by Andrew on Sat Aug 01, 2009 5:57 pm
It all sounds good to me, it's the kind of stuff I had in mind when I was doing my 10 for 10: Presentation piece. The atmosphere hasn't really been there on the current generation of Live games, the gameplay experience is key of course but the atmosphere is certainly important too as it helps you really get into the game. To a certain extent, I'd say that they feed off one another so I'm all for better crowd reactions, unique chants and the like.
I also like what I read about instant replays. It sounds like they'll happen at more appropriate times which will add to the authenticity of the TV style presentation. Hopefully it will also prevent the framerate issue that occured during instant replays last year as the replays, no doubt caused by the game saving them for the highlight reels while playing them for the first time. A good move there. On a similar note, ditching non-interactive sequences for realtime reactions (with appropriate close-up camera angles) sounds a lot more authentic as well, though Dynasty cutscenes would be nice.
The more I hear about storylines, the more excited I get about that feature. It probably sounds gimmicky to some, but it's the kind of thing that commentators and we fans alike do actually talk about, so I think it will really spice up Dynasty Mode. It's also something we've asked for in Wishlists gone by, acknowledgement of what's going on in the season so it feels different from playing a string of exhibition games, beyond simply having trades and injuries.