A different beast than the Brawl tourneys
Written by Glenn // 7/12/2008 09:48:00 AM
By now, Madden message boards are jumping in anticipation of the Gamestop tournament series, set to begin in a week all over the nation.
I'm excited for the Madden players as well. If there's a console game out there that needs to be in the spotlight with "Halo 3" and "Dead or Alive 4," it's Madden. The game is ultra competitive, the community has a ton of personalities and it's ripe for the mainstream.
My worry is that the series will be a step backward. After what happened with the "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" tournament series, these concerns have to come to the forefront, and it's only natural to say this.
If you ask a Smash player what they went through on the first night of the tournament series, each player will have a different story. For the most part, they will be disappointed in how it all unraveled. From items in play to the wrong game (Melee) being used, almost everyone had a forgettable experience.
This was how the Smash series was supposed to take place: Under a single-elimination format, players competed in one-round, 3-minute matches, with the winner (declared by the game) advancing on. That's it.
Apparently, the above paragraph was interpreted about 500 different ways.
I checked out the rules for the Madden tournament, and I didn't see anything glaring until I saw two of the rules:
The game will use the original Madden 08 roster. The VERY FIRST roster that was in place. That means Michael Vick will be available, and the New York Giants won't be as strong as the final roster update indicates. Every Xbox 360 in use needs to have the roster updates for this tournament. Most of the competitors will have knowledge of Madden (it's not like Brawl, where only a select few knew how the game played), and the semi- and really-dedicated players will have the latest roster update. Asking them to take a step back, with $5,000 on the line shouldn't happen.
Audibles are not allowed. You read that correctly. Once you pick your play, you have to stick with it. Imagine Peyton Manning and Jim Kelly being told they can't audible in a game. That pseudo no-huddle offense, some teams call it the "freddie offense" would be gone. The only thing they have left is to come up with a tricky snap count.
Audibles help an offense gain some sort of an advantage over a defense if they believe their plays are getting picked up. Defenses can adjust to certain offensive schemes. The Madden game is built on being able to adjust on the fly and read the opponent. Taking away audibles is only a negative and will hamper a lot of people's gameplay. That rule has to change.
My hope is that every tournament organizer makes sure to update their roster and allow audibles. From there, run the competition. Do this, and the chances of bad things happening at the tournament series will decrease.
|
I'm excited for the Madden players as well. If there's a console game out there that needs to be in the spotlight with "Halo 3" and "Dead or Alive 4," it's Madden. The game is ultra competitive, the community has a ton of personalities and it's ripe for the mainstream.
My worry is that the series will be a step backward. After what happened with the "Super Smash Bros. Brawl" tournament series, these concerns have to come to the forefront, and it's only natural to say this.
If you ask a Smash player what they went through on the first night of the tournament series, each player will have a different story. For the most part, they will be disappointed in how it all unraveled. From items in play to the wrong game (Melee) being used, almost everyone had a forgettable experience.
This was how the Smash series was supposed to take place: Under a single-elimination format, players competed in one-round, 3-minute matches, with the winner (declared by the game) advancing on. That's it.
Apparently, the above paragraph was interpreted about 500 different ways.
I checked out the rules for the Madden tournament, and I didn't see anything glaring until I saw two of the rules:
The game will use the original Madden 08 roster. The VERY FIRST roster that was in place. That means Michael Vick will be available, and the New York Giants won't be as strong as the final roster update indicates. Every Xbox 360 in use needs to have the roster updates for this tournament. Most of the competitors will have knowledge of Madden (it's not like Brawl, where only a select few knew how the game played), and the semi- and really-dedicated players will have the latest roster update. Asking them to take a step back, with $5,000 on the line shouldn't happen.
Audibles are not allowed. You read that correctly. Once you pick your play, you have to stick with it. Imagine Peyton Manning and Jim Kelly being told they can't audible in a game. That pseudo no-huddle offense, some teams call it the "freddie offense" would be gone. The only thing they have left is to come up with a tricky snap count.
Audibles help an offense gain some sort of an advantage over a defense if they believe their plays are getting picked up. Defenses can adjust to certain offensive schemes. The Madden game is built on being able to adjust on the fly and read the opponent. Taking away audibles is only a negative and will hamper a lot of people's gameplay. That rule has to change.
My hope is that every tournament organizer makes sure to update their roster and allow audibles. From there, run the competition. Do this, and the chances of bad things happening at the tournament series will decrease.
|
