EA Head Coach 09

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 1:53 pm

http://ps3.ign.com/articles/854/854928p1.html

I hope what they talk about is true, I liked the last one but it definitely needed improvement.

XXXIV · Post by **XXXIV** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:36 pm

I never played the last one partly because everyone blasted the hell out of it...

I am interested though. Would it be like an NFL version of the Football Manager game I hear all the great things about?

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:50 pm

XXXIV wrote:I never played the last one partly because everyone blasted the hell out of it...

I am interested though. Would it be like an NFL version of the Football Manager game I hear all the great things about?

More like FIFA Manager.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:04 pm

And just like Madden, NBA et al it has made few steps forward since its first iteration as Premier League Manager 99 - and even that was a rewrite of an earlier German football management sim.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 3:13 pm

My biggest gripe with the first game is you had a staff of coaches that didn't do anything. Looks like they addressed that.

The game play engine also had an issue but I can't recall what it was. I think the clock was accelerated but the speed of the game wasn't or something.

There is a chance this could be good it's been almost 2 years since the first one, I'll at least give it a glance.

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:03 pm

I had the first game. You could only play five-minute quarters, which seemed ridiculous for a coaching sim.

The first Head Coach had some good ideas but the execution was severely flawed. There were all kinds of odd restrictions (like you could only make two changes on a depth chart at a time, that sort of thing) and the interface was mind-numbing in its boredom. It sounds like they've considered those issues and redone the game.

The other thing they needed to address was playcalling. While in real-life, you would see coordinators making calls, in game life it's more fun to do that. However, in Head Coach, if you overturned your coordinators, they would get angry and even quit. They need to balance that out with either more gameplan scripting or less sensitive coordinators.

All in all, though, if they make this somewhat enjoyable, I think I'd rather play it than Madden.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 4:05 pm

EA actually needs to play other games, like FM manager or OOTP. Bascially this will be coach mode madden with a lot of stupid features.

I hope I'm wrong.

Rodster · Post by **Rodster** » Tue Feb 26, 2008 6:32 pm

If they are really serious they need to make it a text based game so they are not hindered by any Madden bugs. I find text based sports sims far more immersive than watching the game play out in 3D.

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:39 pm

http://www.gamespot.com/video/945118/61 ... -preview-1

Great preview video available over at Gamespot including an cool interview with cover boy Coach Dungy.

EA Producer Josh Looman
"We wanted to redo everything from scratch, nothing has been brought over from the previous head coach or from madden..."

"More features than I could ever think of putting into a game"

Sure it is a bit hypey but I'm still mucho excited about future updates on this game.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:29 am

How was nothing brought over from Madden? Aren't they using the madden engine for gameplay?

macsomjrr · Post by **macsomjrr** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:23 am

JRod wrote:How was nothing brought over from Madden? Aren't they using the madden engine for gameplay?

Yeah I'm not sure exactly what the producer meant by that but those are his exact words. The video doesn't show any "on the field" gameplay mostly just stuff that looks similar to the madden GM mode but definitely a different looking graphical style. I'd be fine with a lack of actual games if it could simulate a real season statistically.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue Apr 22, 2008 10:00 pm

It will now have a stand alone release just not until September for $49.99.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:44 am

Danimal wrote:It will now have a stand alone release just not until September for $49.99.

Thus completing the EA strategy of taking one game (Madden) that cost $49.99 on the PS2, and turning it into two separate sales (and two separate revenue makers) on the PS3/360 by taking things like the NFL draft, create a play, etc., and spinning them off into another game that consumers will have to buy to get full enjoyment out of Madden. In other words, the exact opposite strategy of what SCEA has taken with its Road to the Show mode in The Show. SCEAA has given us 2 great games for the price of 1. EA/Tiburon, on the other hand, gives us 1 game for the price of 2. Thanks guys! Can I have another?

Brando70 · Post by **Brando70** » Wed Apr 23, 2008 1:47 pm

GTHobbes wrote:
Danimal wrote:It will now have a stand alone release just not until September for $49.99.
Thus completing the EA strategy of taking one game (Madden) that cost $49.99 on the PS2, and turning it into two separate sales (and two separate revenue makers) on the PS3/360 by taking things like the NFL draft, create a play, etc., and spinning them off into another game that consumers will have to buy to get full enjoyment out of Madden. In other words, the exact opposite strategy of what SCEA has taken with its Road to the Show mode in The Show. SCEAA has given us 2 great games for the price of 1. EA/Tiburon, on the other hand, gives us 1 game for the price of 2. Thanks guys! Can I have another?

As enjoyable as the RTTS mode is, I don't see it as a game that would be worth 49.99 by itself. It's a fun game mode but not a full-fledged game. I don't see anything wrong with selling a separate coaching-management sim and an action-oriented sports game. EA did this when they had the Front Office Football franchise and it worked out pretty well.

I am just hoping that Head Coach can fulfill the promise it showed when it first came out. It's EA, so I won't hold my breath, but HC did have some entertainment value. If it doesn't, there's always Front Office Football.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 1:43 pm

GTHobbes wrote:Thus completing the EA strategy of taking one game (Madden) that cost $49.99 on the PS2, and turning it into two separate sales (and two separate revenue makers) on the PS3/360 by taking things like the NFL draft, create a play, etc., and spinning them off into another game that consumers will have to buy to get full enjoyment out of Madden.

First, unless I missed it the draft portion of franchise is not removed from Madden and there is no need to have HC to play a franchise in Madden. In fact the only thing that has been announced is you can take your plays from HC into Madden.

Technically you can argue that the play creator was removed from Madden, but since it hasn't been included in Madden in next gen or in my memory a very long time in the console version of the game they haven't really removed anything.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:35 pm

Why even talk about this game? It was absolutely one of the worst games I've ever played (the first version).

Maybe they'll get it right.. but man was it horrible.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:01 pm

RTTS is analogous to the Superstar and Campus Legend modes in EA football games and it isn't like that's being sold separately.

And clearly we shouldn't discuss a game if the 3-years ago predecessor sucked. 09 looks like a completely different take on the Head Coach series, can we at least wait until August to write it off?

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:17 pm

MizzouRah wrote:Why even talk about this game? It was absolutely one of the worst games I've ever played (the first version).

Maybe they'll get it right.. but man was it horrible.

I don't know because back then many people said it was flawed but had potential and then instead of pushing it out again in a year they spent some time on it.

Maybe because a lot of the Q&A's and video previews make it look like a totally different game and I can't speak for others but I want a game like this, maybe not this game once i get it, but one that has this concept.

Plus there is an easy solution if you don't care about the game, don't read the f***in thread. I swear you would think people would want to discuss a football game in a sports website.

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 3:36 pm

Danimal wrote:Plus there is an easy solution if you don't care about the game, don't read the f***in thread. I swear you would think people would want to discuss a football game in a sports website.

The war isn't going so well...

Anyway, I think this game has potential. I don't like how you are on the clock to make decisions. I think that is stupid coming from a game like Football Manager.

The real problem will still be the Madden engine. From the pictures it looks like we will be getting the 08 engine, which means that we might also be getting 10 ints and 7 fumbles a game.

GTHobbes · Post by **GTHobbes** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:35 pm

Dave wrote:RTTS is analogous to the Superstar and Campus Legend modes in EA football games and it isn't like that's being sold separately.

It's EA...give them time! They've got to pay for all of those licenses somehow, and their flat sales may leave them no other choice.

Actually, manage only mode in The Show would probably be the best comparison, since in both instances you're not actually controlling any of the on-screen action. Regardless, there seems to be a market for whatever EA sells, so I'm sure this too will work out for them in the end.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 4:49 pm

JRod wrote:The war isn't going so well...

What is that suppose to mean?

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:55 pm

Danimal wrote:
JRod wrote:The war isn't going so well...
What is that suppose to mean?

A joke when you said people would want to discuss games on a sports game site.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:57 pm

Danimal wrote: I don't know because back then many people said it was flawed but had potential and then instead of pushing it out again in a year they spent some time on it.

Maybe because a lot of the Q&A's and video previews make it look like a totally different game and I can't speak for others but I want a game like this, maybe not this game once i get it, but one that has this concept.

Plus there is an easy solution if you don't care about the game, don't read the f***in thread. I swear you would think people would want to discuss a football game in a sports website.

Flawed is a NICE word. The f***in game sucked.

I was being a little tongue in cheek in my post as well. I swear people take s*** too seriously at times.

I'll wait for reviews as one thing the first version did have was POTENTIAL.

Danimal · Post by **Danimal** » Tue May 06, 2008 12:12 am

This is a pretty good read for those interested in this product.

http://www.easports.com/nflheadcoach09/ ... books_blog

JRod · Post by **JRod** » Tue May 06, 2008 1:42 am

Danimal wrote:This is a pretty good read for those interested in this product.

http://www.easports.com/nflheadcoach09/ ... books_blog

It's a good read but I still worry if you have Tony Dungy at the Colts for ten years, they will have the same exact playbook every year. They also have a feature were coaches take the playbook to other teams.

On paper that sounds great, but knowing EA, it just sounds like Indy Offen Coord, just takes the Dungy's playbook with him.

I see this game working off an old engine which spells it's ultimate doom.