Madden NFL 13 - Season Ticket & Retail Impressions

[SmoothPancakes]

EA is going to put themselves out of business if they keep on releasing crap like Madden 13. Sales are down for NCAA, wonder why? People are just tired of the same ol issues. Competition from 2k or Sony would make EA put out a better product IMO, just like last gen.

EA has good ideas, they just suck at implementing them. EA DOES NOT test their product. There's no way they do. There's no way they would miss this stuff that consumers are finding in 15 minutes of gameplay. Madden and NCAA were both great games when EA had competition. Now the door is open again for someone to compete with them.

Not that I disagree with you, but sales for all video games are down. Saying that sales for NCAA are down solely because of issues that have been in the game may not be completely true. I used to buy NCAA and Madden every year. Past couple years, I have only bought NCAA and skipped Madden, partly because Franchise in Madden had been stale and because paying $120 for two football games when the money to spend on games was getting less and less over time, something had to get chopped. Because I felt Franchise in Madden was stale, that was the one to get the axe over NCAA.

Also, while Madden would potentially get competition, I just don't see anyone stepping up to the plate and trying to challenge or make a NCAA football game. No company, 2K, EA or anyone else out there has been willing to shell out the money to make a NCAA Basketball game since 2K8 and NCAA BB 10. Regardless of how piss poor or great the game is, the sales numbers just aren't there to justify the costs to produce. I just can't see some other company trying to jump in from scratch with a NCAA football game after looking at what it would cost.

People at community days were begging for more editing options and created/edited draft classes. Instead we got what control we did have in the game ripped from us and are forced to play some cheesy BS called Connected Careers.

CONNECTED CAREERS, newsflash, I dont care about seeing some fake tweets from Skip Bayless about some BS trade that the computer made. I dont care to scout and draft a bunch of fake rookies and the cheesy, CHEESY, CHEESY, storylines that come with them like the Heisman Trophy winner thinking of pursuing an acting career. This is just pure ignorance and I have no idea why the guys at EA think this is cool. Its not. I'd much rather create my players, edit players, and even control all 32 teams in a regular franchise mode like I have done for 10+ years. Next gen still hasnt even given us something as simple as a restricted FA signing period that last gen Madden titles have.

Agreed.

To me, it's like Madden as died. And now we are forced to play some mixture of NFL head coach and the retarded superstar modes from previous Maddens. Only good idea is that you can do it online with buddies. That is until you get kicked from EA servers and your game doesnt count and you say F*CK IT.

I said the exact same thing a day or two ago. Playing it from a GM standpoint (simming the games, doing the drafting, trading, signing free agents, etc), I was able to at least mildly enjoy CCM. But everything else, I honestly couldn't care less about.

The tweets might by "nice" for the first 5 minutes, but after that, who cares. It's the same repetitive, regurgitated shit every 20-30 tweets. And in the process, now I have no clue what the fuck is going on around the league (trades, players dropped, retirements) that I used to be able to go to a simple menu and look, and now have to sort through dozens of tweets and stories in the hopes that just maybe it will be mentioned.

Other than that, as I said a day or two ago, for all intents and purposes, between CCM and Infinity Engine, Madden is dead to me right now. If they add either one to NCAA next year, it might just be the death of football games for me, as sad as that makes me.

They need to get away from this online kick that they are on and remember that the game made its name offline with offline modes. Madden 13 looks good visually and presentation is great too. But I can't enjoy it, because of issues like the sliders not working, several players wearing the same numbers. And all these fake storylines, tweets, etc actually make me less interested.

Connected Careers isnt cool at all. Its just one more cheesy gimmick feature that EA thinks is golden, THAT IS NOT. That no one asked for.

Agreed again.

[Rudy]

Based on the last tweet I get the feeling that the Tiburon team is feeling tremendous pressure to return editing at least in some way shape or form. This issue has become a lightning rod for offline and online gamers. Tiburon blew it on this one and I think they are trying to correct this huge oversight.

This issue has actually bothered me more with time, especially seeing how bad the Dolphins roster was on release. They had at least 3-4 starters in the wrong positions. Ratings for guys like Matt Moore were terrible - he's not a West Coast QB. He throws a good deep ball but is weak on short accuracy and Donny Moore has it backwards. Just looking at the ratings in general there are no bell curves on the ratings. It's like he just sticks numbers everywhere. I still have to test whether the NBA Live 10 roster trick will work on M13 but hopefully they patch in editing.

IMO the right stick needs to be tuned better. It isn't sensitive enough when you try to shield the ball away from a hit. Juking.....I want quick jukes not that hopping juke. And when I want to lower my shoulder to bowl somebody over, it should happen instantly and not take 2 or 3 yards for it to come out.

I've complained about the juke before but I really feel the dual stick system was one of the worst things EA implemented. Nobody cares about leaning our upper body a little to avoid a hit. Nobody uses it for that and EA knows it. But to add the stupid thing they removed the truck feature which I used to love. I can never lower my shoulder anymore to dish out a hit. I will say the stiff arm is a lot better in M13. I've been able to use it pretty good.

Still don't know why the double team WR/TE features got dropped from all the playbooks. Maybe because they were implemented very unrealistically?

[Rudy]

Reading people say the ball hawk feature is too easy to intercept passes. I haven't come close to one lol and I'm trying to use it. Not even sure if it's working for me.

[Rudy]

This game just feels generic and stale for me. I wish it didn't but it does. I'm bored after 4 games and some of the games have been close.

Every team has Tony Sparano's ground and pound philosophy attached to them. In Madden 12 I would see teams mirror their philosophy a lot better. M12 just seemed to have more personality. Late game cpu AI is terrible in M13. It's as though they forgot to program AI for teams and situations and the game was rushed out the door. M13 has Infinity and the new passing system which I really like but there is no personality. It doesn't help that the presentation with their terrible replays took such a big step back.

Hopefully EA releases some patch notes soon about what is getting fixed in September. As an offline gamer this game will not hold my interest if some of these things aren't fixed. I'm actually going to rent Madden 12 again to see if I'm going crazy. I don't think I can go back with some of the improvements but the downgrades are hurting my enjoyment.

The menus are slow as hell too.

[Rudy]

Ask Madden is far inferior to Ask Coach in NCAA. I really like how you can cycle through other suggestions. Madden gives you three max (sometimes less) and if they are all running plays you have to go looking for passing plays.

The menus are quite slow in Madden and the highlights are pretty rough in quality.

[I OU a Beatn]

Reading people say the ball hawk feature is too easy to intercept passes..

It is. Hold Y as soon as you switch to the player and it'll get picked. It takes no timing whatsoever. I love almost everything EA did with Madden this year, but that certainly is not one of them.

But if you're having trouble, as soon as the deep ball is thrown(or any throw, it's just more obvious on deep ball), switch to defender, start holding Y, and then just run to the ball. The animation for the interception is automatically triggered.

[SmoothPancakes]

This game just feels generic and stale for me. I wish it didn't but it does. I'm bored after 4 games and some of the games have been close.

Yep. I played through about 8-10 games or so in my first season of CCM while playing on Season Ticket. After that, I just didn't care to actually play anymore. I simply would simulate every game and treat my coaching CCM like a GM mode, trading players, signing free agents, doing the draft, setting depth charts and resigning players. I ended up getting about 4 or 5 seasons into a coaching CCM with every single game after season 1 being 100% simulated. I just had absolutely no interest anymore in even playing a single game.

[JeffHCross]

/Agree with everything you said, GatorBait.

[psuexv]

It is. Hold Y as soon as you switch to the player and it'll get picked. It takes no timing whatsoever. I love almost everything EA did with Madden this year, but that certainly is not one of them.

But if you're having trouble, as soon as the deep ball is thrown(or any throw, it's just more obvious on deep ball), switch to defender, start holding Y, and then just run to the ball. The animation for the interception is automatically triggered.

Yep, it stinks because it takes no skill. Before it used to be about timing and how good you were at positioning yourself and actually hitting Y at the right moment. Now with Ball Hawk it basically disabled the ability to do it on your own and makes it too easy.

[Rudy]

Just beat the Patriots 27-26 at home with Green Bay. I did see the Lambeau Leap. Rodgers is awesome. Brady was great against me when they actually threw it. New England ran 19 out of the first 25 plays. They did have two long drives that ended in FGs but you are New England! Pass the ball! I scored a TD late to go up by one. New England had no time outs left and got the ball on their own 20 yard line with 25 seconds left. They ran a draw. Then they spiked it. Then they ran a sweep for a first down with a 1 WR package before they spiked it again with one second left on their own 32 yard line. What the heck is going on EA? Team tendencies and late game logic both on offense and defense are retarded. I will not be playing a franchise mode any time soon until team tendencies are patched. I know it wasn't like this in Madden 12. What happened?

[JeffHCross]

Yep, it stinks because it takes no skill. Before it used to be about timing and how good you were at positioning yourself and actually hitting Y at the right moment. Now with Ball Hawk it basically disabled the ability to do it on your own and makes it too easy.

Though it was supposedly patched into NCAA and ... well, doesn't seem to have changed anything.

Unless I just suck.

[JBHuskers]

Though it was supposedly patched into NCAA and ... well, doesn't seem to have changed anything.

Unless I just suck.

[CLW]

I'm playing on All-Madden here's a link to the sliders I'm testing.
http://www.virtualsportsnetwork.com/...57#post2117557

Thanks man I'll give these a try.

[Rudy]

It seems like all the team specific sounds like the Lions roar are gone. I haven't noticed any so I don't know if I haven't been paying attention or they were just removed. If these were removed it just adds to the generic feeling of the game. I think the Dolphins fight song used to be in before but it's not in right now.

[gigemaggs99]

I've always been an NCAA guy, mainly b/c I enjoy the college game in real life a little better, perhaps b/c I was under the influence that college isn't all about the money and I am a psycho Aggie Football fan...the NFL has always been about money, but they have always been upfront about it. In the last years I've come to see the NCAA is more about money, it's just not cool the "spin" they put on it to make it sound like it's not all about the money.

That being said, I want to play a good football game that to me is more about the strategy of football. I've always enjoyed the NCAA series and I still enjoy playing NCAA 13. I like that it has the options to use different play styles, much more than Madden does. I enjoy being able to use the Flexbone, WCO, Spread, Air Raid, Pro, One back, and others.

Madden is more about the pro style, some WCO but little to no option running, no flexbone. wishbone, etc.... So I would give the nod to NCAA with regards to different playing styles.

I like that NCAA has a great disparity in teams but then it also seems overpowering at times. Kent St vs USC should be a no brainer in real life, but it IS supposed to be a game and you are suppose to have a chance. When your receivers are falling all over the field and your QB decides to chunk the ball like he's trying out for the javelin throw it gets to be a bit much. I guess what I'm saying is there is no strategy involved when your players become inept. I can still try to make the proper reads and call a good game plan but if the players just fall off the face of the planet, well there is little I can do about this.

Madden, atleast so far has not done this to me. I think in the older version i.e. ps2 days where you could play as European NFL teams you would have seen this disparity like you see in the NCAA game. This version '13 you just do see it, so even though it takes something away from the game it also leaves those issues out. The Pats vs the Lions, is not like playing USC vs Kent St.

I like the Madden game as far as a strategy football game vs NCAA. I have only played my pre-season games and the first 2 regular season games with my offline CCM/dynasty/franchise mode but I haven't seen any of those slipping WRs, or players just forgetting how to play like they do in NCAA (atleast not yet...).

I like that I can call a seams attacking play vs cover 2 in Madden and it works. NCAA I have to worry if the WR will fall down, if the QB will decide to throw the ball out of bounds instead...I just figure if NCAA is going to be that off kilter they should make me use the PS3 Move controller and make ME throw the ball, then I would throw bad passes, but when I press the triangle one time and hits him in the numbers then next time he throws the ball out of bounds...well it shouldn't be that big of a difference. In Madden '13 I haven't seen this.

In Madden 13 on defense if I pick a nickel cover 3 vs a 3rd and 15 offense I can usually shut them down and force a punt. For years in NCAA it seems like you're better off with a 3rd and 15+ than you are with a 3rd and 1. 3rd and long or even 4th down in the NCAA game is like GAME ON for the offense. All of a sudden you can throw deep and your WRs make double coverage catches all sorts of wild "WHAT THE HECK just happened?" plays. In madden if I throw into double coverage it gets picked, to me that's how it should be. If I make a mistake I should be punished, in NCAA it seems like you're constantly able to roll the dice.

So, I still have a lot of games to play but strictly saying football vs football, not all the sub menus and other differences, I think Madden 13 is a better football game than NCAA. I guess it comes down to control. I feel like when I win/lose in Madden it's because of what I did with the controller and play calling. In NCAA it is less so, more of me scratching my head saying...ummm yeah right....

[Gotmadskillzson]

I hate the new ball hawk and super swat feature. Yes people, they added a new super swat feature as well. Just hold down the swat button and you will be deflecting passes like dikembo mutombo. To me it is just more features EA has added to make online play more fair to the masses.

Kind of like auto strafe, auto sprint, tackle assist. Too much automatic and assisted stuff. If I want the CPU to do everything for me, I would play coach mode. Oh wait, Madden doesn't have a REAL coach mode, they only have auto pass from broadcast cam view.

Every year they make Madden easier and easier. No skill required, just hold the button down and the CPU will do it for you. I guess next year they will add auto hit stick. You suck at hit sticking people ? We got you covered with our new hit stick assist feature in Madden 14.

I understand they want to appeal to the masses and make the game pick up and play. But EA goes too far with it. Some where they have to draw the line.

[Rudy]

Great mythbuster thread on Madden over at OS: http://www.operationsports.com/forum...-question.html


Okay, so I see a lot of the same questions popping up on the boards, so I decided to make a thread where you can get all the answers you need in one place. Feel free to add others.

1) YOU CANNOT EDIT ANYTHING IN CCM. This includes numbers, equipment, positions, and ratings. Nothing. Yes, duplicate numbers are an issue that they are looking into according to Josh Looman's twitter account. No, you cannot control all 32 teams, and there is no coach mode or spectator (cpu v cpu) in CCM. Not sure if this can be patched. *UPDATE* Duplicate Numbers are fixed in online CCMs. *Update 2* Team is "looking into" patching in player editing. Nothing confirmed yet.

2) SEASON TICKET AND RETAIL ARE THE SAME CODE. THEY ARE THE EXACT SAME GAME. ALWAYS. There is no difference between the season ticket version of Madden and the disc version. This goes for all EA releases.

3) The menus in CCM are confusing. If you are looking for depth charts, team salary info, etc, go to the "More" tab and start exploring.

4) There is a patch coming out soon, most likely in September. There's nothing confirmed, but the first release should include some gameplay tuning and some bugfixes, namely...

5) the weird issues with depth charts in preseason is a bug. The team knows about it and are working on it. *Update* fixed in online CCMs only.

6) Man coverage has a bug wherein defenders will approach the LOS before retreating into coverage. They are aware of this. Try to avoid hitting the right stick right after a play starts.

7) Assisted tackles and half sacks are in the game but not registering. They are aware of this, too.

8) Connected Career is not scripted. The things that play out in the first offseason are more or less consistent for people because everyone is starting from the same base, and the CPU is governed by specific AI logic. So it's not that TO getting cut is always going to happen, it's that he's not a good fit (and old), so more often than not the Seahawks will cut him.

9) Changing playcalling options in CCM is also bugged. It will revert back to game flow between weeks regardless of what you set it to.

10) "Coach Mode" and being a coach in CCM are 2 different things. Being a coach in CCM is just like traditional franchise, and "Coach Mode" is a gameplay style wherein the CPU executes the plays that you call. You cannot use "Coach Mode" in CCMs this year.

11) Just because your CCM is online does not mean it's open to online players. You can play a singleplayer online CC and have the benefits of tuning and using maddencareer.com without allowing people into your league. Just set the league settings to private, max users to 1, and use a password. Online CCM is exactly the same as offline CCM.

12) The inability to change schemes is a bug that the team is aware of. This was confirmed by Josh Looman on twitter about an hour ago. *Update* This is fixed in online CCM. Not sure about overall coaching schemes, though.

13) You can be in more than one CCM. I don't think it's unlimited for online (somebody said a max of 5), but offline is unlimited to the best of my knowledge.

14) Yes, backups in simmed preseason games get no plays in. I've reached out to my contacts to see if they're aware of this. Maybe using supersim will help with this issue.

15) There will be regular updates to the CCM roster. There was one that came out with the roster update on Friday. In order to use it with your CCM, you will need to start a new CCM after restarting your system. You will be prompted to download the new career rosters, which correspond only to CCM.

Here's a video showing it working...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81zNn...e_gdata_player

16) Playing as a solo player in an online CCM will allow you to get some updates to CCM due to online tuning patches. These may be small hotfixes. Offline CCM's will have to wait until the official patches come out to get any updates. UPDATE: So it looks like this works by pushing out server side updates to the code present in online CCM. You won't notice when things are updated (there's no "downloading tuner") but some issues should be fixed and will continue to be.

17) Confirmed via Josh Looman's twitter that there will be no fantasy draft patched into CCM this year. He did say though that they are "looking into" allowing some editing of players.

18) If you click through an instant replay, the UI does not load completely, only the playcalling screen. This is why you don't see the down, distance, and score. Pause the game and unpause to fix.

19) Accelerated clock doesn't work in user vs user games in online CCM's. I've tested this with a half dozen people now in every configuration possible, it simply doesn't work. Your cpu games it will work fine but if you're in a league with a few other guys when you go to play a human vs human game no accelerated clock

20) There's a bug that prevents you from signing free agents in preseason week 1. This has been fixed for online CCMs but will need to be patched for offline ccm.

21) There is a bug in CCM where your auto subs will be set to 51-49 for every position. Not sure of the gameplay implications. Haven't heard anything about a fix yet.

22) Overalls are different in CCM than they are in Play Now due to schemes. The game takes into account the type of player on the roster and the type of player the coach wants in that spot, and rates them up or down accordingly.

If there are any others that you can think of, feel free. Maybe this will help keep the same threads from being made over and over.

[gigemaggs99]

I hate the new ball hawk and super swat feature. Yes people, they added a new super swat feature as well. Just hold down the swat button and you will be deflecting passes like dikembo mutombo. To me it is just more features EA has added to make online play more fair to the masses.

Kind of like auto strafe, auto sprint, tackle assist. Too much automatic and assisted stuff. If I want the CPU to do everything for me, I would play coach mode. Oh wait, Madden doesn't have a REAL coach mode, they only have auto pass from broadcast cam view.

Every year they make Madden easier and easier. No skill required, just hold the button down and the CPU will do it for you. I guess next year they will add auto hit stick. You suck at hit sticking people ? We got you covered with our new hit stick assist feature in Madden 14.

I understand they want to appeal to the masses and make the game pick up and play. But EA goes too far with it. Some where they have to draw the line.

I don't play many random lobby games for the obvious reasons. I like a good game of football, not a hope match that I don't get paired up with a cheezer. So I play my buddies or in leagues where people play realistic football.

I like that they give us the option to turn those features off, you can turn off auto-strafing, auto-sprint, etc...I guess you can't do that in the lobby but I've never EVER heard raving reviews about lobby play. It really seems like the lobby isn't the place to go if you want a good game, it's more a place to a) practice your gameplan, b) find people that cheat and make you pissed off, both seem like a waste of time to me. I'd rather practice against the CPU or my buddies that I know aren't going to play silly.

In the end it's all up to you (I'm speaking to everyone in general, not the OP). If you like playing the game online only with RANKED games then you have to understand that it has it's pros and cons. If you want fun realistic football play your buddies, unranked if need-be. I could care less if someone tells me they have a super high lobby rank, they will also be the first ones to complain about cheezers and glitchers and how much it sucks when someone quits on them and messes up their record or wastes their time. I say, don't play them if you are worried about that, it's only going to happen and you'll be the one getting upset.

Play the CPU and play your friends, have fun it's a game.

[Rudy]

Game planning is broken in Madden resulting in cpu running way too much. It can be fixed through editing but that only works for Play Now. It will not fix anything in franchise mode. Ugh. This is a game killer if not patched.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2044088300

[jaymo76]

Game planning is broken in Madden resulting in cpu running way too much. It can be fixed through editing but that only works for Play Now. It will not fix anything in franchise mode. Ugh. This is a game killer if not patched.

http://www.operationsports.com/forum...post2044088300

So bascially half of the features are bugged and half don't work correctly. Combine this with all the missing features... sports game of the year winner??? Honestly I like the gameplay in Madden 13 but this CCM mode is fundamentally broken.