Serious Madden 2006 Changes...

I really like the difference between Madden 2004 and 2005, the changes and playability are significant. Admittedly the engineers need to make the game more playable in the sense that there should be more, real-life factors to consider, while they balance the fun factor and not scare off potential buyers.
Now on to my wishlist for 2006, and for any engineers, I hope you take at least a few of these into consideration because I have talked with many friends and we all pretty much agree....Feel free to add anything that I might leave out/not think of when it comes to the life-like playability and manueverability of the next Madden...OK, here we go.

First of all, coaches progression only moves up a miniscule amount, even after winning the Superbowl, what else needs to be done to achieve more that 2-3 points? Take win-loss, rivalry wins vs. losses, 3rd and 4th down percentages and overtime wins, just to name a few into account. Make sure the specialized coaches, offensive, defensive and special teams are accredited for this also.

More importantly, CPU trades during the regular season, before week 6 would be more of a novelty item that would increase the realism in the game play.

CPU should be able to offer trades to you, like a prompt comes up on the screen, this can be seen in basketball games and other sports games where the CPU has more of a personality. If you are afraid to inundate the customer with different team offers, put an option where the human player can select which positions he/she is interested in trading for, if any.

There should also be a weekly schedule where the human player can select say, several (4) groups of 6 players go to work out, any number of days before the next game from 1 day to 6 days a week. Also differentiate these options and make it to where any 6 players can go to lift weights and strength and agility are increased over the next few weeks, if the regimen is kept with those players. Yoga for speed and injury points, maybe even acuputure for acceleration and stamina. Aerobics, massages, whatever for different points, just let the user decide which 24 players go to each of these until he choses to stop sending any one of these players to it. I really like this idea, so any 6 players from the OT's to the Kickers can go to any one of these training camps.

In addition to this option, if a player goes to these type of practices mentioned above too often, the player can get injured or might not like playing for the team if he feels overworked.

Also, during the week, from time to time, and on all teams, accidents should occur, i.e., Brett Favre has an accident and broke his wrist, so he will be out for X-amount of time. Also, illegal-drugs should be captured in the game, like if, and just for example, Peyton Manning were to be caught using illegal drugs, a prompt would come up and tell you this, and you have a course of action, whether you shrug it off...other players on the team might try the same thing, and you lose some team repect on your decisions, which could affect who wants to sign with your team and for how much, or if you choose to suspend, fine or throw him off the team. The more harsh you are, the more respect is received from your players. This really just adds a lot of realism and fun in between actual game-time play.

Nagging injuries should be more added, if a player has knee trouble, give him more frequent injuries to the knee of leg. However, I understand that the computer randomly generates both injuries and amounts of time off, so alot of revamping of the system would need to happen if this were to happen.

There should be a better pre-game show, looking at players around the field is good, but can we see Madden and a whole host of others in front of a camera away from the game comparing different players/team stats that might be a factor in the outcome of the game...

Drafted players are rated about the same, every other year or so...make it sporatic, but there should be an exceptionally gifted athelete. I know in Madden 2004 one time I saw a quarterback that came out of the draft an 84 overall, I think there should be more of this. Just make it sporatic and around different positions. Where there is a possibility of rookies being drafted who are 84, 85, and very occasionally 86. Along with this, higher salaries for these superior atheletes.

When designing a field the user should have the ability to choose different colors of turf, like Boise State, with the blue field...the user should decide/pay more if they wanted this truly "customized" stadium option.

When designing uniforms, there should be an option to customize the helmets and jerseys. Helmets like the Michigan Wolverines have, rams spiraling horns, etc. Different looks to fit the team logo, instead of a plain or team logo on the side of it. Even if the options on some of the jerseys/helmets look dumb, they can add to the fun factor, and make a team customizable. Even go so far as to let the user decide which outfits the cheerleaders wear, and they can see them during the game on the sidelines, and during the halftime show....and I don't know about the stripper cheerleader thing, I'm not opposed to it though. (wink)

After one wins a superbowl, there should be more to the realism of winning the world championship, besides a few guys hoisting a trophy for a few minutes. There should be a grand finale of sorts, a presentation of players and awards that they had received during the year, announcements for which of the players on both teams made it to the pro bowl, etc. I'm sure this one won't be looked into though it is rightfully important and unique. At the end of the Pats win in the Superbowl there was a huge stage with a press conference, like every year, why can't Madden, Visser, and Michaels come out and present the trophy with the comissioner or ask questions to the players or something?

While in owner mode, the user should be able to offer more days where he/she can give away goods at the bottomlines expense.

Also, while in owner mode, the user should be able to choose which items he/she places for sell, food and drinks, merchandise. Player cards should have different values in dollars of revenue when sold, according to the overall ability of the player/performance and fan support for that player. This goes for jerseys as well, different players jerseys should be sold, along with a different value system for them. First string players, if their jerseys are chosen to be sold are worth more than a benched player, unless the bench player begins having a good season, the fan support and attitude towards that player goes up and so does his jerseys price.

Players should have more dances and freedoms when celebrating a big play, I love it when the defensive lineman does push-ups after lighting-up the quarterback. Different things like having him stand over the quarterback and yell at him or make funny gestures is what fuels football now, also get the offensive players in on it too...if a defender celebrates or ridicules a qb, the linemen step-in and push the defender away, add some realism to the gameplay. This happens in every game now, and it is awesome to watch, i.e. the T.O. standing in the Dallas Star, lately the Randy Moss' (contraversial) acting like he is pulling his pants down, the T.O. marker in the goal post, and signing a football for a member in the crowd. Players being pulled into the crowd by fans, if they jump into them and it was a huge play....etc, etc, etc.

Another idea would be if there was an over celebration, something off the wall, (Randy Moss Pants dropping, which I didn't think was a big deal) should be penalized financially and would cause negative media views towards your team and player(s) involved. Another thing that the user could personally reprimand the player for, also.

I think it would really help game play if there was an option to place your second string in the game at the touch of a button. I think the user should be able to place which ever player they want on the second-string, and, when they want to give first-string a rest and without having to spend five minutes hunting for the players that the user wants to put in the game, the pre-picked players that the user chose can be put into the game until the user de-selects them with the same button, much like how the defensive and offensive packages work, except with the entire offense and defense subing in-and-out.

Over all the Quarterback are portrayed as unhumanly slow. It would be acceptable if they were pee-wee league linebackers if they were going to run that slow, and yes, admittedly some of the older Qb's Vinny Testaverde, Drew Bledsoe...etc. aren't all that speedy, but they shouldn't be getting tackled by the their grandmothers either.

I like the Tony Bruno Show idea, however, when you turn off the show and are viewing your roster, injured players, or anything else that prompts under that menu, when the show would normally be on, their is no sound. So the user sits there in absolute silence as he checks out his line-up.

I know it would make the following year's addition more obsolete, but what about renewing line-ups and player stats via the internet, even my dad asked me about that one, and he doesn't even play/care about the game, but he still has a great point. After all, if the next year comes out, the graphics and other enhancements should make the buyer want it instead of the older version once this becomes a reality, because eventually it will at some point in time, no matter how hard they try to fight it. Might as well had "be a first" and make some cash off of the idea. After all, if it is a product killer for the next year, simply discontinue its production.

What about putting more soundtracks on the game, and then tell/let the user choose which tracks under which files he/she likes and would listen to while in game play.

A high speed rating should be much harder for a taller player to achieve. Moss is the contrary, of course, this, along with his jumping abilities makes him who he is. But a 5'10" guy should typically be faster than a 6'4" guy.

I don't really know a whole lot about the salary cap system as far as how it works. However, when you trade a player, why doesn't the cost of trading a player early stay as an accrued expense where "cap penalties" is listed under the "view roster" listing? You are not able to see how much money you are going to be penalized until the next year, maybe there is another listing where this can be seen.

I think that there should be more realism in the department of injuries. I know several other posts on this forum and for sure on other sites I have read explain that all sorts of injuries always show the player hobbling off the field. Again, this is better than in 2004 where the players rolled around on the ground. But what about bringing out the injury cart for serious injuries. Maybe even keep the trainers and coaches around the injured player for several seconds before limping off the field or getting placed on the team specific cart.

There should be more icons available under build-a-team mode.

How about custom tracks being played over the stadium's loudspeaker system during the game to pump-up the crowd, like the regular music.

What about spending more time improving the amount of names that Madden and Michaels can pronounce. I get tired of hearing them call players by their numbers, I understand that takes alot of time and memory, I'm sure. But it makes it sounds like a high school game is being announced when they call players out by their numbers.

I think it would make the game really cool if, along with a local media contract following a successful season, one could also sign endorsements with, Coke/Powerade, Pepsi/Gatorade, even Bally's or Gold's gym, Nike, Reebok, whatever the user decides along with the media contract, since the media has no competition with foods and beverages or gymnasiums, they could receive both the media contract and one of the aforementioned contracts (all of which differ in length of contract length and payment from each of the corporations), just to add realism.

I am sure that the game engine/speed and memory available doesn't permit the use of realistic images much. But it seems like the gaming industry is staying away from the more lifelike images for their game. I like the video presented in and throughout the game, and I know its not going to be anytime soon, unless the new systems coming out allow this, but when will we play video, or near video images. I want to feel like I turned on the t.v. Monday night at 8 and started playing the Monday night game.

Big one here, why can't the user place the players on the roster after pre-season instead of the coach. I get tired of hearing the belly-aching of the players when its not my fault that the coach placed them above the players I had rather play. If they still belly-ache after I place a player in front of them then I wouldn't mind dealing with it as much, I just want to know if its my fault or not.

There should be a place for increases in salary, unlike reprimands, if a player has a good first half of a season, or if you like his performance during a game, even rewarding charity work, there should be a reward (an additional $5,000 to $100,0000 or so). Even though they make plenty of money already, some kind of incentive to fire them up, and to demand better play or attitudes from the other players. I think it would be huge to play off of the ads that the NFL has been showing about the charitable causes that some players have. I think it would be neat to incorporate/reward that kind of behavior.

What about a show much like sports center, where if the user wants to go and watch about teams around the league along with their own about stats, up-and-coming games, player and team match-ups that could be viewed and commented on by a t.v. sports announcer.

At the beginning of the game, when the offense takes the field, why don't the offensive and defensive lines become introduced with some popular music like it is currently done (Who are you?, by The Who), their pictures can be displayed along with their names for the starters, the same could be done for the defense. This could be done just after the pre-game introduction show by Madden/Michaels (which should be done, like mentioned before) and before the first play after kick-off.

Lastly, I think it would be neat if, before the game, Madden and Michaels announce the weaknesses and strengths of each team and the matchups that will/won't work, and if the game turns out to be a blowout...have Madden second guess his previous thoughts, stating something like, "Well, I really thought the (team) would exploit their (ground) game today (or turnover opprotunities), but according to this turnout, it wasn't enough." or something like that for all sides of the ball, offense, defense and special teams.

These are alot of things that I would like to see in the up-and-coming
gameplay, hopefully some of these will be taken into consideration, whether because the engineers read this thread (unlikely) or someone elses'. Feel free to re-vamp mine, and mine are surely not exhaustive...I will try to check up on replies so whoever asks me, I will try to answer. And by all means, you guys at EASports are doing great, no matter what you do, people like myself will criticize, but constructive criticism make you better. It shouldn't be viewed as problems but as challenges, that will hopefully be noticed someday by you guys.