Madden '08, sports titles in general, move to real-time play
by Nick Doerr 
{ May 30th 2007 at 2:30PM }
Electronic Arts has gone the extra mile with their next-gen iterations of sports titles. They've birthed a partnership with ESPN to dramatically increase real-time content. If you ask us, this may actually force EA to build yearly games with actual gameplay tweaks and enhancements instead of updated rosters and slight graphical boosts. Let us explain.Starting with the summer's release of Madden '08, if you've got one of them fancy high-speed internet connections, you can have streaming information directly impact your gameplay experience. It's going to be like fantasy baseball, or whatever those fake online things are. If a player gets injured, guess what? He won't be on the team in your game. If it's raining in such-and-such stadium for real, it's going to be pretty wet for you in the game, too. On the flipside, stat increases will crop up to reflect a player who's having an unexpected hot season.
Some games have already implemented some of these elements, allowing gamers to get sports news displayed as a ticker or podcast during their gaming sessions. While there will be a lot of people praising the innovations to bring sports games closer to real-life, there will be those who cry foul. Where do you guys stand? Is this a good move, or will it hinder the experience for you?
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Lp47 @ May 30th 2007 2:57PM
This what iv'e always wanted in sports games. This is truely next gen. And who cares about 1st posts i always get them.
Matt B @ May 30th 2007 3:01PM
I hope this translates to the PC version also. I'm in a couple of GM league and this would be a welcome addition.
Jake @ May 30th 2007 3:07PM
Ummm... As far as the weather is concerned I doubt it will have an effect on my gameplay. The reason being that when a game is on TV, I'd rather watch it live than play it on my own in a videogame. I doubt everyone feels that way though.
I doubt it will hurt the gaming experience any, and I'm sure it will make it more enjoyable for some. So by all means, bring it on.
Josh Kendrick @ May 30th 2007 3:21PM
I'm glad that EA is finally making a next gen Madden worth the $60. Xbox 360 '06 and '07 were (imho) awful, i.e. worse than their last gen counterparts. For how much money this series makes it's about damn time if you ask me! Madden gods be praised!
KilgoreTrout XL @ May 30th 2007 3:31PM
This should have been done years ago.
SSCover1 @ May 30th 2007 3:36PM
I think this is a great addition. I would love to see this happen for Madden 2008, but I'm not convinced 2008 will have this feature. Just my opinion.
Popfrogs @ May 30th 2007 3:53PM
I agree with the first poster. This is truly next-gen, not just another Madden with updated rosters and some more spit 'n polish. I can see this having great potential for all sports games, not just this one.
Scuaght_EP @ May 30th 2007 4:04PM
I don't know if the real world should effect the game world so much. Weather is fine, that's actually kind of cool, but, if a player gets injured in real life and that becomes true in the game I feel like I'd get a little peeved. When I play Madden I'm not trying to recreate the real season. I like to pick my favorite team and play really well and not get my guys injured and win the Super Bowl, even if it's a team that wouldn't neccessarily go to the 'bowl in real life. If I was making good progress on that and then all of a sudden my QB gets injured because his real life counterpart did I'd get pissed! I didn't do that to him. I didn't put him in that situation, but now he's out! It doesn't seem fair.
Thomas @ May 31st 2007 7:50PM
The only thing I don't like is that when players get hurt they wont be on your roster. The whole point of playing the game is playing with your favorite players on your fav teams. I like the stat increases, and decreases based on player performance, and the live update of rosters.
SUWA82 @ May 30th 2007 6:35PM
"I don't know if the real world should effect the game world so much. Weather is fine, that's actually kind of cool, but, if a player gets injured in real life and that becomes true in the game I feel like I'd get a little peeved. When I play Madden I'm not trying to recreate the real season. I like to pick my favorite team and play really well and not get my guys injured and win the Super Bowl, even if it's a team that wouldn't neccessarily go to the 'bowl in real life. If I was making good progress on that and then all of a sudden my QB gets injured because his real life counterpart did I'd get pissed! I didn't do that to him. I didn't put him in that situation, but now he's out! It doesn't seem fair.
Posted at 4:04PM on May 30th 2007 by Scuaght_EP"
All of your concerns would easily be solved by turning this feature off. No preliminary info about the game would lead one to believe that the (soon to be considered) old school Madden experience you seem to prefer will not be easily accessible. It is safe to assume that the usual flaws, and minor annoyances will accompany the early implementations of this feature, I for one will bare with it. In theory this strikes me as a pleasant surprise ; it feels like the first truly "next-gen" feature in mainstream sports gaming.
Kxpuc @ May 30th 2007 6:43PM
as long as it's a option that can be turned off then yea great inclusion
dynamicD @ May 30th 2007 7:12PM
I'm with post #10. I'm all for it but I'd like to turn it off if I wanted too. Me, I'd love the weather aspect of it. But, I'd want my injured players to go down because of MY play controls not because of real life.
Chucky @ May 30th 2007 7:16PM
Amazing. I hate it when a player is having an unexpected breakout season, and you go to play Madden, and he blows.
P @ May 30th 2007 8:20PM
If EA were really that good, they'd make it the other way around, and im sure plenty of people here would rather see that feature, your teams performance in the game reflected on their performance IRL ;)
Still, havent a clue about 'American Rugby' i watch the superbowl each year (dunno why) and spent 90% of the game trying to figure the rules out and by the time it comes round again the next year i've forgotten everything hehe.
Thundercizzle @ May 31st 2007 9:45AM
I think as long as we are given the option to turn it on and turn it off, it can only be a good thing. Hopefully they will make it a feature of our choosing.