Curmudgeon Gamer
12 November 2007
Madden en Espanol
I haven't seen any mention of this, but I ran across it today in Sony's database of PS2 games: Madden NFL 08 en Espanol.
The page at Sony's site has almost no info. There is an interview with GameSpot, here syndicated over on GameStop.
Snippet of that interview:
The page at Sony's site has almost no info. There is an interview with GameSpot, here syndicated over on GameStop.
Snippet of that interview:
Interesting. As far as I know, this is a pretty unprecedented move, at least in the United States videogame industry. The game is also being released on the Xbox 360. I'm guessing the Wii and PS3 markets are too small (and the PS3 will presumably play the PS2 version).
GS: Is this a one-time experiment in courting the Spanish-speaking market, or something EA plans to do with all subsequent Madden games?
AS: Each year we have to evaluate our resources and priorities; however, we went into this project with the hope that it would be well received and become a part of our annual release schedule.
Labels: madden
--jvm at 23:04
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[ 4 ]
15 August 2007
Apple to 3D gamers: Shove off.
I've been following a thread running through Macrumors.com regarding recent Barefeats tests that have the old iMac revision trouncing the new, aluminum versions when it comes to gaming, and the deal has to be interpreted as Apple really doesn't give a rip about 3D gamers on the Mac. (And I do mean trouncing. Quake 4 fps dropped from 71 to 29. Doom 3 from 84 to 58. Halo from 90 to 40. Good stuff for those who waited to upgrade, right?)
This has happened before within the last month with MacBook Pros. There, the excuse was that the drivers sux0rz'd, and were quickly, but silently, updated. From Mac Rumors:
Apple seems happy to cut corners in the 3D game performance category, and the procrastination hurts. They've now purposefully (and, I suppose, we can more safely conjecture Apple may have done it purposefully the first time with MacBook Pros as well) allowed, even caused, embarrassingly shoddy benchmarks to be taken and posted on well-respected sites with the new iMac, and their willingness to take their lumps on that front shows that high-end, 3D game performance means bupkiss for Apple's QA process and, I'll extend, their corporate culture. If gaming was a priority internally, these sorts of benchmarks would never be taken. At the very least, there would be a warning from Apple to expect less than stellar performance as they continued to "Work Diligently (c)1850" on a solution.
Thanks for the finger, Apple. By the way, where's our Madden?
MacMadden-related Update: I've been half-heartedly Googling off and on for the last week for news on MacMadden 08, and appreciate InsideMacGames.com's owner, Tuncer, blogging regarding the delay. I'll give him a heck of a lot of credit for 1.) Predicting this one at some level and 2.) Calling EA out publicly for the horrible feedback they've given him as the owner of the major Mac games sales website (though Tuncer also credits Peter Cohen, the last surviving Mac Games journalist, for calling them out in a MacWorld piece first).
Just for fun, I'll add this snippet from Tuncer's IMG blog on MacMadden's MIA-ness:
This has happened before within the last month with MacBook Pros. There, the excuse was that the drivers sux0rz'd, and were quickly, but silently, updated. From Mac Rumors:
While Apple does not elaborate on the contents of the update, an analysis of the update package indicates that it contains improvements to the graphics subsystem, with updated nVidia graphics drivers and some updated OpenGL components. Some initial benchmarks of the updated MacBook Pros had indicated some graphics scores lower than its predeccesor [sic].
Apple seems happy to cut corners in the 3D game performance category, and the procrastination hurts. They've now purposefully (and, I suppose, we can more safely conjecture Apple may have done it purposefully the first time with MacBook Pros as well) allowed, even caused, embarrassingly shoddy benchmarks to be taken and posted on well-respected sites with the new iMac, and their willingness to take their lumps on that front shows that high-end, 3D game performance means bupkiss for Apple's QA process and, I'll extend, their corporate culture. If gaming was a priority internally, these sorts of benchmarks would never be taken. At the very least, there would be a warning from Apple to expect less than stellar performance as they continued to "Work Diligently (c)1850" on a solution.
Thanks for the finger, Apple. By the way, where's our Madden?
MacMadden-related Update: I've been half-heartedly Googling off and on for the last week for news on MacMadden 08, and appreciate InsideMacGames.com's owner, Tuncer, blogging regarding the delay. I'll give him a heck of a lot of credit for 1.) Predicting this one at some level and 2.) Calling EA out publicly for the horrible feedback they've given him as the owner of the major Mac games sales website (though Tuncer also credits Peter Cohen, the last surviving Mac Games journalist, for calling them out in a MacWorld piece first).
Just for fun, I'll add this snippet from Tuncer's IMG blog on MacMadden's MIA-ness:
EA needs a wake up call.[emph and chuckle mine]
...
Second. A 3 month Apple exclusive on the first four titles is just plain stupid. EA's games should be available to everyone, not just Apple stores, when they finally launch. Imagine going to Macgamestore.com or Amazon or whatever, and not being able to find these titles.
--ruffin at 21:09
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[ 3 ]
09 August 2007
Madden 08, 360 Price Drops, and Selling Next Gen Down the River
Help.
Here, via a URL at ign.com, is a Microsoft press release. It's full of less than clever rhetoric, like, "Xbox 360 is the only console on which consumers will be able to play all of this year's biggest titles: [game 1], "Halo 3" (Bungie Studios), [game 2], [game 3]." That it's straight from MS makes it more interesting that a link is made between the Xbox 360 price drop and Madden's release. Microsoft, not controversially, thinks Madden pushes "next gen" console sales.
So now we have at least one good explanation why an EA Madden developer blog, here hosted by ign.com (conflict of interest, anyone?) says that the WinPC version of Madden matches the features of the "Current Gen" Madden engine instead of that of the "Next Gen" code. We wouldn't want to compete with next gen console sales, would we?
Strangely, the Windows Madden developer doing the blogging is trying to sell the Next Gen version down the proverbial river. Check this quote.
Two things occur to me:
1.) In the first bolded quote, it's impossible to have Madden on PC match "next gen" consoles' eye candy? Seriously? How many times have we seen engines start on the PC and have to be ramped down for consoles?
I've got to call bull on this one. The only out I can think of for Mr. Kiniry here is that if you have to start from a console engine and port it to the PC, EA's internal deadlines and resources allocated for the Windows version of Madden have created a situation where it would be impossible to port the Next Gen engine in time.
This tells us the PC version is [duh] downstream of the console versions. The issue is that Kiniry is [I assume] wrong to pass this off as a technical issue; it's all 0s, 1s, dollars, and cents.
2.) With the second quote, seriously, the Next Gen versions don't play as well? There's an eye candy vs. gameplay either-or here by definition? The hardware, programming libraries, etc. say that you can either have a game that plays great or looks great but not both? When and how did that happen? Even if you could port Next Gen in time, it'd be a boring game to play on WinPC and is a boring game on the 360 and PS3?
I'm not sure I'm buying that. In fact, I'm not buying it at all. I'll be eager to see how the Xbox 360 version plays (the 360's NCAA '08 is little different than the PS2's, imo, though here that's a sign for the worse).
In any event, if it's an advantage to be Current Gen, why wouldn't I buy the PS2 version over the Windows one and skip boot-up times, driver issues, etc? Ah yes, the Windows version is $10 less. So folks who have Windows boxes and Current Gen consoles get the option to pull in a discount?
I'm confused. If I hypothetically own three Madden-ready platforms, a Next Gen console, a Current Gen console, and a Windows PC, and I'm only buying one version of Madden, which does EA want me to buy and why again?
PS -- Where am I supposed to buy the Mac version again? It's not on ebstore.com, nor even on MacGameStore.com's "Coming Soon" list. What gives? A Google of "Madden 08" Mac gives me nuttin' useful.
Here, via a URL at ign.com, is a Microsoft press release. It's full of less than clever rhetoric, like, "Xbox 360 is the only console on which consumers will be able to play all of this year's biggest titles: [game 1], "Halo 3" (Bungie Studios), [game 2], [game 3]." That it's straight from MS makes it more interesting that a link is made between the Xbox 360 price drop and Madden's release. Microsoft, not controversially, thinks Madden pushes "next gen" console sales.
Microsoft Corp. today kicked off the greatest holiday lineup in video game history by announcing it will reduce the estimated retail price (ERP) of Xbox 360 by $50 (U.S.) beginning Aug. 8. Soon to follow, Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) will release its blockbuster video game title "Madden NFL 08" on Aug. 14. "Madden NFL Football," one of the most important mass-appeal franchises in video games, was the top-selling game of 2006 and is the top-selling franchise of the past 10 years.
So now we have at least one good explanation why an EA Madden developer blog, here hosted by ign.com (conflict of interest, anyone?) says that the WinPC version of Madden matches the features of the "Current Gen" Madden engine instead of that of the "Next Gen" code. We wouldn't want to compete with next gen console sales, would we?
Strangely, the Windows Madden developer doing the blogging is trying to sell the Next Gen version down the proverbial river. Check this quote.
The first question that is going to come up from all the PC fans is about Next Gen vs. Current Gen. So rather then bore you with the details let me say that we are still closer to the Current Gen version of the game. Personally I've been a fan of this choice given the way the game plays.... This really is the great Madden PC debate for the last couple of years: Speed and Game play of Current Gen versus the Look and Graphics of Next Gen (FYI - it just has not been technically possible to do both to date, even though I've been trying).(emph mine)
... I hate looking at screen shots of a game, reading the features, and going "Wow, that is going to be amazing," only to get it home and have it be nothing more then eye candy. Now don't get me wrong I love to push my system at home (why else put two video cards in one PC right?), but really I want a game that will keep me entertained for 60 hours not 60 minutes.
Two things occur to me:
1.) In the first bolded quote, it's impossible to have Madden on PC match "next gen" consoles' eye candy? Seriously? How many times have we seen engines start on the PC and have to be ramped down for consoles?
I've got to call bull on this one. The only out I can think of for Mr. Kiniry here is that if you have to start from a console engine and port it to the PC, EA's internal deadlines and resources allocated for the Windows version of Madden have created a situation where it would be impossible to port the Next Gen engine in time.
This tells us the PC version is [duh] downstream of the console versions. The issue is that Kiniry is [I assume] wrong to pass this off as a technical issue; it's all 0s, 1s, dollars, and cents.
2.) With the second quote, seriously, the Next Gen versions don't play as well? There's an eye candy vs. gameplay either-or here by definition? The hardware, programming libraries, etc. say that you can either have a game that plays great or looks great but not both? When and how did that happen? Even if you could port Next Gen in time, it'd be a boring game to play on WinPC and is a boring game on the 360 and PS3?
I'm not sure I'm buying that. In fact, I'm not buying it at all. I'll be eager to see how the Xbox 360 version plays (the 360's NCAA '08 is little different than the PS2's, imo, though here that's a sign for the worse).
In any event, if it's an advantage to be Current Gen, why wouldn't I buy the PS2 version over the Windows one and skip boot-up times, driver issues, etc? Ah yes, the Windows version is $10 less. So folks who have Windows boxes and Current Gen consoles get the option to pull in a discount?
I'm confused. If I hypothetically own three Madden-ready platforms, a Next Gen console, a Current Gen console, and a Windows PC, and I'm only buying one version of Madden, which does EA want me to buy and why again?
PS -- Where am I supposed to buy the Mac version again? It's not on ebstore.com, nor even on MacGameStore.com's "Coming Soon" list. What gives? A Google of "Madden 08" Mac gives me nuttin' useful.
--ruffin at 18:31
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