Madden makes Awareness count

http://sports.ign.com/articles/604/6...

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Wow. If this is implemented well, it will make a world of difference in the game.

Before, Vick was the ultimate arcade QB. He could run and throw with the best of them. His main drawback, his awareness, only mattered if the CPU was controlling him. With this new vision system, there might actually be a reason to play the wizened veteran, as opposed to the physically superior rookie.

EA can still be evil, but I might just have to buy Madden...

I just do not know if we are going to have a choice but to buy Madden.

Seems cool but it also seems like it will be a pain in the ass to learn, but i''m game.

You are all weak! EA is Satan. (not the hockey player either)

EDIT:

Currently the system works by having the QB looking at the primary receiver once you snap the ball. You''ll use the right analog stick to switch between targeted receivers as the play unfolds or to switch quickly, you can hold down a shoulder button as a toggle and hit the icon of the receiver you want to look at.

How''s that going to work and you get the ball off before a sack? Your QB looks at the reciever, you look at coverage, move the stick with your thumb to the guy you want to throw to, then move your thumb again to pass the ball ... all in a span of about 5 seconds or less?

EA Sports: ""You''ll love it cause we tell you too. So STFU.""

Feh. My favorite line: Well developed laurels as the only game in town"". You mean well funded. IGN is in EA''s pocket. ""Well, we MIGHT let you preview the only OFFICIALLY LICENSED football game coming out next year, but our marketing c*cks must approve your article.""

Assuming it''s the only option, I will be buying Madden... on the secondary (used) market.

Edit: Assuming anyone actually paid attention to the Gamertags/Games list, you''ll note that I owned both games last August (though we know how that ended up) so buying Madden is nothing new for me... but buying it used will be.

If there''s going to be GWJ leagues for it, I''ll buy it too, new if necessary.

That feature is horrible.

I like the idea that the AI will react to the direction you''re looking, allowing you to ""look off"" safeties and zone defenders.

I also like the idea that scrambling narrows the ""cone"". Absolute worst part about last year''s Madden was the kind of ridiculous run-and-chuck football it allowed. Second worst part is that it was difficult to throw a deep pattern OVER a receiver - to the point where online players would not try to beat a corner, but instead underthrow every deep pass. Some of the passing tweaks the article talks about indicates that it might fix that.

I''m worried that they''ve exaggerated this cone effect a bit too much. McNabb''s cone seems awfully generous for a career 58% passer. I can agree with Ron Mexico having narrow vision, though.

"*Legion*" wrote:

McNabb''s cone seems awfully generous for a career 58% passer.

You mean Neil O''Donnell?

Oh, I''m sorry. It''s hard to distinguish one choker from the other.

"Loganrapp" wrote:
"*Legion*" wrote:

McNabb''s cone seems awfully generous for a career 58% passer.

You mean Neil O''Donnell?

Oh, I''m sorry. It''s hard to distinguish one choker from the other.

Neil O''Donnell was, in fact, a career 58% passer (57.8).

"Loganrapp" wrote:

That feature is horrible.

"*Legion*" wrote:
"Loganrapp" wrote:
"*Legion*" wrote:

McNabb''s cone seems awfully generous for a career 58% passer.

You mean Neil O''Donnell?

Oh, I''m sorry. It''s hard to distinguish one choker from the other.

Neil O''Donnell was, in fact, a career 58% passer (57.8).

Choker? He was the MVP of Super Bowl XXX. Without him the Cowboys wouldn''t have won. And Larry Brown would be nothing instead of the answer to obscure trivia such as:

""What NFL player cashed in for the most money off two of the dumbest plays in Super Bowl history?""

Man, if you guys are weakening in April, by September the Embargo will be deader than the pope.

Just buy it used like Grump said. You get to play the game, EA gets no money from you, problem solved!

Is that like going on a hunger strike until you are hungry then asking someone else to takeover the hunger strike for you while you eat?

No, there is a logic there I can agree with. It means we''ll have to wait to start our league until we can all get used copies. If EA''s <spits> online league implimentaion does not blow or cost money, we can do that, or we can make our own standings only league. I will volunteer to run / assist in that endevour.

At 7:48 a.m. Swampy renewed his conviction of being EA-less:

Man, if you guys are weakening in April, by September the Embargo will be deader than the pope.

At 9:11 a.m Swampy''s resolve went down faster than a crack whore:

No, there is a logic there I can agree with. It means we''ll have to wait to start our league until we can all get used copies. If EA''s <spits> online league implimentaion does not blow or cost money , we can do that, or we can make our own standings only league. I will volunteer to run / assist in that endevour.

@Highlander: No... Assuming there is no viable alternative, to deny ourselves the game entirely would be cutting of our nose to spite our face. Denying EA my money is satisfactory enough to fulfill the spirit of the embargo in my book.

Hahahaha!

No but see, USED....I thought..... Ah, I am shamed.

<commits sepuku with official EA / John Madden NFL licensed katana>

"SwampYankee" wrote:

<commits sepuku with ... katana>

Actually... ah, nevermind, as long as he''s dead.

So I''m gonna be the only one playing Take-Two''s Super Fun The-NFLs-For-Pussies Football next year. That rocks. I''ll be the Awesome Fun Bowl champion! Woo hoo!

Actually... ah, nevermind, as long as he''s dead.

I think what Grumpy''s suggesting, Swampy, is that you probably wouldn''t use a katana to commit seppuku. Probably a tanto, or sometimes a wakizashi (short sword). Just so you know.

Of course, if it was EA, they''d drive out all the tanto makers and pay Internet Samurai Network (ISN) to give their katanas no less than a 9.2 rating. They''d shove their katanas (literally and figuratively) down people''s throats, and then offer the same katana over and over again year after year.

They''d try to spice it up with ""Katana Awareness"" but we''d all know it was just a cheap way to make a cool looking glow effect.

P.S. - I think Grumpy was also volunteering to be your second.

"PsychoKillerZ" wrote:

So I''m gonna be the only one playing Take-Two''s Super Fun The-NFLs-For-Pussies Football next year. That rocks. I''ll be the Awesome Fun Bowl champion! Woo hoo!

Heh. I''m still waiting for any indication that a Take 2 football game of any sort is being made.

My hope vanished when EA ate up college licensing. I would''ve LOVED to have brought the pain next year as the mighty Fresno State.

One could make the assertion that every time you purchase a game used, that just means that another interested party who would have bought that used game will pick up a new one instead. So, the net effect of your purchasing a game used would be nil. Flame away.

I do like the awareness option, as long as it''s done well. Which I don''t have much hope for. So maybe I don''t like it. EA, go die now.

"*Legion*" wrote:

Heh. I''m still waiting for any indication that a Take 2 football game of any sort is being made.

It will exist. If only in my head.

Awareness looks like a very cool idea, but I just don''t see how they''d actually make it work. Maybe Vick can only see that little part of the screen, but I can still see the whole screen regardless. Will the presumed time delay of switching over make that much of a difference? I guess we''ll have to wait and see.

"Poppinfresh" wrote:

Awareness looks like a very cool idea, but I just don''t see how they''d actually make it work. Maybe Vick can only see that little part of the screen, but I can still see the whole screen regardless. Will the presumed time delay of switching over make that much of a difference? I guess we''ll have to wait and see.

The idea is that you have to try and ""aim"" the cone view, while being pursued by a defensive end that just turned your left tackle into a turnstile. It might not be too difficult while in the pocket, but it''s probably real tricky to do when scrambling - which, again, should hopefully rape the crap out of Madden run-and-chuck Ron Mexico football.

Yeah, I was looking forward to playing Take 2''s NCAA game as either UConn of one of the Military Academies or Penn State.

EA really put the boots to us, no doubt. I guess we''ll see what our options are as fall approaches.

Thanks for the lesson on swords, BTW. My knowlege is limited to those swords used in the LoTR movies, D&D, and the Last Samuri

"*Legion*" wrote:
"Poppinfresh" wrote:

Awareness looks like a very cool idea, but I just don''t see how they''d actually make it work. Maybe Vick can only see that little part of the screen, but I can still see the whole screen regardless. Will the presumed time delay of switching over make that much of a difference? I guess we''ll have to wait and see.

The idea is that you have to try and ""aim"" the cone view, while being pursued by a defensive end that just turned your left tackle into a turnstile. It might not be too difficult while in the pocket, but it''s probably real tricky to do when scrambling - which, again, should hopefully rape the crap out of Madden run-and-chuck Ron Mexico football.

OK, no way my sausage fingers can do all that.

I''ll probably get what Take 2 offers or Blitz, if I really, really need to play football that badly.

Most likely I will keep harassing all of you weak minded sentients until I see all the fun you are having and then convince myself to let EA f*ck me and pick up a used game.

But I''ll stay strong until then.