OS just added a video of the Madden 2010 half-time show, and most folks are none too pleased with it. For sure, it’s a good addition to get “The Extra Point” half-time show in their at all — a major improvement over Madden 2009 and previous games — but you can tell that EA is a little new to this ’show inside a videogame’ feature, because it sounds very awkward. Without further adieu,
From the very onset of half-time, the video is awkward. First, of course, we have the offensive lineman who is doing a cute “Flash Dance” routine before heading to the locker rooms. The video of the players running to the locker room with the smooth Extra Point transition is a nice addition, and it looks good, but then it just gets robotic, with the female host (her name is relevant) having as much life in her voice as Pat Summerall circa Madden ‘98 (”First and Ten!“).
“We’ll get you straight to the highlights. <pause> Enjoy.”
(silence for 45 seconds)
And then she talks about the statistics, which is done relatively well. There should be a little bit of common sense here, we don’t need to have the host reading off what is already displayed on the screen. This is something that few videogames have ever gotten right (and, honestly, few sports analysts). If the total plays are about the same and it is clearly displayed on the screen, you do not need to be read that number of that discrepancy, you can tell yourself. This is different from television, which is a much more passive experience and a commentator reading out an obvious statistic could be useful, but in a game, where you are actively watching the screen and interacting with it, reading out an obvious statistic is odd and feels misplaced. The mention of Burlson’s receiving yards is precisely what there should be more of: key players, key statistics that may not be on the screen (turnover ratio, 3rd down efficiency, etc).
Anyway, it’s nice to have this half time show, and the transitions & videos are a welcome addition to the Madden game. It helps establish a “television-like” atmosphere to the game, but it is awkward. EA is showing some of their inexperience with implementing television style production, because they’ve never done it before and this is really their first authentic attempt. Overall, it’s a great addition, but you can’t help but feel like — four years from now — we’ll be laughing about how awkward and strange this was back in 2010.
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