The current state of video game releases is a joke.
Back before developers could push out updates post-release, they were forced to actually have the game playable when it shipped. If it wasn’t, they had to push back the release date. (I believe I waited for about 18 months to play Morrowind on the original Xbox. The day it finally came in the mail, I’d been playing for three minutes when my baseball coach called me to say they were having an unscheduled practice session. Crushing.)
As they’re no longer encumbered by the hard deadline, games tend to ship whether they’re ready or not, and the latest entry in the Madden franchise is no different. In fact, as a highly-anticipated yearly franchise, it’s even more beholden to a shipping deadline, whether or not all the game’s features are ready.
We’ve already seen a few comically bad glitches, including Ryan Fitzpatrick getting injured on a QB kneel. That is certainly bad. But this one…this one is the worst:
we all deserve refunds. pic.twitter.com/5fsWwTwdM4
— Tony X. (@soIoucity) August 27, 2016
Let’s go over the issues here. First, the kicking mechanic has been getting some poor reviews, and it looks a bit complex. Could help to explain reports like these:
I am awful at the new kicking in Madden so far. Missed 2 extra points just now on all-pro.
— Matt Clapp (@Matt2Clapp) August 27, 2016
But then, once the kick is launched, we get to the good stuff. Not only does it weirdly fizzle out to the left, to be caught by Cordarrelle Patterson of the Vikings, but it’s then scored not as a missed field goal (or even a live ball to be returned, if he caught it in bounds), but as a touchdown.
But a touchdown for the Titans, the kicking team! A missed field goal caught by a defender in the end zone resulted in a game-winning touchdown for the kicking team.
How does this happen? People paid $60+ for this game! How does it get to market, only to then not be entirely playable for weeks or months while people wait around for a patch that might never come?
It’s an unfortunate business model.
we all deserve refunds. pic.twitter.com/5fsWwTwdM4
— Tony X (@soIoucity) August 27, 2016
The only explanation I can come up with is that the folks at EA wanted to save Jon Bois the trouble this year.
He might have to call his series Fixing Madden.
