I never thought people cared for Madden so much!

some people buy consoles solely for the yearly iterations of madden and fifa.. and with football season around the corner.. this isn't going to be pretty for EA if it holds up.. nobody buys a madden game without a feel for it first..

Probably in America. The religion here is purchasing each iteration of Fifa and Pes, every year. Keeping all the games, of course!

According to the VGC database, the sales of madden have only gotten worse after 2004. Still sucks for those who want it I guess.

yup.. i buy either FIFA or PES too depending on the new nuances and how it affects me, though my preference has always been PES since the WE days.  As for sales of Madden.. it's only gotten worse because of broken promises of fixes that are yet to be put in place or nothing more than a roster update.  The problem with Madden titles is, many play the same.. so you are basically paying for a roster update.  If not that, some mechanics get better, while others start suffering elsewhere.  it's a delicate balance for the core audience in whether or not those nuances make or break that game for them.. without the demo, nobody will know except those on x1 and subscribes to EA Access.  there will always be those that pick up the game regardless, but EA is literally throwing a big FU to a big chunk of that crowd that aren't under all those stipulations if the no demo thing is true.

imagine how you'd feel if you were buying a fifa/pes game without getting to try it out to see if the new iteration is worth the pickup?  now we will all have to go and buy it blindly in hopes the games won't be a stinker.  same thing with going off someone else's review when each individual plays these games differently.. how they play is not how you play.. thus it's still buying it blindly in hopes the games don't stink.

Interestingly, I think something that some think is a plus for the One, EA Access, is actually going to turn gamers off of the One. I bet EA will have the gall to put a lot of the content for their games behind a paywall, but only for the One. I mean, why not? We have gone an entire gen of Xbox fans defending having to pay to access things other console providers have allowed access to free of charge, instead of demanding access be free for them, too. You reap what you sow.

However, EA WILL NOT have the balls to keep that content from players on this gen' s lead console. That's where greatly more sales and potential buyers of DLC are, anyway. To do so would be suicidal. Sony knew where they were headed with this program, and also knew it would lead to less value in PS+ if every publisher had their own service, so they said no. MS was looking for ANYTHING that would look like a plus for the One, even if it might hurt them long term.

I don't need a demo to know it's going to be crap like every other Madden game before it.

I realy hope xbox fans wise up, cuz if they dont this cant hurt the industry. It will hurt xbox the most since EA games where always preferd by xbox players, but as you said others will do it and sony might cave.

I fear for the day the big 3 publishers put paywalls and we have to pay $90  a year on top of online services for any console to not get a gimped expirience. When that happens it will be ninendos time to shine, but whatever. 

You're making a way bigger deal about it than it is, especially with posts like this.

I mean, so you're saying people will religously buy yearly iterations of sports titles, to the point that it is the sole reason they own a console, and yet because they do not have a little demo which is always using outdated rosters in a controlled setting, they won't buy? Please. A vast majority of people will buy the games with or without demos. You don't get a feel for changes in these games from the demos.

so i assume you're not much of a madden player correct?  correct.. it's less about the roster and more about the new nuances.  otherwise, if it's a rehash of the same game the previous year or new mechanics are broken, all you bought a new game for was the updated roster or for new broken mechanics.. which isn't worth the $60.. hence the reason Madden sales go up and down yearly depending on if the new changes or not makes any difference to the overall gameplay.  that's what a demo tells you.. just for this year the concerns for some are: the new preplay mechanics, how will this affect fluidity of game planning? max protection blocking.. how different is this to the slide protection of maddens previous?  coverage adjustments?  levelled coverages and will it finally work in this iteration?  improved adaptive AI?  QB cadence, how will this affect hot routes pre LOS lineup?  etc.. etc..  this ultimately can influence whether a new madden is worth a pick up, pick up at bargain, or skip out altogether.  same thing with games like Fifa, PES, etc.  new iterations make or break a game.. small changes can change the overall gameplay.. but I wouldn't expect you to understand if you personally can't feel/test the changes for through a demo.. hence, you are probably not much of a sports gamer.  that's no knock on you.. just saying.. throwing blanket statements like "a demo wouldn't matter for a game like this" and that people will buy the game regardless, just means you don't understand the core sports gamer audience.  for the casuals?  sure.. go ahead buy ill-informed and no one cares.. but for those competitive gamers that make up those communities.. hell no.. just look at the last Live and tell me that's a $60 buy just to test if the mechanics work or not.. thus the reason it sold less than 250k worldwide and as a multiplat.

Just the opposite, I buy Madden every year and play the hell out of it. I join and run online franchise leagues that last multiple seasons. You just said it yourself, the "nuances" of the game. This is something you never get in the demo because they only give you 2-4 teams and locked settings in a one game or one half environment. You don't get to see the nuances or the real changes of the game until you buy it or watch it played after release. Like I said, it doesn't matter for most, ESPECIALLY the type of people you are describing. We don't care about a demo. And the casuals probably care even less. EA isn't dumb. If they thought this would have an impact on sales they wouldn't do it.

And LOL @ Live. It sold like shit because people know it's shit. You don't even need a demo to know that, but there is one. The casual or hardcore insta buyers would and did buy NBA2k instead, which by the way, has no demo.