The Next Gen Gamer.

[VC80]

So I've been thinking (Uh-oh!)

All the reviews have been mediocre so far. Alot of the gamers have been complaining about the lack of depth with this game as there are only a few modes. It seems like franchise fans are the most dissapointed in this game. There is a large segment of the football gaming population that doesn't always want to play games. Sometimes they want to play GM. Sometimes they just want to do training camp. Not really my thing but I understand that if you like doing that stuff then APF might seem like it's lacking...at first glance. The thing is, there are a some TRULY INNOVATIVE NEXT GEN things you can do with this game that are incredibly immersive, that having nothing to do with playing the actual games.

Check out the movie threads that have been made. People are putting together some really creative and genuinely entertaining videos of APF. It seems like this is becoming an extremely popular feature of the game and just think about how good it can get with future 2k iterations.

Then there is the team creation feature. I know it's not the Madden (or even the NFL style) of GMing but it certainly is immersive. Everything from designing your uniforms, to picking your Legends and squad packages to customizing your playbook is incredibly immersive and really really FRESH Think about the stadiums - they have revolutionized the way that we think of the football environments . It's different. It's exciting. And it works.

I personally believe the non-game features in this game are Next Gen. The other modes in Madden are based on an old idea of football gaming. Yes, they may have alot of those extra modes, but do any of them feel new and fresh? Or do they just offer the gamer something else to do when they're bored of the actual gameplay.

To the Madden fans. It's really tough sometimes to appreciate what is unfamiliar. But APF, apart from having the best actual gameplay ever put together in a football video game, is doing some really exciting things. It's different than what you're used to, but its pretty great.

[sportsgeist]

I agree with all of what you're saying. VC has always thought out of the box and for non 2Kers I'm sure its scared them away from the series because of this way of thinking. I remember when the Dreamcast first hit and NFL 2K was right there and you had to use the analog stick to control the players and people didn't like this at first. They didn't like the way you navigated the menus in 2K with the analog stick too. The analog stick wasn't new to Sega because they had it on the Saturn but it wasn't widely used at that point. Madden has its "Hit Stick" and "Truck Stick" but 2K already had their version first in ESPN Football (2003 which would have been 2K4) with Warren Sapp's face on the cover. VC tweaked it and put more emphasis in 2K5. You have Custom Soundtracks that were in 2K5 which didn't make it in 2K8. Actual Video replays used for halftime and post game. Sportcenter pre and post draft shows. The Crib. The VIP system. Online Leagues. Heck being the first console football game being online with NFL 2K1 and made it work with a 56k modem. There are some more things they've done in the past but those are some things off the top of my head.

VC has always been ahead of the curve but it does hurt them in the eyes of EA fans because they don't like change. 2K fans embrace change because its usually for the better.