Are console sports games dead to AT?

[smackababy]

I have been playing NCAA 13, but I might get Madden 13 and the new NHL.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I am starting to lose my resolve and am considering buying Madden 13 because of the major changes to my team.

 

[fatpat268]

I am starting to lose my resolve and am considering buying Madden 13 because of the major changes to my team.

I'm buying Madden 13, because it looks like they finally got off their ass and improved the franchise mode.

The gameplay itself will probably still be the same, but that's not changing anytime soon.

 

[smackababy]

I'm buying Madden 13, because it looks like they finally got off their ass and improved the franchise mode.

The gameplay itself will probably still be the same, but that's not changing anytime soon.

I am interested in the no clipping they were talking about. Finally some realistic football?

 

[American Gunner]

I am playing NCAA but I am just not liking it. My problem with football games is that I can never get the difficulty setting right. It's either too easy or too hard. Plus the recruiting is so boring on NCAA, I now just leave it to the CPU to do it for me. I might just play it for a few more weeks and send it back to gamefly and check out Madden this year.

 

[gorcorps]

I'm buying Madden 13, because it looks like they finally got off their ass and improved the franchise mode.

The gameplay itself will probably still be the same, but that's not changing anytime soon.

I won't be touching madden until months into the release and I get some confirmation it's actually worth trying. Every single year they claim they've fixed this, improved that, added this... but then it gets here and we find the new stuff is either buggy, just tacked on and not thought out, and/or introduces new issues that they promise will be fixed next year.

I could say it's because of the NFL monopoly but I'm seeing the same thing in the NHL series too. NHL09 was awesome with a few issues, and in the process of fixing those issues and adding other stuff they ruined the passing controls (IMO) and took away a ton of options me and a buddy used to use to play online. I don't know what's up with the 2k guys, but they used to give EA a run for their money on the hockey side (which is why I think NHL09 was so good, competition forced EA to be better)... but they've pretty much just sat on their asses and let EA have it.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I won't be touching madden until months into the release and I get some confirmation it's actually worth trying. Every single year they claim they've fixed this, improved that, added this... but then it gets here and we find the new stuff is either buggy, just tacked on and not thought out, and/or introduces new issues that they promise will be fixed next year.

I did not buy Madden 11 but did buy Madden 12. I swore I'd go to an every-other-year purchase, but with the epic collapse of the Colts, I figure I might have to make an exception and get the first edition with Andrew Luck. Amazon has it with a $15 credit so it might be awhile before I could find it cheaper. Plus I have reward points to use so it would effectively be "free."

What concerns me, though, is the horrible reviews NCAA 13 is getting.

I could say it's because of the NFL monopoly but I'm seeing the same thing in the NHL series too. NHL09 was awesome with a few issues, and in the process of fixing those issues and adding other stuff they ruined the passing controls (IMO) and took away a ton of options me and a buddy used to use to play online. I don't know what's up with the 2k guys, but they used to give EA a run for their money on the hockey side (which is why I think NHL09 was so good, competition forced EA to be better)... but they've pretty much just sat on their asses and let EA have it.

That's something I'm wondering as well. As recently has NHL 07/2K7, I thought 2K was ahead in the hockey race but it seems that EA has pulled away and leads by quite a bit now.

On the NBA front, rumors are circling that EA may cancel their latest NBA game (again). That would be 2 years without an EA basketball game and while I agree 2K rocks in basketball, they need competition to keep growing.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I am playing NCAA but I am just not liking it. My problem with football games is that I can never get the difficulty setting right. It's either too easy or too hard. Plus the recruiting is so boring on NCAA, I now just leave it to the CPU to do it for me. I might just play it for a few more weeks and send it back to gamefly and check out Madden this year.

NCAA 13? It is getting horrible reviews and by all accounts is currently very broken. I'm HOPING that these problems are fixed or don't appear in Madden.

I'm with you on the team management aspect. That used to be my favorite part of the game, but as the games have progressed, it just seems to get more and more tedious, especially with the crappy UI on the consoles.

 

[American Gunner]

NCAA 13? It is getting horrible reviews and by all accounts is currently very broken. I'm HOPING that these problems are fixed or don't appear in Madden.

I'm with you on the team management aspect. That used to be my favorite part of the game, but as the games have progressed, it just seems to get more and more tedious, especially with the crappy UI on the consoles.

Yeah, I am playing 13. I got it from gamefly, but I have not enjoyed it at all. I've gotten a few trophies from it playing the dynasty and road to glory, but I just don't see myself playing it much longer. I am not sure what issues people are having with the game, there haven't been any crazy bugs that I have ran in to, except for causing my system to freeze loading up a game. And good lord, the load screens in road to glory are way too long.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Noticed that Madden 13 has been delayed until 8/28; I think the original release date was to be 8/14. I went ahead and preordered it just for the Colts.

 

[American Gunner]

Noticed that Madden 13 has been delayed until 8/28; I think the original release date was to be 8/14. I went ahead and preordered it just for the Colts.

I am going to preorder it on amazon, that $15 credit is too good to pass up. It seems like that is a lot later of a release date than normal. Usually it comes out around the beginning of preseason.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I am going to preorder it on amazon, that $15 credit is too good to pass up. It seems like that is a lot later of a release date than normal. Usually it comes out around the beginning of preseason.

Yeah, last year it was a $20 credit and that was the main reason I bought Madden 12.

 

[dfuze]

I just got Madden 12 last week during Best Buy's $10 sale. I'm enjoying it, so far just playing franchise. I'm crushing the CPU on the Pro level, may need to increase the difficulty. I was thinking of playing some online rounds of it, anyone know if people still do those stupid nano blitz every damn play or if people play normal?

 

[fatpat268]

Noticed that Madden 13 has been delayed until 8/28; I think the original release date was to be 8/14. I went ahead and preordered it just for the Colts.

No, it hasn't been delayed. They started releasing the game at the end of august as opposed to the middle of august. They started that last year, IIRC.

Demo should show up on the 14th though. I guess we'll see how it plays then.

I am playing NCAA but I am just not liking it. My problem with football games is that I can never get the difficulty setting right. It's either too easy or too hard. Plus the recruiting is so boring on NCAA, I now just leave it to the CPU to do it for me. I might just play it for a few more weeks and send it back to gamefly and check out Madden this year.

Yup, I have the same experience. I typically play on All-Pro, and I crush the AI 99% of the time, but if I move it up to All-Madden, forget it. I've tried messing with sliders, and that works I guess, but it's hard adjusting them so that you still maintain realistic stats.

 

[American Gunner]

I wish they would bring back the training camp drills. It was a great way to work your rookies up. I am talking about the older ones, like pocket presence and stuff like that, not the 40 yard dash and weight lifting ones. It was a great way to see your mid-round guys improve, work them up and get them some spot duty and they would turn into some pretty good players.

 

[Homerboy]

Noticed that Madden 13 has been delayed until 8/28; I think the original release date was to be 8/14. I went ahead and preordered it just for the Colts.

Oh? They have a team this year?

 

[JujuFish]

I wish the full Madden 13 was being released tomorrow instead of just the demo.

 

[JujuFish]

Unfortunately, cross-platform leagues aren't possible and when we put together the last Madden and NCAA leagues, the Xbox was the overwhelming platform choice for the leagues.

I'm not surprised, but I don't have an XBox so the choice of platform is locked in place for me.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

Oh? They have a team this year?

They'll be perennial playoff contenders within 4 or 5 years, mark my words.

I think this year, I may just play Madden in coaching mode -- make all the player personnel decisions, maybe call the plays, and let the computer run them. That will probably be the only way I'll have a challenge since player stats don't really seem to matter (with only a couple of exceptions) for human-controlled teams.

 

[fatpat268]

After playing the Madden demo, I'm pleasantly surprised. The game feels less stiff and robotic that it was in the past, and honestly feels like an update worthy of the $60. Also didn't realize that they changed up the commentating team, but the commentary from Jim Nantz and Phil Simms wasn't bad... but that can change quickly if they repeat the same things over and over.

 

[American Gunner]

I played the demo last night and really liked it. This is my first time playing on the PS3, so it took me a bit to get used too, but by the end of the game, I was running all over the 49ers. I am looking forward to Madden.

 

[fatpat268]

Just played another game of the demo (this time as the Redskins vs Seahawks), and I gotta say, if you haven't bought a Madden game in a while because you were annoyed how stale it, seriously you need to play the demo then. The new physics engine makes a huge difference, especially in the running game. When you break a tackle, it feels realistic instead of being a dice roll and an animation. It feels more fluid. Offensive line blocking seems to be better. Still could use work, but progress.

Also, I feel like I have a chance on punt returns now. Years past, you always had a defender in your face when catching the ball, forcing you to fair catch. Haven't had much of that yet. I always had an opportunity to make a return.

I didn't notice any super linebacker jumping here... although I have seen a few questionable INTs, where the ball looked like it hit the ground, but the CB picks it up and ruled an interception. But there's no instant replay or coaches challenge in the demo, so I can't prove it.

Also, I'm surprised by a lot of the little things. There's field wear and tear. It might have been in last year's game, but regardless, it looks good. Also there's grass stains on player's uniforms and helmet nicks. The crowd feels alive, and there's a great use of music and other audio in the background.

Like I said, it feels good. I've been a madden hater for the past few years, but this demo definitely has me interested.

 

[American Gunner]

I didn't even know that you could play with different teams. I played late so I had just enough time to run one game and loaded the giants 49ers game. I will have to check it out tonight and see what games I can play.

 

[Ban Bot]

Well, seeing as this "Sports are dead at AT, long live Sports at AT!" thread is the closest thing to a Madden NFL 13 I will paste my impressions of the demo here; summary is I ended up pre-ordering and hopefully join find a group to play with.

With 7 games with the demo (360 version) under my belt here are my impressions. Some quick background: Until 2005 I played almost every version of Madden starting with the first PC version and then the SNES (and most of the 2K and a spattering of FP Sports, QB Club, Sega, etc) and have played 2 editions on the Xbox 360 (the discontinuation of the PC version and the exclusive deal soured me in conjunction with EA/Tiburon ignoring the glaring flaws in the series).

Graphics. Graphically the series has improved since 2008 & 2010, although incrementally. Madden has always lagged in the visuals and some areas are still just really bad, e.g. the crowd. Sometimes players in the distance are hard to distinguish and the LOD when zoomed out could be better, specifically more crisp. I also find there are a lot of glitches to the visuals (mainly the 3D grass, player shadows, and some textures) but the 60Hz, improved lighting, solid shadowing, motion blur, etc have all come a long way. Player models are also taking small steps in the right direction with many looking slightly like the real life counterparts. I will need to toy with the camera (which the demo does not allow) some as the default wasn’t great for running.

Infinity Engine. Animation is a mixed bag. On the down side it has some horribly glitch animations—I have seen players do half spins and fall backwards when there is no way the momentum/contact should result in such. And you will see this occur over and over again. To be blunt the transitions from captured motion to those impacted by contact often lacks “weight” and results in some odd results. I don’t care what EA is telling people momentum is all goofy at times. On the plus is that this is a huge improvement over past versions. With SEA Lynch I have had quite a few nice runs where a small defender was shrugged off. I am all about running the ball so I must admit to being happy to see more improvements here (I believe it was 2010 where they broke the rushing and promised a patch so I bought the game and then they failed to deliver and said “promise we fix it next year!”) Make no mistake Back Breaker, flaws and all, has far superior animation and contact. Transitions were better, especially from fighting one tackler to a gang tackle, and the animations were clean. So while I am happy EA is improving here I think it needs a lot of work.

Gameplay. This plays like every Madden from the last decade with the requisite tweaks. If you have played Madden before you know what you are getting. Which is good because the game has grown to be quite deep and relatively authentic over the years and learning the quirks of another game could be difficult. 3rd game in I was in the flow enough to start hot routing receivers, doing pre-snap motions and adjustments, doing fine detailed defensive adjustments, etc. I think the use of the Dpad and Sticks for audibles and adjustments is really well done now, e.g. Dpad L for the D linemen and the Dpad then allows up for spread, down for pinch, left for shift left, right for shift right; right stick up for edge rush, down for crash, left for left, and right for right. Similar for the LB and for the DB’s you get all sorts of quick adjustments to zones and coverages. I found Madden has finally settled on a robust and intuitive scheme for this. While not ground breaking I thought Gameflow was a nice addition.

On the field it is hard to point out a lot after 7 games (some coop). I will say this: On Rookie and Pro rushing was very, very easy, too rewarding, and fun for a couple games—but would offer no challenge and replayability over time. On All-Pro (four game, one against a human) there was more inconsistency although I could get some nice runs here and there but in general holes didn’t form and backs went down easily (SEA Lynch and SF Gore). I am rusty with all the moves but it seems a lot of times half the plays were busted due to a DL beating an OL completely and shooting the gap. That happens in the NFL but a lot of the short gains/losses are because there is no hole and it collapses into a pile with no daylight. I saw little of this so far. I actually found not using a FB (SEA has a Pro-Bowl FB) helped as it seemed to make the OL miss more assignments even when blockers outnumbered defenders. Not a horrible experience but I would need to play more to get a good review of rushing. My guess is once I get into the game, really learn my personel, and quicker and checking down, making adjustments like motion, and when to audible out I can have a potent running game.

Passing seemed typical Madden. They offer NO instructions / training on the “total control passing” but it seems to be no different than what other versions had—after you begin to press pass the ball pushing the stick in a direction results in the QB aiming there. It would be nice if it gave you a visual que of how your pass was being changed. I didn’t pass enough to get a feel for the new lobs and such. I did notice it seemed to have a nice penalty in place for passing on the run for most QBs. I need to do some more play time to test playing as the receiver—something that is almost always poorly done in Madden games. I did like the receivers being grayed out when not looking (but I liked the visual cone, too, and always thought Kinect could do that well if they tried).

Special teams were solid. I had a punt returned for a TD where after making the first couple guys miss on the left (on a return right) and getting caught in a tackle I broke loose and cut to the right where the return team picked up all the defenders and walked it him. Kick offs are goofy with the aim.

Defense is a WIP for me. I tend to play as DL and I got some sacks but also tended to get tied up by the OL. The secondary seemed reasonable in terms of coverage and the game seems to offer a good number of options. E.g. I kept get eaten alive over the middle so I began key off on pass and then adjusting to the middle for coverage.

Overall gameplay felt at a nice pace (I like the accelerated clock option) and the speed on the field felt appropriate. If the game feels too fast you can change it (from very slow, slow, normal, fast, and very fast) and the demo has a fair number of sliders—although for online play I find it important the game WORK out of the box because sliders may help SP but I want to be able to have a balanced ONLINE experience. One reason I have always liked Madden is they never went with the cheesy “ball carriers are slower than defenders, but you can use the buttons to juke and charge a speed burst” silliness. Thankfully that is still here. I broke into the open field a handful of times each game and it was truly off to the races. I got ran down a couple times but also had some long touch downs. There is an option for speed disparity, default is 50%. Ramp it up to 100% the gap is closed between slower and faster players; crank it down to 0% and faster players will blow past slower players.

Coop. I must say coop has improved a lot. I have not tried 3 player but 2 player worked very well with my sons. If I get Madden ’13 it is because coop sold us.

Kinect. I wish the Kinect integration was a LOT deeper. There, I said it. What they have works well—if it can pick up your voice. Saying “No Huddle” or “Challenge” etc felt natural. I have not had a chance to get into all the Kinect features but having robust voice control via on screen prompts is the future. It is quicker and easier to use and adds a layer of immersion. I don’t think the current Kinect is responsive enough but I could see a new model allow you to quickly in the huddle call formation (Shotgun), player (HB), play (draw right); get to the line and audible (Pass, deep outs), make an adjustment (TE, pass protect) and then call cadence. I think EA is heading this direction but I can see this working and working very well. And with on screen prompts it could be easier and quicker to use. But what is there now is nice to toy with and I need to spend more time with it. So far I like it.

Announcing & Presentation. First off the replays are broken, rarely showing the beginning of the play where key stuff occurs. E.g. Have a big hit just as the QB releases the ball that leads to an INT return weaving through the offense for a TD? Yeah, you get to see the last 10 years of the return… over and over. Look, I don’t want to see where I run in the open into the end zone. I want to see the disruptive hit. I want to see the pick and the key blocks that sprung me. Likewise the ref audio is broken. And the announcers are repetitive and at times silly. Every game they say the same things about RGIII and Flynn and Lynch and, well, everyone else! Break a big pass play? I have already heard, “The NFL has some of the fastest humans alive. When the rules prevent a defender from even breathing on a receiver the result is big plays like this.” Or something like, “When you have an elite receiver you have to throw to them. Bill Parcells used to say when Mark Bravao was covered, he was open.” Or the out of place commentary when you throw a screen and the play gets stuffed and Simms whine there was a player open down field.

Overall I had a positive impression of the experience. I appreciate this years demo was NOT a gimmick but had 4 teams and allowed full 4 quarters of play. Kudos EA! This allowed the gameplay to be front and center and may have sold me on the game.

What I cannot find is if there is a full Training Camp like in the old days to practice various positions and disciplines. Also I always found the GCN version had the best Practice mode as it had a set number of plays, explained how they should work, and then checked you off for doing them correctly. There is very little info on what is in this years version—EA has a nasty habit of REMOVING features and options. My sons would like to play Madden but it needs to have the Training Camp mode (not the silly avoid tackler thing) to learn the position disciplines or something similar. I am on the fence about ordering; Amazon has a discount right now but I am concerned there may be some things broken. I got burned a couple years back when their promise to patch got dust balled into fixing next years version.

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I kept my pre-order of Madden 13 and with a code I found in Hot Deals, also pre-ordered NBA 2K13 from Newegg for $48. The Madden demo was decent enough and I'm excited about the new version of NBA as well.