Surprised this hasn't been posted. Pastapadre mentioned earlier today that ESPN had hinted to and EA did not deny that they were considering not making Madden next year. Assuming that is to go to a 2 year dev cycle. Apparently next gen Madden is not being received too well.
After re-reading it, I think he meant that EA hasn't denied the gameplay vid was next gen (wasn't impressive). He also hinted later that there was no guarantee EA would re-up (not sure why not) the NFL license and if not then it would be likely 2 years without an NFL game.
I linked it here. EA apparently "confirmed" that it was indeed next gen but said ESPN didn't encode the video correctly. They "hype" videos are always going to look great. That's their purpose. Sure, ESPN didn't upload the video in 720p. Is that really what caused the choppy running? The blocky looking figures? No. I think there are enough of us here that have uploaded enough videos to know what we see wasn't video degradation. The cripsness of the video isn't the issue. Its what's actually in the video. And not having actual gameplay footage and just forcing these great, specifically selected stills and close ups isn't selling me. Maybe they'll prove me wrong but this is just too eerily reminiscent of Madden 06.
if madden next gen sucks that will probably the last game ea football game i buy.. i figured the reason m25 cg sucked so bad was mostly they spent their time on next gen. hopefully i am not mistaken.
From a consumer perspective I would support a 2 year cycle , give option of a roster update in the year in-between for a few bucks. If this would allow them to make a better game that would also have less bugs and what not. If I was running EA I am not sure I would pull the trigger on that , either going to be a brilliant move or get your ass fired I think.
