Madden 09: No Online For Wii Owners

[Steve_OS]

No Madden 09 for the PC gamers and now this? Sucks for the Wii owners. Thanks to goheat for the heads up!

Quote:

"NCAA Football 09 does not have an online play feature. While you cannot play online, you are able to play against a friend head-to-head using the Family Play mode that is available only on the Wii version."

[Sausage]

I guess it will in Madden 2010 as a new feature. What is going on with those developers, I just don't understand there thinking.

[MarkAdrianPI]

I think EA wanted to charge for certain "online" game play aspects. Seeing that online play versus an opponent is currently free for Nintendo, EA wanted to wait a year till Nintendo officially launches their pay to play service. Just my take, although the user above is probable right ALSO!

Please stop buying EA/Madden games. I am sick and tired of them nickel and dime-ing the consumer.

[yamabushi]

As much as I cant stand EA, lets not forget that Nintendo can barely get 1st party on-line games working for the Wii, and does anyone know the sales figures for 08 on the wii? I doubt they were substantial enough for EA to warrent spending time and money trying to work around the Wiis online 'diffuculties'.

[Sausage]

With Wii's fanbase it is definitely worth it, in my opinion. Pro Evo Soccer 08 Wii, has been very smooth online, Smash Bros has been great online, and EA's Medal of Honor 2 game has up to 32 players smooth as a whistle. Peace.

[RaychelSnr]

Quote: Originally Posted by Sausage

With Wii's fanbase it is definitely worth it, in my opinion. Pro Evo Soccer 08 Wii, has been very smooth online, Smash Bros has been great online, and EA's Medal of Honor 2 game has up to 32 players smooth as a whistle. Peace.

Madden 08 for the Wii sold about 200,000 less units than the PS3 version so I could definitely see the argument there. However, you also have to take into account Madden for the Wii is in many ways, dumbed down and not intended for the hardcore football audience. So I would say that EA probably doesn't think it's worth it because they are making the game for that audience. Is it a right position to take? I'm not exactly sure but it makes sense based off what they are probably thinking.

[metallicatz]

Like anything else retail-related, it comes down to numbers. The Nintendo sells alot of Wii hardware, but that console also has the worst attach rate for software of the 3 current consoles. Nintendo hasn't had good 3rd party support in a long time, and despite the hardware numbers, this is a trend that doesn't appear to be changing anytime soon. If your favorite games are the ones with words like "Mario" or "Zelda" somewhere in the title, then the Wii is for you. If not, seek life with the other two.

[DanG82]

The headline on this page is incorrect. That article is actually about NCAA Football 09 on the Wii not having online play. They haven't said anything official about Madden NFL 09 on the Wii, but the assumption is that it will once again include online play.

It's very disappointing how little attention EA pays to Wii gamers. When they release a game for all three nex-gen consoles, the Wii version almost always has fewer features, more glitches, and much worse graphics. (yes, I realize the Wii can't output quite as impressive graphics as the Xbox 360 or the PS3, but it's still capable of high-quality graphics significantly above the previous generation of consoles. See Super Mario Galaxy, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or Excite Truck for examples. EA's Wii games look like they were designed for the PS2.)

Then word gets out that the Wii versions of its games are inferior, so people don't buy them as much. EA then assumes that the Wii audience isn't as interested in its games, when this actually couldn't be further from the case. They just aren't interested in buying poorly developed, inferior versions of them.

EA also seems to stereotype all Wii players as young kids, when this is only a small portion of the audience. Most of us don't want things like Family Play. A huge portion of Wii owners are college students and young professionals (which is why it's mind-boggling that it took them so long to develop NCAA Football for the Wii). I'm sick of EA skimping on solid gameplay, glitch testing, and features like online play in exchange for things like Family Play and mascots.