AE Games caused quite a stir when it announced Mad Men Football a while back. Showing off little more than concept artwork, the indie developer made some bold claims about the final product — despite not having any real industry experience — and predictably attracted quite a bit of criticism online.
This hasn't been taken to heart however, as AE Games has now released a video showing pre-alpha screenshots of the title, which has had something of a facelift. The graphics are now being touted as "N64-style", and we can finally see what the 3D engine looks like thanks to the included static screenshots.
AE Games has also delivered an explanation of how development is progressing:
On this day in history, October 19, 1781, General Cornwallis surrendered nearly 8,000 British soldiers under his command to American (and French) forces at Yorktown, Virginia, effectively ending the American Revolution, though not officially ending it.
Earlier this year, Mad Men Football (working title) was announced as being effectively in development for the Wii U, but not officially in development. Development started on Mad Men Football last year and development has continued since it was first announced, but there has been a BIG change to it during the development process after getting officially approved as a Wii U developer.
In early August, it was said of the game, "A fair warning would be, what the game was, is not what the game is becoming." And, a post shortly after that one said, "What the prototype was, is not what the game is becoming!"
The difference between effectively developing the game before being an approved Wii U developer, and then becoming an officially approved Wii U developer is what resulted in the big change and the decisions leading to the change.
What is the big change that has happened to Mad Men Football since first announcing it, and getting approved as a Wii U developer? Watch the pre-alpha promotional screens trailer below from the current work-in-progress, for the first in-game look at George Washington and the big change in development to the game from what the prototype was last year and earlier this year!
Watch the footage below and let us know what you think by posting a comment.
Comments 68
I really don't think N64-style graphics are something anyone should strive for these days. It was Nintendo's first steps with 3D polygons and they've aged horribly. They look worse than the sprite graphics of SNES games.
That said, the video is pretty bad, but it's pre-alpha, so I don't want to be too disparaging.
There was a long time not seen weird game like this one
This was a never going to buy before now it is a never ever going to buy.
I laughed from the beginning till the end.That was hilariously bad.It is without a shadow of a doubt THE worst game trailer I have ever seen and I'm 36
They may have just killed the last remnants of major interest in this game.
I thought it was going to be in 2D
They deserve some credit, at least they're bringing a sport game (as weird as it may be) to the U, it definitely needs them. And I'm sure the visuals will improve by release time.
I will get this day one if it's less than $15
@SpookyMeths Please don't delude yourself into believing that "pre-alpha" means the game will look better post-alpha, because it won't.
Yeah this is just crap. Give it up guys
nice frame rate!
It's almost as if an indie developer making their first game doesn't have unlimited resources...
@IxC
Or any talent whatsoever?
This game trailer looked like a Tim and Eric segment!
I think a better name for this 'game' would be "The Letter 2: Football Edition"
@IxC
you hit the nail on the ground next to the nail
bad graphics are not retro, they are just bad graphics. pixel graphics can be fun because they offer a different perspective, which affects gameplay. in some cases, its just nostalgia. i dont feel nostalgia for most early polygonal games.
Too good for N64. Those wouldn't be real trees, they would be 2D sprites.
If it plays well and has a bit more polish, I don't see why it couldn't be a good game. Personally, I'm not into sports games, but they haven't done anything so far for me to believe they can't make a decent game.
Heck, we all know Ubisoft is capable of creating masterpieces and they managed to pull out Watch_Dogs (not EVEN talking about the Wii U version). The guys behind Halo (one of the most critically acclaimed franchises) even managed to make Destiny.
I say give 'em a chance. This IS a pre-alpha build. If it doesn't improve dramatically, but the game plays well enough without a choppy framerate, I see no reason to give it flak.
@LunaticPandora Not deluded. I know this game will still almost certainly look terrible when it's done. I just didn't want to pass judgement until it's done.
I like the N64-style graphics, I'd prefer to see more indies use it as opposed to the same 2d pixels ad nauseam. As long as the gameplay is smooth and they truly make it a whacky football game kinda like an enhanced Blitz, I'm fine with it.
A Samurai Jack game would look great in that N64 retro style too.
@kyuubikid213 Neither Destiny or Watch_Dogs are crap though, some of guys really come off as fanboys when you try to even hold this rubbish to the same regard.
The gameplay is the thing.....get it close to TecmoBowl or NFL Blitz and it will be fun no matter the visuals.....but this is a small 1st time developer with presumably little capital to work with so I'm not expecting much
@Jazzer94
The people saying this looks good are hopelessly deluded and lack the ability for logical thought. Comparing Destiny to this game or even mentioning it as if this game has any similarities to it shows someone is not capable of constructing a reasonable argument.
The guy who made the video (and who is being trusted with producing a playable game) can't even pick a half decent font (what's a 'bideo game'?) and has shown a complete lack of programming skill (this looks like a demo reel produced by a first year college student in a graphic design course). His marketing abilities are also hilariously bad, what with holding lame contests on his website where he mails out crappy character artwork to 'winners' and posted a manifesto where he states that he's going to put all third party developers to shame with this game, and how great it will be.
I hope this train wreck continues, as it's been a fascinating/cringe inducing ride so far!
@Mega719 i did as well i kinfa wish it was 2d prolly look better
@SpookyMeths Maybe you don't, but I do. The game looks terrible now, and it'll continue to look terrible later.
The only thing in that reel that looked n64-ish was the headgear on Washington's face. Not absolutely terrible for an indie pre-alpha, but by the progression of the shots that running animation looked god awful. I wish the developers luck though, as I would with most any (even shallow) consumer friendly endeavor in the video game business.
When I first saw the artwork when this was announced, I thought it sounded unique. The concept was fresh and I had high hopes for the game. Now that I saw the Pre-Alpha trailer, I would say that my "high hopes" need a miracle. Everything looked horrendous. In fact, I'm not sure what they hoped to achieve by producing this trailer. It would have been in their best interest to keep everything a secrete and continue to work on the game....unless they were fishing for financial support. If that was the case, good luck!
Stop giving these guys press!
Dat trailer was just cheesy bad... Heh, nice to see some progress tho.
What the hell did i just watch?
@dkxcalibur
"It would have been in their best interest to keep everything a secrete and continue to work on the game"
You are 100% right. This game does look like a secretion.
@Jazzer94 My point isn't that Destiny or Watch_Dogs are crap, just that they are below what the developers, who have proven in the past to make extraordinary games, usually put out.
I'm not saying this is on the same level as Destiny or Watch_Dogs. I'm just saying that this game has garnered flak and borderline hatred before the game has even released. Whereas Watch_Dogs and Destiny were practically praised with footage and interviews only to be more of the same and mediocre compared to other games on the market within the same genre.
I'm not saying this game will be the best game ever. Just give it a chance. If it's terrible when it comes out, so be it. If it's actually a properly functioning game, so be it. If it is an excellent football game on par with EA's offerings, so be it.
I think if this is well-executed it could be quite a hit. The question is whether the retro graphics will be accompanied by some clever AI and controls. It's all down to the programming chops of the people behind the old school polys now...
Oh my, this isn't going anywhere good. And at the end of the day, I don't think N64 graphics are retro, just bad. I don't see a way to make them appealing is this day. There's a reason no one has done it before. pixel is an art style that was done well, then we moved to a different art style for most games that was necessary for 3D games. I think it's just an excuse for bad graphics because he isn't capable of doing anything better.
On the AE Games twitter account they just said that they have begun developing a second game at this time, but this one will be a PS4 exclusive as it requires maximum graphical power. Here is the trailer they posted for it.
@MikeLove Thank you for saying I lack the ability for logical thought. I really appreciate it. Makes me feel good.
"Mad Men Football Shows Off Its New N64-Inspired Sports Uniform"
eh? Thats like saying an old crazed man wandering down the street naked speaking gibberish is showing off.
oh ok, its just an experiment in bad taste and the pulling power of websites with no game to flog to still get clicks
@MikeLove
So Stanley Kubrick is not dead, he is just making game trailers
@kyuubikid213
Anyone who could honestly say without a hint of irony that either Destiny or Watch_Dogs has anything at all to do with the development of Mad Men Football needs to give their head a shake. Those games have nothing at all to do with this abomination, and it's shocking that your mind would somehow find some tenuous connection between them, and that you would then share it thinking it actually was a valid point.
"If it is an excellent football game on par with EA's offerings, so be it."
Please. Stop.
Nintendo, don't just let any old tripe onto the Wii U.
LOL, Damien is the king of click bait. And it worked on me!
I'd be willing to bet a couple bucks that NL is in on this joke and will stretch it out until April Fool's for the final, dramatic reveal. That would explain the amount of space and credence given to this guy.
I'd give this a download if it looks amusing when it's not pre-alpha, but yeah, the N64 polygons look...bad.
low polygon graphics rely heavily on art direction and sadly this game is lacking in that department. If the gameplay is as generic as the graphics... I'll pass.
This guy is still “doing” “this”?
@MikeLove If you could stop acting like you're so much smarter than me and actually read my posts, I would appreciate it.
I never said Destiny and Watch_Dogs had anything to do with the development of this game. I was merely saying that much like many people here are judging this game as heavily as they are before the game is even out, many people were praising Watch_Dogs and Destiny before they launched and now that they're on the market, they're not as great as everyone thought they were going to be. Plain and simple.
If the game is a good game, why is that a bad thing? Why is it so unbelievable that these developers could make a good (if not great) football game. There's nothing illogical about that because the game isn't out yet. I'm not saying it WILL BE. I'm saying it COULD BE. I'm pretty sure when Minecraft was in the works, no one thought it was going to be a massive hit, but it is. I'm pretty sure a lot of people thought some of the 3D Sonic games were going to be excellent considering the series' track record, but Sonic '06 is one of the worst games ever.
@kyuubikid213
Watch_Dogs and Destiny may not have lived up to YOUR expectations (did you even play them?) but they are both functional, playable, and have been enjoyed by millions of consumers.
This game will likely never be released, and if it is, will be absolute garbage. All images, marketing, and information about this game has so far pointed in this direction.
So again, your continued comparisons between the creation and release of both Watch_Dogs and Destiny are completely nonsensical. Those games are not even in the same stratosphere as Mad Men Football. It's like comparing a space shuttle to a unicycle. Those games should not even be mentioned in the same breath as Mad Men Football. No aspect of their existence is similar AT ALL.
Mad Men Football is the "creation" of one single, solitary individual, who has stated before that he has NO experience creating a game prior to this one. Please stop comparing this ONE SINGLE MAN to multimillion dollar development studios filled with talented programmers with proven track records. Again, this is not supporting your defence and proving that you are thinking clearly. It's actually doing the opposite, and making you seem like you know even less about the way things work.
Also, people doubting that Minecraft would be a massive hit has nothing to do at all with people questioning whether this one single man at AE Games can produce and release a functional game. No one was doubting the existence of Minecraft.
This is the best news I've recieved all year long.
The Wii U is finally getting the sports games that it deserves. Clearly it doesn't need any help from EA. Just look at those graphics! The Wii U can handle fifth-generation graphics just fine. I must commend the man at AE Games for all his hard work and experience on this game.
NL, you guys should be saving this stuff for April Fool's Day. It's golden!
Can't wait to read the review if this game ends up coming out. Looks pathetic.
@midnafanboy Mad Men Football pre-alpha trailer
@MikeLove
You need to learn how to actually read people's posts and have civil discussion with people.
You're not going to make people agree with you by calling them stupid. You're coming off pretty bad.
Day 1 for me.
@MikeLove Watch_Dogs and Destiny were a disappointment to many gamers, or at the very least the vocal internet audience for the games.
We don't know WHAT this game will be like. It hasn't released yet. If the game is awful, fine. If it's good, fine. I won't pass judgment on it until it comes around.
Again, if you'd read my posts, you'd see that I'm not putting Mad Men Football in the same "stratosphere" as Watch_Dogs and Destiny. I'm only saying that these two games were made by developers that have created games that gamers, in general, love and consider timeless (Rayman and Halo for example), but they also created these two games that are both considered overhyped and mediocre by a lot of reviewers on the internet and a lot of gamers. We don't know whether or not AE Games is capable of making terrible or amazing games, so we'll see when it comes around.
I'm glad to know I don't know how things work. Much like you know that this single developer who's never made a game before is destined to make Mad Men Football a terrible and unplayable game. Wait. What's that? You can't see the future? Okay then. Relax until the game comes out. Maybe this guy'll surprise us, maybe he wont. Chill. (By the way, these talented programmers apparently need 6 extra months of development time to make a game on a console they've already developed on multiple times...(Assassin's Creed III and IV, Rayman, Splinter Cell, and Child of Light to name a few...)
Well, by the way the comments are looking now, if Minecraft didn't exist already and someone came to the drawing board with Minecraft concept art, not many people would be interested because it didn't look good. Personally, I'd only seen a few people interested in Minecraft before it grew as large as it did. No one thought Minecraft was going to get as big as it did. Not even Notch. Whether or not people doubted Minecraft would be a hit has everything to do with this developer and this game. If this game is a hit, then this guy's reputation will skyrocket for being able to make a decent game. If it's a flop, then he's been spouting nonsense this entire time and THEN we can talk about how bad the game is or how ridiculous the developer is.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to play Hyrule Warriors with my friend.
And to answer your question, no. I haven't played Watch_Dogs or Destiny. My friends that own Destiny think it's fun, but nothing special (certainly not $500 million special) and I bought Watch_Dogs with the season pass for my brother and he says that the game is just okay without the DLC.
@MikeLove You seem to be unable to get what @kyuubikid213 is ACTUALLY pointing at, and that is NOT that this game is "equal" to Watch Dogs or Destiny. It's about the expectations coming out BEFORE any of these games were launched.
People knew next to NOTHING about the gameplay, story and graphics (well, maybe not that last one, taking into account the plethora of trailers and teasers) but these two triple A games were praised into the heavens WAY before being released and were advertised as the be all and end all of gaming and it is VERY clear by now that even though they do have a certain entertainment value, they certainly did NOT live up to their promise AT ALL.
Just take a look here for example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzopWRXK_r4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOISheIuU4k
And there's more criticism to be found all over the internet on well reputed media/sites as well. The negatives by FAR outweigh the positives so he has a point naming these games as examples. It's almost always the same with these things. It brings to mind examples such as Fable and similar offerings that promised far more than they could ever deliver. And nothing much has changed since, but for prettier graphics (except for Minecraft which looks like sh** too, but it is still VERY playable so that should be an indicator that this game might be okay eventually as well, even with "N64 style" graphics... )
Now this game here is far from finished too. It may very well end up being rubbish, but for all we know it could actually end up being fun to play. None of us has a crystal ball so we can't predict the future, which is why it isn't really a very strange thing to say that judgement should perhaps be reserved until the product actually lands on the console and is playable or gets previews/reviews from professional gaming sites....
@kyuubikid213 Aw shucks, I was so focused on making my own sensible comment that I missed you already said more or less the same. Oh well, at least it shows that your point has come across...
@TheRealThanos Thanks for actually reading my comments and understanding the point I was trying to make.
I really, truly, and sincerely appreciate it.
@kyuubikid213 You're welcome.
Usually I always read all comments first before rushing down to jump onto something (or someone) instead of finding out afterwards somebody has already commented on it ahead of me, which is what the "aw shucks" was for this time...
@TheRealThanos
Destiny and Watch_Dogs both ended up being enjoyable, if not solid games though. People had their expectations too high and were expecting 10/10's, but when the games got 7.5-8+ ratings people felt let down. They are still good games though, just not as mind blowing as people thought they would be.
Everything we have seen from this game though looks like absolute garbage and seems like a bad joke. Reasonable people have zero expectations for this title, and rightfully so. Most think it will be bad and if it ever gets released, will undoubtedly garner horrible reviews as well. The guy making the game cannot even put together a professional looking youtube video, but people have faith in him to make a good game?
So again, can someone explain to me why comparing his game to Watch_Dogs and Destiny makes sense? The situations are completely different.
@MikeLove But you see: THAT is exactly the point. He is NOT comparing the games but the expectations, both examples being the exact opposite of the scale (this game expected to be crap, the others expected to be groundbreaking and all but the eighth wonder of the world), but equally ridiculous in comparison. Everything else has already been said. Don't know in what other way I could explain this to you. You either get it or you don't.
Also, no one said that this game is going to be great, he just said "let's wait and see what the future brings". That to me is FAR more reasonable than giving a final verdict on a product that isn't anywhere NEAR the final stage of development.
And we agreed on Watch Dogs and Destiny being entertaining, they just weren't nearly as stellar and innovating as promised, so we can lay that point to rest, methinks...
@TheRealThanos
This game will be crap though. It's not even debatable! After a year of development, that YouTube video is the best he could do? That thing is a complete and utter embarrassment, and his poor judgement in releasing it (and believing it was good) does not instill confidence that this game will ever be completed, let alone even be good enough to be considered mediocre. There are not enough adjectives in the English language to describe how truly awful this game looks to be!
@MikeLove Actually, it is VERY debatable, at least if you're an open minded soul. I don't know if you are in any way involved with making games yourself or not, cause that would be another reason to not pass judgment since none of us know (unless you're in the game development business) what can be done in what time scale and from what I've read before he's only a one man team and had to call in help from others to even get it going. And then there's the waiting for approval from Nintendo: who knows how long that took? And is he working full time on this or does he have a "regular" job besides game development? For all we know it may be a hobby that has gotten out of hand...
So, I still say that such a definitive verdict as "it WILL be cr@p" can't be made in any reasonable manner, since this (admittedly underwhelming) trailer is all we have to go on and nothing playable is present as of yet.
It makes me sad that people are so often so quick to judge nowadays if they see something that doesn't appeal to them right away. Whether it's the art style of a game, the story or the characters in it. A lot of games, on Nintendo systems too, could be named as example and almost always the preemptive judgment would be that a game deemed so horrible for whatever reason could never be any good. History has proven complainers wrong time and again. But instant gratification seems to be king now and one of the symptoms of that is hordes of people condemning certain styles of graphics because they think that is the most important part of what makes a game good...
Therefore, even besides my own opinion, we simply can't say for a fact that this is going to be bad: It can go either way. That you choose to believe in the worst possible outcome from the get go is your opinion and you're welcome to it, but I'll reserve my judgment until the game is actually out.
If by then it actually proves to be horrible, I'll gladly acknowledge that you were able to predict the future correctly and I'll trade in my crystal ball for one that actually works...
Stranger things have happened than this game turning out good. Namely, this game turning out to be in any sort of development at all! Seriously, color me surprised. This game being released in the first place would be a greater surprise than it getting a review score greater than 2/10.
@Tops No, you get my point, though. Those games were made by huge developers with great and even amazing track records. In the end, those games ended up not being as good as the rest of Ubisoft and Bungie's respective libraries. Good games? Sure, but nowhere near as good as past titles.
Just because Mad Men Football is made by one guy with minimal experience doesn't automatically mean he's doomed to fail. We all certainly thought Destiny was going to exceed expectations with an exponentially larger budget than this guy and the development team behind Halo, but it didn't. Who is to say this guy can't pull off something great?
My expectations argument wouldn't hold water if the titans of development didn't have their missteps. Heck, even Nintendo was behind it's fair share of disappointments with Virtual Boy, Zelda II, and Yoshi's New Island.
Trying to assume this game could turn out even remotely good is truly a waste of thought processing.
One could be out playing football! Or bashing one's head against a brick wall! I would rather do both than play this horrific game.
I think that there are opportunitys on the Wii U for indie sports titles due to the lack of EA titles. Unfortunately this doesn't look like it will/should be a success.
They need to get back to basics with fun 8-bit style game play but with more modern performance (so a NES or N64 look would be ok if it is smooth scrolling 60fps).
N64 retro styled graphics, huh? It's an interesting idea, but I don't know if it will be all that popular. 16-bit retro styling (and to a lesser extent 8-bit styling) works mainly because the era was the pinnacle of 2D sprite graphics, whereas the 32/64 bit generation was the first shaky step into 3D polygonal graphics which have mostly aged horribly by modern standards.
@Tops I think that If you had read our previous comments the way we intended them, then the message should come across that the expectation argument stands for the purpose that we used it for. But thanks for giving your point of view, though.
Let's look at it this way: all developers have to start somewhere and there are plenty of developers that made a good first game, so why wouldn't we reserve judgment? This is like convicting someone for murder without having enough facts to make it even possible to pass such a verdict.
Simply put: objectively speaking, we need more evidence (like real trailers, not this slide show and something playable or fit for a preview)...
It's laughable that he's trying to make it sound as if he intended for the graphics to be bad. N64 style graphics should not be achieved, and they even look better than that. He is only making it sound as if it's "retro" because that's just the extent of his skill.
This is a joke. Literally, you must be joking if you expect this game to be taken seriously.
People defending this game crack me up. Have at least some semblance of standards.
this games development cycle is taking the whole lifespan of Wii U.
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