowed economy overall that pushes people to either not splurge on such games or just invest in things like GameFly instead? Either way, maybe it'll kickstart things enough that they take making a football game seriously versus just updating the roster, tweaking a few things and repacking it. One of my biggest complaints with Madden is that they often remove some of the very good things with the game, things that could easily have been left in or upgraded based on new ideas.

 

[jayd265]

i hope this means they revamp it...

 

[GeauxSaints53]

Mix Madden's presentation with Backbreaker's physics and you've got yourself a finally good game. Until then, NFL 2K5 ftw.

 

[Dave]

This is the 1st year I haven't bought Madden. I should have stopped a few years ago, but finally when I heard they didn't add a salary cap, contracts, free agency, or cpu trade logic to the online franchise I was done. It's not really an online franchise without those things. I don't know why they can't ever focus on fixing the most important things in the game instead of coming up with some new ******** gimmick every year that nobody cares about. I prefer NCAA over Madden due to the far superior online dynasty.

 

[Saint Marshall]

This is fantastic news for any madden fan.

I haven't bought Madden since 07 and i don't plan on it until they get off their butts and make a football game worthy of $60

which they haven't done IMO since they went into the next gen consoles

 

[gpupil]

The NFL exclusive rights contract doesn't help the situation at all. A little competition would go a long way.

 

[Get in the Carr]

Good. I think they have gone off track after madden 06. It seems they are trying to make the game with features aimed towards the "new madden generation". I think they have forgotten about us that have been playing it since it first came out. Now i hope they realize that their research or lack there of on what we expect is pitiful. I don't hear any complaints about the games being too long yet they come out with gameplan. Cool concept but they made it to speed the games up, not actually gameplan for a game. EA really needs to let go of tributron or however you spell it. Ever since they have taken over, the games have gone down hill. They also need to swallow their pride and get ex coaches and players on the staff. I can't help but think this game is made by fairweather football fans.

 

[Dave Worth]

It seems like many/most of the problems stem from the 360 launch. Everything I've read makes it sound like they rushed a horrible Madden to have something for next gen.

The complaints from the Madden team (indirectly and reading between the lines) are that they are working with bad code...a problem stemming from the rushed launch of Madden 06. Ian reportedly asked to scrap the game's code and start over, but was denied by the EA bosses. It appears to many this is the cause of the ongoing problems.

EA won't take two years to get it right...I understand that. They should take a small team and work on a glorified roster update with some tweaks for Madden 12. Give me formation subs and a slightly better franchise mode and I'm good...for next year.

The majority of their team should be scrapping the whole game and starting over from scratch. Use the Real Time Physics engine (RTP) that is present in NHL. Size and weight should matter in a football game. Trindon Holliday ain't trucking anyone in the NFL. Fix the Oline and Dline interactions. Spend a lot of time on things outside of the actual game play, but things that will impact how we play the game.

Personally, I'm mostly okay with most of the gameplay outside of the line play. We all want it better, but I honestly don't know what the real limitations are. There are so many variable with 22 different players running around and colliding that I don't expect perfection.

What I want to see is the ratings truly matter and make a difference. If I start a 60 rated LT and he faces Freeney, I want my QB in trouble. If my Oline averages a 90 run blocking, then I want to gash the Rams for four quarters.

I want to build teams based on players and styles. I want a LB that is rated a 90 in a 4-3 defense, but worthless in a 3-4. I want true Power Backs and Speed Backs. I want to see coaches and schemes make a huge difference in the performance and progression of players...Payton/Saints can make a Chase Daniel into a serviceable QB where another coach would have no use for him. This would hopefully create team specific ratings and teams valuing different players differently.

I would love to see scouting and player evaluation become a major part of the game. Get rid of the ability for us to see true ratings of players. Let the quality of our scouting department determine what we know...just like the real NFL. Maybe our scouts are great at pinpointing QBs, WRs and Oline...but can't find DTs and LBs for nothing. This would make it harder to build super teams. And would make a big difference in the draft. Why do some teams sign Billy Jos to play QB and others find Tom Bradys? Some luck and a lot of good scouting. Probably the most underrated part of the NFL.

Implement better player progression. Gamedays should matter, but players get better through practice and offseasons. Let me plan my practice focus for each player/position and determine where I want them to improve.

HERE'S MY DREAM - I think the real key is to make the game as complicated as possible for the diehards...while at the same time making the computer AI competent enough that you can sim any of it with adequate results. That way you can have as much control as you want. Want to spend an hour just getting ready for your third preseason game, then knock yourself out. Change your gameplan, your subs, audibles. Want to sim it and let the computer do it all...fine. This is the key to making the game competitive in the long run.

There's so much more, but I've got to get ready to watch the replay of the Saints-Texans replay!

 

[ULL_Scott]

it seems like many/most of the problems stem from the 360 launch. Everything i've read makes it sound like they rushed a horrible madden to have something for next gen.

The complaints from the madden team (indirectly and reading between the lines) are that they are working with bad code...a problem stemming from the rushed launch of madden 06. Ian reportedly asked to scrap the game's code and start over, but was denied by the ea bosses. It appears to many this is the cause of the ongoing problems.

Ea won't take two years to get it right...i understand that. They should take a small team and work on a glorified roster update with some tweaks for madden 12. Give me formation subs and a slightly better franchise mode and i'm good...for next year.

The majority of their team should be scrapping the whole game and starting over from scratch. Use the real time physics engine (rtp) that is present in nhl. Size and weight should matter in a football game. Trindon holliday ain't trucking anyone in the nfl. Fix the oline and dline interactions. Spend a lot of time on things outside of the actual game play, but things that will impact how we play the game.

Personally, i'm mostly okay with most of the gameplay outside of the line play. We all want it better, but i honestly don't know what the real limitations are. There are so many variable with 22 different players running around and colliding that i don't expect perfection.

What i want to see is the ratings truly matter and make a difference. If i start a 60 rated lt and he faces freeney, i want my qb in trouble. If my oline averages a 90 run blocking, then i want to gash the rams for four quarters.

I want to build teams based on players and styles. I want a lb that is rated a 90 in a 4-3 defense, but worthless in a 3-4. I want true power backs and speed backs. I want to see coaches and schemes make a huge difference in the performance and progression of players...payton/saints can make a chase daniel into a serviceable qb where another coach would have no use for him. This would hopefully create team specific ratings and teams valuing different players differently.

I would love to see scouting and player evaluation become a major part of the game. Get rid of the ability for us to see true ratings of players. Let the quality of our scouting department determine what we know...just like the real nfl. Maybe our scouts are great at pinpointing qbs, wrs and oline...but can't find dts and lbs for nothing. This would make it harder to build super teams. And would make a big difference in the draft. Why do some teams sign billy jos to play qb and others find tom bradys? Some luck and a lot of good scouting. Probably the most underrated part of the nfl.

Implement better player progression. Gamedays should matter, but players get better through practice and offseasons. Let me plan my practice focus for each player/position and determine where i want them to improve.

Here's my dream - i think the real key is to make the game as complicated as possible for the diehards...while at the same time making the computer ai competent enough that you can sim any of it with adequate results. That way you can have as much control as you want. Want to spend an hour just getting ready for your third preseason game, then knock yourself out. Change your gameplan, your subs, audibles. Want to sim it and let the computer do it all...fine. This is the key to making the game competitive in the long run.

There's so much more, but i've got to get ready to watch the replay of the saints-texans replay!

post of the year!

 

[Get in the Carr]

It seems like many/most of the problems stem from the 360 launch. Everything I've read makes it sound like they rushed a horrible Madden to have something for next gen.

The complaints from the Madden team (indirectly and reading between the lines) are that they are working with bad code...a problem stemming from the rushed launch of Madden 06. Ian reportedly asked to scrap the game's code and start over, but was denied by the EA bosses. It appears to many this is the cause of the ongoing problems.

EA won't take two years to get it right...I understand that. They should take a small team and work on a glorified roster update with some tweaks for Madden 12. Give me formation subs and a slightly better franchise mode and I'm good...for next year.

The majority of their team should be scrapping the whole game and starting over from scratch. Use the Real Time Physics engine (RTP) that is present in NHL. Size and weight should matter in a football game. Trindon Holliday ain't trucking anyone in the NFL. Fix the Oline and Dline interactions. Spend a lot of time on things outside of the actual game play, but things that will impact how we play the game.

Personally, I'm mostly okay with most of the gameplay outside of the line play. We all want it better, but I honestly don't know what the real limitations are. There are so many variable with 22 different players running around and colliding that I don't expect perfection.

What I want to see is the ratings truly matter and make a difference. If I start a 60 rated LT and he faces Freeney, I want my QB in trouble. If my Oline averages a 90 run blocking, then I want to gash the Rams for four quarters.

I want to build teams based on players and styles. I want a LB that is rated a 90 in a 4-3 defense, but worthless in a 3-4. I want true Power Backs and Speed Backs. I want to see coaches and schemes make a huge difference in the performance and progression of players...Payton/Saints can make a Chase Daniel into a serviceable QB where another coach would have no use for him. This would hopefully create team specific ratings and teams valuing different players differently.

I would love to see scouting and player evaluation become a major part of the game. Get rid of the ability for us to see true ratings of players. Let the quality of our scouting department determine what we know...just like the real NFL. Maybe our scouts are great at pinpointing QBs, WRs and Oline...but can't find DTs and LBs for nothing. This would make it harder to build super teams. And would make a big difference in the draft. Why do some teams sign Billy Jos to play QB and others find Tom Bradys? Some luck and a lot of good scouting. Probably the most underrated part of the NFL.

Implement better player progression. Gamedays should matter, but players get better through practice and offseasons. Let me plan my practice focus for each player/position and determine where I want them to improve.

HERE'S MY DREAM - I think the real key is to make the game as complicated as possible for the diehards...while at the same time making the computer AI competent enough that you can sim any of it with adequate results. That way you can have as much control as you want. Want to spend an hour just getting ready for your third preseason game, then knock yourself out. Change your gameplan, your subs, audibles. Want to sim it and let the computer do it all...fine. This is the key to making the game competitive in the long run.

There's so much more, but I've got to get ready to watch the replay of the Saints-Texans replay!

Good stuff and i agree. They just need to take a year or 2 off. Plain and simple. Problem is they will lose millions, so that will never happen. They will just continue to put out mediocre games.

 

[msusaintsfan]

Actually...they should take a year off from NCAA, fire the Madden team, and the let the NCAA team fix Madden. This year's Madden was the straw that broke the back for me. I enjoy some things but I am actually considering going back to last year's....if it wasn't for Drew on the cover I wasn't planning on buying this year's version.... I will not next year.

NCAA on the other hand is absolutely awesome this year.....I wish they would have put in the D II teams again, but with Teambuilder I can do that myself.

I honestly wish they would give the NCAA design team have a crack at Madden.

I would love an expansion mode with a Teambuilder like option for Madden, a better creation option like in NCAA this year, better progression, sub packages at the main menu, oh man I could go on for awhile.