When it comes to games that people go absolutely ape for, Madden is right there at the top of the list. Electronic Arts’ perennial pigskin champion has a rabid fan base that has helped turn the franchise into a cultural phenomenon. And a lot of this success is due to the game’s competitive multiplayer, both online and off. However, for as robust and popular as the game’s online multiplayer is, EA has revealed online play took a serious hit in last year's Madden NFL 10, resulting in a rather staggering statistic.
As Madden creative director Ian Cummings recently told Kotaku, a whopping 350,000 Madden 10 players played exactly one game online. Sales for Madden 10 were relatively lower than EA was anticipating, so 350,000 is certainly a meaningful chunk of players. Obviously, EA is looking to avoid the issues that caused so many players to steer clear of online play with Madden NFL 11. Guess we'll find out if they've been successful when the game released in a few months.
Were you one of these 350,000? If you avoid playing Madden online, what’s keeping you away?
Source: Kotaku
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Comments
Displaying 1–18 of 18
MJH243
Fix the Run Blocking mechanism and I'll consider playing more, period.
It really is frustrating when the AI teammates on run block simply decide to just pick up a block on the O-lineman a few yards behind me rather than picking up the block on the Safety ahead of us that dropped back into coverage... Seriously, you have no idea how frustrated I am with the AI's run blocking. It's the entire reason I'd rather pass the ball 80% of the time than attempt to establish a dominant running game to set the pace.
CURVEONE
The BIGGEST problem with Madden 10 is on the time clock. The 10 second run down is terrible. I know EA tried to make it as real as possible but at the end of the day, it's a GAME. Almost all players I know want to be Payton Manning under center, trying to read the defense. It's really frustrating when you don't have enough time to even snap the ball, getting called for delay of games all the time. I played online a couple of times and I hated it. I'm always trying read the defense, whether it be moving a man in motion, calling an audible, setting up hot routes, or waiting to see if one of the defenders move into blitz or drop in coverage, the new time clock doesn't allow you to do so. I am really hoping they change it back to the way it was in Madden 09.
carlos0981
The glitching and people quitting is what ruined this game for me. Oh and that whoe thing about people perfecting a handfull of plays like the receiver screens with Brandon Marshall and just running it over and over again made the game suck.
One more thing, get the darn player ratings right, a 4.3 40yrd dash should not be any higher than a rating of 88 on speed. All the damn players are so closely rated that the elite players don't really come through. a rookie corner should not be able to shut down receivers like Darell Revis.
mikeyme626
i think i only played madden 10 like 5 times at most, it didnt interest me as much as 09 set up and presentation.
i think it may have been the speed up play they tried and it just didnt feel right.
xN7 SNiiPer209x
the two problems with online are: 1) Lag 2) Kids leave the game when they are losing.
Sure you can finish the game and give the other person a loss but it's the point that they leave.
Tmidiman
I love playing in leagues with All Pro Football by 2K sports. The animation is smooth and the play control is tight.
Now let's talk about the 20 fps and stuttering animation and bad play control that is always madden. That game is terrible. I wish I cold get the version that G4 reviews, because what's out now stinks to high heaven.
Looks like gamers are wising up to this lame, low definition, 16 bit effort.
SE4NNNN
I've never played a sports game online, the last time I even played a sports game was back on the PS2 with NFL Blitz, and the only time I will ever play a sports game online is when every single person on the field is a real player, and not just 2 people playing as everyone on each team.
Deelron
I'd be more interested in hearing how many never played it online. What exactly is the online usage of the game and is it worth the development time and effort to patch/fix the online specific components? I'd personally like to see the answer as yes, but I suspect if they released those numbers we'd see far, far less players then we'd initially expect playing it regularly online.
bigcj92
i play online sometime but people be cheating all the time with so many glitches n the game it dnt make since. I hate it some times cus people be playing fake football like the fake punt with is hard 2 stop even when u knw it is coming that not real football
BigPoppaChunk
I think Madden is to hard to play online. Because if your really good people quit and if your not so good you get smoked.
I am in the middle on the good and bad as playing goes and it is really hard to find a equally matched player.
Playing the computer A.I. is a joke. Once you figure out a game plan that works. Then from their it's repitition the A.I. never fully adjusts.
I personally can't wait for the new Tecmo game coming out. If they only had the NFL license. I would even enjoy NFL ALL-STARS of the past.
| Avalanche |
I rented Madden 10 and only played the online once. I was the Cowboys (I just choose the random team option, I'm actually an Eagles fan) and he was the Eagles. I was beating him in the second quarter from a touchdown and then there was some sort of connection problems and we both got kicked from the game. That was the last team I played Madden online.
BBHSbenito
NFL Blitz is still the best football game ever created. The one for PS1 was the best. I always picked Dallas and did the big head cheat
bigdadsav
It's the online community. More than not, it is a bunch of people who will cheat, glitch, disconnect or whatever to keep their wins up. The only thing I did online with Madden 10 was an online franchise (which needs a TON of work) with a friend.
nightsnipe
yea cause people put it and said "same old shhhh again"
allpointsw
I stopped playing Madden when it came down to who perfected a handful of plays the best. My defenses always were the same 3 and the my offense shifted around 5-10 plays. And as the number of button combinations went up, my time available to perfect them went down. Then throw in the fact that I don't feel like listening to a bunch of kids talking crap and there is little reason for me to go online and play.
I'm hoping they redo EA head coach with online leagues implemented like they did with Madden 10. Then it'll come down to who coaches best, not who plays the most to perfect the controller.
xL7717
@Jake Gaskill
You made a typo. It should be "were" not "where." lol
(I'm a grammar freak sometimes.)
abb921
my record on madden 10 online was 183-76 so i think i played a good bit of it.
joshdale
still playing Madden 09...and only played that 3-4 times online
Displaying 1–18 of 18
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