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« on: August 22, 2006, 07:55:12 PM »
Maybe I can shed some light into the anti-EA/Madden demographic.
Alright, I was watching Mike and Mike in the morning (on ESPN2 rediculously early) and they went off on their own shpiel about Madden. Problem is, they used the exact same verbiage as everyone else in the media that discusses it, especially Sportcenter from the night before, announcing its arrival in the same way, e.g., "Maddenoliday," "Its a Pop-Culture Phenomenon," etc., etc. Problem with THAT is that in the meantime on the commercial breaks, they were steadily cycling pretty heavily thru the Shaun Alexander commercial (which made me lol, admittedly).
Furthermore, check out the retardation on G4 (I know thats a LOT to ask, sorry). If theres football being played, reguardless of the season, its Madden. Well, thats obvious as to why NOW, but its always been the same. And ALL the players they (and any media outlet, for that matter) talk to about it all have the same speech about Madden - some guys even slip up and say they're not gamers and haven't played it, and then stumble back to how much of a thrill it is to see themselves in a game. Its pathetic, how transparent they are about being "coached" into what to say.
I've gotta say, the moneyhats for players don't apply only to EA/Madden, and its one of the reasons why I'll never let go of college football/basketball.
But thats the thing - its all about the scrilla, and EA has TONS to throw around. And while I couldn't say that EA pays for "Madden Widow" airtime, its not unforseeable with the kind of capitol they swing around behind this game in particular. Its really - REALLY - hard to tell whats manstream coverage, and whats purchased airtime, because there is definately a TON of it around.
I know that none of this has to do with the game itself, but it does have to do with the perception of it. If a homegrown NFL game has anything wrong with it, one could overlook it for its otherwise preferrable controls and quirks. But when a game is constantly thrown in my face, on sheer will of profit alone, it had DAMN well better be astonishingly good. Especially when they laid down enough money to kill any competition for the next - how many years was it? Was it 5 years, meaning 4 more to go?
So I don't really connect that its the public face of gaming, any more so than Tom Cruise being the public face of acting. His omnipresence is based solely on his history, which promises to unimaginative, big studio producers that he'll bring in the big bucks.
On a level of taste, in spite of the 2K series' short tenure, I've always heavily preferred it over Madden, which always felt "stiffer" and less forgiving in a kind of "Hey, I wasn't programmed to do THAT!" kind of way. In 2K, I could create some REAL havoc in being way out of position or calling hotroutes, and it was nice to be able to mix it up. But I digress.
In other words, its partly the face, that madden is madden that partly turns me off, but its the massive hemmoraging of the moolah that make them very unattractive to me. I AM however, eagerly waiting to see if they really can pull off Madden Wii. I don't have to like the company if the game is fun, but I've got a close, critical eye on it, and they've got an uphill climb to convince me to plop down 60 bucks on it.
In other news, is it obvious I've got nothing better to do with my time, or what?
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