September 06, 2006

Madden 2007: John Maddens latest version of Madden 2007 is sure to be the best yet. But have you ever wondered how the gamemakers come up with the player ratings? A very interesting article about the complex rating system of Madden 07.

posted by Kendall to culture at 08:15 PM - 11 comments

I know its an ESPN link, but I thought that there was a good read- anyone think that the players take it too seriously?

posted by Kendall at 08:16 PM on September 06, 2006

I don't think they take it too seriously. It really is a pride thing. How many people who create themselves in Madden actually give themselves rating that are true to life? Just because someone runs a seven second 40, that doesn't mean they are gonna give themselves a 45 for speed. At lest thats how i view it. I know when I create myself, I like to stack my stats as much as I can, even if it does cost a couple million dollars more.

posted by NightingalesGone at 09:03 PM on September 06, 2006

I wanna do this for the NHL video game.

posted by WeedyMcSmokey at 09:06 PM on September 06, 2006

I used to create me and my friends in sports games as powerhouses, but that got dull... "Hurray, I hit for the cycle again"... It's much more fun to have your on-screen persona wallow in averageness. It makes those amazing performances all the more enjoyable.

posted by Drood at 10:55 PM on September 06, 2006

EA always massively overrate all of the players, in my opinion, which perhaps stops certain areas of the public from whining about their favourite player's scores, but removes any spread of talent and any real difference in the teams. I'd love to see my pass defence averaging in the mid 70s OVR take on Indy with their attack around the high 80s and have to really work for a result. Instead, the difference between poor and very good gets narrowed to just a handful of points and all the teams end up looking essentially the same after just a couple of seasons. Fortunately, after a couple of years of being the runt of the litter, the PC version is much better now, because the user base cracked the secrets to EA's game and now we have all sorts of fun editors kicking around to take proper control over this sort of thing. As for putting yourself in the game - I'm with Drood. I'm in Superstar mode at the moment, as a third string receiver for the Bears. I'm unlikely to ever be more than a possession receiver out of the slot, but it means that you don't need 200 yards and four touchdowns to get a thrill, it's there in a single play, like when you pull a perfect stop-and-go on someone five times the player you are, like Dre' Bly.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 01:00 AM on September 07, 2006

EA always massively overrate all of the players, in my opinion, which perhaps stops certain areas of the public from whining about their favourite player's scores, but removes any spread of talent and any real difference in the teams. Have you ever played NBA Live? In Madden, I see your point, but not all EA games are that bad.

posted by Kendall at 04:24 AM on September 07, 2006

The XBOX 360 version vs. the PS2 version are two seperate games, by far. I have an XBOX 360 AND a PS2 but I have MADDEN 07 just for the 360. I just recently purchased the XB360 about 6 months ago and am truly impressed with the graphics and gameplay. There are a few differences, namely the graphics but the most compelling difference is that on the PS2 version, people can change the attributes on players easily. This is the first MADDEN that I've purchased for another system besides PS2 and am pleasantly surprised that in the 360 version, people have to actually take a certain player and 'train' him so that his ratings can go up. I love the fact that you have go thru this feature in order to increase your character. In the PS2 version, if you create-a-player, you can make this created player as strong or as fast as you want easily. There at least is equality in the XB360 so I would have to give this version a much higher rating than the other versions. If anyone wants to get down for the crown on XBOX Live, I go by the same screen name on Live that I do on here. Bring it on! I love competition and actually played in some MADDEN tournaments, so I'm still getting used to the differences in the controls but no excuses. I bring my best in every game and look forward to playing against anyone on here. Just drop me a line and we can get it in. As far as the ratings on players are concerned, I truly believe that regardless if a player is ranked 99 or 59, the people at EA consider everything that has happened last season in order to give that player a 'correct' rating. No one will be statisfied anyways so all that I can say about that is, try harder this year. So when MADDEN 08 comes out, maybe you'll be on the cover and your rating may go up a notch. By the way, in what week do you think Shaun Alexander will get hurt? I'm sure that people are well aware of the MADDEN curse and it has never let me down. Last year McNabb went down like previous 'cover boys' did, predict what week he'll go down and from what injury.

posted by BornIcon at 07:10 AM on September 07, 2006

"Have you ever played NBA Live? In Madden, I see your point, but not all EA games are that bad." Umm, no. I'm specifically a Madden player. I don't watch, follow or play anything to do with the NBA, so I don't know about how the players are ranked. I'm just of the opinion that the gap between the very good players and the below average players should be stretched, so that teams actually have personalities.

posted by Mr Bismarck at 07:41 AM on September 07, 2006

Carson Palmer's pro day 40 time in 2003= 4.65 Byron Leftwich's pro day 40 time in 2003= 5.1 That's how Carson was faster than you Byron. Because, well, Carson is faster than you. If there are any other players I can explain the rankings to, I'll be here all week.

posted by LostInDaJungle at 04:17 PM on September 07, 2006

I haven't played Madden since it was 2002, I think. It pissed me off big time. You'd be playing a very difficult opponent (in pro mode with no mods to the player ratings) more or less flawlessly, and find yourself up by 2 or 3 touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Then, the deluge. A for-no-reason fumble by a guy who never fumbles, a few key penalities, a long interception return for a touchdown, and you'd lose the game. This happened probably every 4 out of 5 games, so ultimately, I just gave up playing it. Anyone remember what I'm talking about (I confirmed this with a couple of friends at the time)? Have they changed this feature (the oops, you lose feature) in later versions?

posted by psmealey at 05:30 AM on September 08, 2006

Have they changed this feature (the oops, you lose feature) in later versions? Yeah, now you just kill everyone by like 40 points on pro mode.

posted by kidrayter2005 at 02:37 PM on September 08, 2006

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