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How to improve Superstar mode in Madden
I love the idea of the mode but certain aspects have made it tough for me to enjoy. So to make SS mode better next year:
- Offer (at least) the option to play it with the default normal game camera while still being locked into your player.The position specific cameras are horrible, almost makes it unplayable for me overall and actually does make it unplayable for certain positions such as CB and only a few are even tolerable. The frustration with the cameras was overwhelming, and it forced me to quit playing the mode altogther. So take the two years of SS/Race for the Heisman modes and mix whats good about them together. Locking you into your player (SS mode) but being able to play with the normal game camera (Race for the Heisman).
- Allow for controls to be customizable. Being stuck with the ball cover as the RB and stiff arm as Y is no good as a running back
- Offer the option to completely skip the other side of the team’s turn on the field. I like the FF of CPU control but I still get bored waiting around. Let me skip right back to being on the field with a short recap of what happened that I didnt see (for example if Im on defense I would see “8 play TD drive” or “3 and out” for what the offense did or even offer a graphical “drive chart”).This isnt my job, Im not getting paid while I wait on the sidelines. I just want to play the game.
- Get rid of the whole influence/up points at the start of every drive. I hate going through those screens on EVERY drive. Maybe once a half is OK or something, but having to go through that so many times is annoying to say the least.
- The simulation side of the gameplay has to improve. Seeing a Peyton Manning or Tom Brady throw an interception on every other drive and having no ability to do anything about it is frustrating.
There are more things that I think could be improved but those are the ones which really bother me off the top of my head and would be important to get done. There is a ton of potential to the mode, which is why it was such a disappointment for me in 07.
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Top excuses for a Madden loss
Many hardcore Madden players are legends in their own minds. They have never really lost a game. They may not have won certain games, but if things happened like they should’ve they would certainly have.Here are the top reasons I’ve seen that people justify their losses with.
8 ) “That team sucks, I’m never playing with them again”
Pick a lowly team against one that is better and you set yourself up to be a hero if you win, but you take the risk out of losing because you can always pull out this line. Its like picking the Arizona Cardinals as your sleeper team because everyone else is labeling them as such. If you’re right you can brag about it, if you’re wrong no one will notice because so many people were wrong. No risk involved.
7) “I wasn’t really trying”
This offers an easy way for someone to let themselves off the hook for a loss. By stating they weren’t really trying, they’re dismissing that the other player actually beat them. Nice try, but it just makes you look like you scrambled for this easy and tired excuse.
6) “I was rusty”
Pretty often the excuse that the person hadn’t played a game in x amount of days or that their opponent had been playing more than them over a certain time period will come up. This may be the case (and a legit factor) but if you aren’t ready to live up to a loss then you shouldn’t have played a game that you felt mattered enough to explain why the outcome went the other way.
5) “I was distracted”
The trusty “my girlfriend/kids/phone interrupted me” line. Many people are pretty superstitious when it comes to gaming. They feel if something out of the ordinary happens it throws them off for the rest of the game. Of course you don’t hear about it when they win.
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How does a game this bad get released?
Reading some of the comments on different forums regarding the Nintendo DS version of MLB 2K7, its hard to imagine that a game could be as bad as people have made it out to be. Generally things get exaggerated on message boards, especially from those who are upset or disappointed.Well in this case it seems all the complaining is justified. Per the Gamespot review (which received a 2.5/10):
The Bad: You’re limited in what you can do, and the controls are unresponsive; no season mode or trade function; graphics are a throwback to the early 1990s; uniforms don’t look right, and every player is the same bald guy with a hat; there’s only one stadium.
Wow. Now there are some games that consumers may consider poor efforts, however that may be a generous way to describe this game. Sure its the first baseball game to hit the DS but that doesn’t excuse putting this game into the marketplace when it clearly shouldn’t have been.
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EA Sports reaching out to the community
Recently EA Sports released a press release seeking those in the soccer gaming community who would like to volunteer to contribute to the game/s they obsess over.
EA SPORTS is expanding our football data and reference research community and need people who have the expertise and dedication to edit and collect data/reference material related to their favorite club.
Do you feel you know more about your team than your club’s manager? Could you tell your mates how many games your centre played last season and which foot he prefers to hit the ball with? Are you constantly keeping track of the transfers and youth prospects at your club? If you fit this description then please keep reading.
Not only do you have to have a football brain, but you must also have data editing skills. Experience with editing data for football video games will go a long way to ensuring you understand the data we need collected.
Now, if you’re still reading and are interested in this project, please take the time to fill out the online registration form at: www.eafootballtalentscout.com.
EA SPORTS will be reading submissions and getting in contact with the people we feel best suit the projects on offer. Please note you must be 18 years or older to be eligible to participate.
Hopefully it has less to do with opinions on players and shaping their ratings than it does to collecting accurate unbiased data and specific information. I can’t imagine the mess that would be created if EA expanded this program to Madden and started taking cues from Falcons fans regarding Michael Vick.
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Who should be on the cover of Madden 08?
With the NFL season wrapped up, it comes time yet again to begin speculation on who will be on the cover of the upcoming Madden.Its safe to assume there won’t be another runningback, quarterback, or linebacker due to their appearances in recent years. You can also scratch offensive lineman off the list since they aren’t seen as marketable enough.
Generally the cover athlete will be related to the big selling-point feature addition. Examples would be Michael Vick with ‘Playmaker’ and Shaun Alexander with ‘Run to Daylight’. This will probably be the case in Madden 08.
So lets take a look at the most likely positions that would make sense, and who the best representative of those would be.
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Official site for Madden 08 launches
EA Sports has launched the official website for Madden NFL 08. At this time it is in the early stages and only offers a new team specific wallpaper each day leading up to the NFL Draft. There is also the opportunity to pre-order the game as well as sign up for a newsletter that will be offering content down the line.
With the NCAA Football promotion expected to start heating up, its unlikely any big news on the upcoming Madden will be released prior to the draft. However there are likely to be additions to the website over the coming period.
It may be somewhat of an empty shell for now, but as far as I can think of you won’t find other websites for upcoming sports titles existing let alone having things to offer the fans 5-6 months in advance like NCAA Football and Madden do.
You can reach the Madden 08 website by clicking here.
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Can All-Pro Football become a success?
With the announcement that 2K Sports would be releasing All-Pro Football 2K8 this year came the debate regarding whether or not it could reach the masses and how well it could potentially do overall. Clearly there is a hardcore base of fans that is excited over the release. However that small group can not support the game alone. Lets take a look at some factors to consider:
- 1) The hardcore fans that are excited about this game are in the minority. As vocal as they are, the representation they have on message boards does not reflect in the mainstream market. While the game is likely to be heavily tailored to please this group of fans, 2K inevitably will have to make the game appealing to the casual gamers out there.One example of this is by licensing NFL legends. While many feel this is not necessary (all they claim to desire is a fully customizable game) there has to be a way for 2K to market the game more widely. Using these legends can give people a sense of nostalgia and recognizable faces that will make them more likely to trust that the game will be worth their money. Read more
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NBA Street: Homecourt Review (Xbox 360)
With NBA Street Homecourt, EA takes the series exclusively onto the Next-Gen systems with the Xbox 360 and the PS3. This title provides a whole new level of risk-reward and strategy that has not been present in previous versions while fully utilizing the advantages of the new systems.Homecourt was built completely from the ground up for the new generation, and the benefits are obvious. The game runs at 60fps in most resolutions while offering the option of 1080p. The graphics and animations are exceptional. Everything about the game feels sharp and well-tuned and the longer development cycle has brought about much of that. It avoids the feeling of being unfinished or rushed and these days that is a big accomplishment.
The idea behind the whole theme is based on “Homecourt”. Telling the real, personal stories behind where these players came from. EA went and did intense research into the background of these players and the very specific details of every court and the environments surrounding them to place within the game.
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