Post E3 Interview: EA Sports Madden 08 – “It’s Kinda’ Sorta’ In The Game”
by Chad Lakkis on July 24, 2007 at 7:36 pm
In our recent phone conversation with EA Senior Product Manager, Jerrold Smith, regarding the upcoming Madden 08, we asked how a company who built its reputation on being detail oriented, so much so that their slogan “If it’s in the game, it’s in the game” became their claim to fame, now overlooks such things as nets behind goal posts and on field referees.
While we were disappointed to find that after three years of development time, these details would once again be left out of the next gen version, learning that the game will ship with Mike Vick and Pac Man Jones on their respective rosters concerned us even more.
The last thing we looked to address was the frame rate discrepancies between the two systems. For those who are not familiar with this, the 360 version of Madden will run at 60 fps, while the PS3 version will run at 30.
Is this payback for last years 360 version being left in the cold when it came to gang tackling? One hast to wonder these days with companies dishing out big bucks for exclusive features. We are not saying that Microsoft paid for 60 frames per second, we are just curious how long it will take EA to level the playing field for both consoles.
The interview below will require you to read between the lines as there is no amount of prodding that will cause a man to open his mouth and lose his job. That said, we asked the questions we knew our readers would want the answers to just the same and did our best to gain clarification when possible.
Mad: Hi Jerrold, first off thank you for taking time out to chat with us.
Jerrold: Not a problem.
Mad: When we chatted with you at this years E3 you confirmed to us that this years Madden will again be absent of on field referees and nets behind the goal posts. Can you address the gamers out there who are trying to understand why we are in the third year of next gen Madden gaming and yet those things are still missing in the game?
Jerrold: We are really focusing on having a great gameplay experience for consumers, so when you actually play the game this year, we really took a lot of time to make sure that the gameplay was really fun. We did a lot of things to improve the animation system and give players more control. So those are the types of things that we focused on that are part of the experience that you have as you play the game.
So that’s what we really spent our time and energy on and we feel really confident that when people pick up and play the game they’ll see, they’ll feel, they’ll notice the difference and they will be more excited about playing the game.
Mad: Sure. Ok, we can understand the time constraints and that it may take more time than available to you to add and animate referees at a level that meets the standards set by EA. However, with something like the nets behind the goal posts, is that a case where the feature was so low on the to do list that it wasn’t a priority for this release?
Jerrold: Yea, our focus was to make sure the gameplay was great so that people will have a wonderful experience from a gameplay standpoint.
Mad: Ok …
Jerrold: That is where we focused a lot of our time and energy this year. We listened to what our fans were saying and those are the things we really focused on this year as we built the game.
Mad: Alright. Another thing that we hear a lot about is the fact that the PS3 version of the game only runs at 30 frames per second while the Xbox 360 version runs at 60. Is there a reason for the difference in frame rate between the two systems? Can you comment on that?
Jerrold: What we do is we make great games for all of our systems and all of our partners, and so we try and give people the best experiences that they can have. So what we focused on was gameplay this year, so as you see that you’ll see how good the animations are, you’ll see all the gameplay improvements on the PS3 and the Xbox 360. We think a lot of people will really enjoy both of them as they get the opportunity to play.
Mad: With everything surrounding Mike Vick and Pac Man Jones in the media. Is there any chance that those players, pending the outcome of their cases, would not be in the game if in-fact, especially with Vick, they do not make the roster and have to sit out the year. With those players, at this point is it too late to remove them? Is that set in stone at this point?
Jerrold: We set up the rosters at the time that we code the game, so once those rosters are shut that is what they will look like, and so whether or not the player is cut or traded or suspended, its based on one where we are at the time we close the game. As you play the game there are roster updates that you can do — downloadable updates that take into account injuries and suspensions, and so those things will be updated as the season progresses.
Mad: So as of right now are Mike Vick and Pac Man Jones are in the game. Has the games roster been closed?
Jerrold: Yes. Right now the games roster has been closed.
Mad: So if something like that were to happen it would be done in the form of an update.
Jerrold: Correct.
Mad: Alright, thank you very much Jerrold.
Jerrold: No problem.
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17 Comments » |
on July 24, 2007 9:00 pm
He didn’t even answer why the PS3 has framerate issues, and you didn’t even prod him. Horrible interview.
on July 24, 2007 9:29 pm
bob,
Thanks for the comment. Sorry you didn’t like the interview but I can assure you there is no amount of prodding that will cause a man to open his mouth and get himself fired.
The answers you are looking for are there, you just aren’t looking hard enough.
When asked about leaving out details for three years now he stated that they had other priorities that ranked higher. The answer: Arrogance on the part of EA.
When asked about the framerate discrepancies he stated that they try to give people the best experiences that they can have. The answer: We did not have the time to fix the framerate on the PS3.
Finally, when asked about Vick and Jones he stated that the roster is closed. We asked him to confirm that they will be in the game and he said yes.
Conducting an interview is not a Nazi training camp, you ask a question, follow up for clarification, and report the information.
Mad-
on July 24, 2007 9:46 pm
The best experience I can have on my PS3 is 60 fps. Period.
Other games run at 60 fps. Is EA not talented enough to accomplish this ? or is it a matter of time and money ?
I have a message for EA, call Sony, Insomniac, and I forget who it is now, but the team who made motorstorm…And ask them for help.
on July 24, 2007 9:48 pm
Oh yeah, and the first guy was right. You didn’t get an answer about FPS, but I can understand you not asking for clarification, if you make them mad, you will never get another interview… I understand though.
on July 24, 2007 11:02 pm
They should call Team Ninja, the developers of Ninja Gaiden Sigma. That game runs at a constant 60 FPS with realtime shadowing.
EA should remember that most of thier fanbase is made of gamers that come from the PS2 camp and will un doubtably move on to the PS3. If they continue to disappoint us, they will become one of the most infamous publishers in the industry and gamers will lose all faith in them.
on July 24, 2007 11:23 pm
This was the most un-informative interview ever. Why not just state the things he said, and add your commentary? Why list it into interview format if it’s so bland?
Ex.
“Did you do an Interview with EA guy?”
“Yes”
Just put, we interviewed EA guy, and he said framerates are the fastest they can get right now with the tools we have. Gameplay was their highest priority, and putting nets and on-field ref’s wasn’t that high.
Which is a bloody shame, because seeing ref’s and nets totally blows playing the game out of the water…
on July 24, 2007 11:36 pm
Chris,
Thank you for your comment. While I can understand where you are coming from, it is our preference to show the interview in full along with any comments we may have and let our readers pull from it what they will.
We did lead with a summary of the interview for those that did not want to read it. Again thank you for the comment.
Mad-
on July 25, 2007 3:08 am
Jerr sounded like a broken record that we hear just about every year from EA. “We’ve redone the game.” “We focused on gameplay to make it fun”. Anyone that believes that BS is str8 retarded. I also can’t believe they are hyping gang tackling. As if it’s some new revolutionary play? Gang tackling is a basic feature of football games. EA can seriously care less about the gamer. The only goal they have is too make as much money as possible while spending as little time as possible on the actual game. They should be str8 sued for their incompetence being that they have the NFL license.
I also wonder if they finally reached the top of the online replay challenge hill. I know they don’t employ the smartest dev’s in the world but damn….. how long does it take to get basic football things in a game? It takes 2K one try and they get just about everything in the game. EA takes like a generation just to get a game right and by then… it’s on to the next gen.
I also do not understand how the gaming media jump all up on Madden as if it’s the second coming of the OG Zelda. I’m sure it has a lot to do with $$$$ being thrown at them. Apparently integrity is a hot commodity these days and EA is in dire need of a boat load of it. I would say Peter Moore will set them str8 but…… 3 ring death anyone? or….. how about dealing with M$ customer support? or 1 Billion worth of repair costs?
I suppose nowadays there are more stupid gamers then smart gamers… just like there are more stupid people than smart people.
All us football gamers can hope for is that the NFL stops being so damn greedy and give us back our gaming freedom!!!!!!!!!
BTW – I believe there is something in the constitution concerning monopolies in America…… right?
on July 25, 2007 3:13 am
forgot on more thing….
“closed rosters” are you F******ing serious!! is it seriously that hard to remove a player from the roster? Do they need a team of big brained scientists to help them out? Seriously… how freaking hard is it to remove players that will bring them $$$$$$ due to their popularity in the real world. I mean come on EA… don’t you hold yourself in a higher standard? I’m sure they don’t care about the fact that Vick is extremely popular in the world of urban football.
I wish that one day I bump into an EA exec that has ties to Madden…. so I can punch him in the mouth.
on July 25, 2007 6:29 am
I believe i read an article in the last 7 days that state ncaa football on the ps3 runs at 30 fps, but madden will run at 60 fps. i could be wrong, and will hold my hands, but it came from EA themselves that the fps issue with the PS3 version were resolved
on July 27, 2007 3:59 am
I agree %100 with Stephen McBride. EA needs EA LOCKER BACK, I’ve got friends/family I would like to play a franchise/owner mode online. I’ve waited long enough too, and Will NOT buy the 360 madden 08 if they DO NOT HAVE IT!
EA who? Hello 2K!
on July 27, 2007 9:35 am
This interview sounded like it came from a ten year old, who cares if Pacman and Vick are in the game.You can download the updated rosters in Sep. to remove them if Vick is going to be out (he hasnt been suspended yet). Anyway, the question that should have been asked should have been about Next-Gen Online Franchise leagues. Do u guys think of these questions five minutes before the interviews????????
on July 27, 2007 9:51 am
Thisisgarbage,
Five minutes before? God no, we just make them up as we go along. Thank you for the comment.
Mad-
on July 28, 2007 2:42 pm
Im so sick of EA.
WHY THE HELL CANT PS3 RUN @ 60 FPS????
on August 5, 2007 3:31 am
[...] and it is pathetic to watch mindless fans follow them year in and year out. They could not even answer us directly as to why they left nets and referees out of the game again this year. If that wasn’t bad [...]
on August 11, 2007 10:32 am
[...] has been much discussion regarding frame rate discrepancies between the PS3 and Xbox 360, the only official comment we received from EA was that they strive to make the best game possible for each platform. We are [...]
on November 15, 2008 8:50 pm
Prozac….
Prozac hives….