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August 10, 2007

Orphaned Features: A Major Irritation.
by Michael Knutson

Next-gen console games get less features than the older versions of the same game

Sports is always among the first genres to be released with any new console, and as they usually arrive in the fall, that means that gamers should expect a new Madden game. Many people love playing Madden on their new system and showing off the latest and greatest graphics and animations of all of the players, making their friends green with envy. However, once the initial envy wears off something happens. Your friends let out a chuckle because even though you have the version with prettier graphics, their version of the game contains more features. You think, “Why is this happening to me? The version for the new system should have it all, gameplay and graphics”, especially since it's more expensive than the other versions.

There were a couple initial reasons for this, but by now all of those reasons should be eliminated. The first reason for limited features is due to a shorter development time. Madden 2006 for the Xbox 360 had almost no features other than "Play Now". It was completely barren, but it sure looked better then the Xbox version, especially the crisp new interface. Many people forgave this, hoping that the 2007 version would correct this, yet it did not. While there were several features in there, the majority of them remained exclusive to the older console versions.

I recently played both NCAA 2008 football for next generation systems and last generation systems, and while there is still a gap there, it is finally starting to close. Let me just list some of the features that the Playstation 2 and the original Xbox version has that the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 do not:

  1. Create a sign, player, school

  2. Pre game breakdowns

  3. Mascot games

  4.  …and much more

When I was reviewing the Xbox 360 version I didn’t have any idea that the game was lacking this much, if I would have known this beforehand I would have given it a slightly lower score and would have mentioned this in the review. Also what makes this sting even more is that the Xbox and Playstation 2 versions cost less.

This is still unacceptable; the time has come for the developers to start including ALL the features on all the versions of the game. I realize that developers want to make the most money as they can, hence making games for all the systems out there, but why do they continuously give the newer systems “the shaft?”

If this wasn’t bad enough, there is something else that is also unacceptable; these games are being built on pre-existing engines and programming, just adding a couple new features here and there. There has been little in real “innovation” in the football genre in years. Sure the owner’s mode added in a new feature set, but it has been years since that was added. Since this is more of a simulation game, there is only so much that the developers can add to the game, but still that hasn’t stopped other sports games from trying and succeeding. Also if you look at the gameplay of these games, they haven’t really changed for years. The hit stick was a huge addition to the game, as well as better defined audibles, but other than that there is no real innovation while you are playing the game.

In the back of my mind, I have another fleeting reason why this might be the case, especially for these football games: lack of competition. EA knows that they have the market cornered on licensed Professional and College football, so they could take the attitude of “so what if we forget a few features here and there, it is not like there is something else for gamers to turn to”. While that statement is taken to the most extreme (and I highly doubt that is the reason behind it), this could be a factor in it. What other competition do they have in this area? Other games have tried to take a different spin on the football genre, but have failed or have had serious gameplay issues to overcome.

There is only so much repetition (and disappointment) that gamers will take. Developers must start including all the features in both current and “next generation” games because gamers deserve these features, especially if we are paying a higher price for the game. I don’t know if the solution is an even longer development cycle or what, but I can only hope that the developers will take this to heart and solve this issue before it becomes a more serious problem, and hits them where it hurts being: lack of sales on their latest sports games.