Madden NFL 13 loses Infinity Engine on Wii U

While the Wii U version of Madden NFL 13 will tout some exclusive new features over its Xbox 360 and PS3 brethren, it's going to be missing a few crucial features from the other console versions.

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While the Wii U version of Madden NFL 13 will tout some exclusive new features over its Xbox 360 and PS3 brethren, it's going to be missing a few crucial features from the other console versions that make this year's iteration "improved" over last year's.

Perhaps the most significant feature absent in Madden's Wii U debut is the Infinity Engine. In the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game, this system revamps the game's physics system. Instead of running the updated engine, the Wii U will be stuck with the physics from Madden NFL 12.

Speaking to ESPN (via Joystiq), game producer Yuri Bialoskursky admits that the team "definitely wanted to get the physics into the game." However, "it's just something we weren't able to achieve for this first year on the new hardware. A lot of times, new hardware comes with new challenges."

Bialoskursky points out that the Wii U version of the game will feature new ways of controlling the game thanks to the Wii U GamePad, something that should (hopefully) make up for the lack of the Infinity Engine, and other modes like Madden Ultimate Team and Online Team Play. "There's a lot of searching around, I think, on the other consoles," he said. But on the Wii U, "you don't have to dig through menus and dig back out of menus to find the perfect play."

Nintendo fans will probably be miffed by this somewhat incomplete version of Madden NFL, but hey--there's always next year.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    August 6, 2012 11:15 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Madden NFL 13 loses Infinity Engine on Wii U.

    While the Wii U version of Madden NFL 13 will tout some exclusive new features over its Xbox 360 and PS3 brethren, it's going to be missing a few crucial features from the other console versions.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 11:25 AM

      Please... tell me again how the Wii U stands up to the current gen ?

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        August 6, 2012 11:53 AM

        From what I've read its better than 360/PS3 but probably won't match up against the next-gen 720/PS4.

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        August 6, 2012 12:01 PM

        did you not read the actual article at all?

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          August 6, 2012 3:18 PM

          Reading encourages critical thinking, so probably not.

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      August 6, 2012 11:44 AM

      Seems odd they couldn't get the Infinity engine to work on Wii U since it shares a lot with the Xbox 360 in that both use a Power-PC based CPU and both ATI based GPU.

      This probably says a lot about what they think this game will sell on the Wii U. They probably had a very tight porting budget and decided to work in Wii U controller stuff plus Connected Careers instead of better physics because it isn't like any dedicated sports gamer is going to play it on the Wii U, let alone probably buy one at launch.

      I'm still update the Vita version this year won't all you to carry your franchise back and forth between PS3 and Vita like Sony setup with MLB The Show 12.

      Still amazes me how EA stovepipes there sports development and strategies. Instead of building a common base and framework for all their team-based sports games, its like each team is on some little island and they may do some trading once in a while but they never work together.


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        August 6, 2012 11:55 AM

        Yah at this point no one knows how well the Wii U is going to do... I don't think any publisher is going to dump tons of money into something that might not sell that well.

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        August 6, 2012 12:58 PM

        Rumor has it EA isn't too happy with Nintendo since they aren't using Origin as their network back bone.

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 11:46 AM

      Wow. Flagship feature of a flagship 3rd party title/port and it's already behind the "previous" generation right out of the gate...

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 11:47 AM

      [deleted]

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      August 6, 2012 12:27 PM

      Guys listen here, the Wii U IS Nintendo's next system. This is it. Whether it gets support from third parties or not is irrelevant. The Wii U will sell and not in the hundreds but in the millions. Would Nintendo want awesome third party support, of course. Will it curl up in a ball and die cause it cant get it? Don't bet your life on it.
      If one where to believe gamers on the web, then no one is playing the Wii any more and no Nintendo games are being sold. Do you really believe that's the case? Nintendo would have been bankrupt by now.
      The real question is whether or not those millions that buy the Wii U will want to play other kinds of games besides Nintendo first party games. Thats the real question. That was something that hurt the Wii. Look at Mad World and No More Heroes, excellent games but the Nintendo center simply did not or could not assimilate it.

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        August 6, 2012 12:31 PM

        the chain of logic in this post is amazing. Starts with how irrelevant 3rd party support is then says the real question is whether anyone will buy 3rd party games...

      • reply
        August 6, 2012 3:32 PM

        ruskisniper is that you?

    • reply
      August 6, 2012 12:40 PM

      Another console launch, another gimped version of Madden with missing features. Nothing surprising here folks.

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        August 6, 2012 7:33 PM

        This should be the headline of the article, and is the best point made in any post on this thread:) does anyone think madden 13 will have more features on the PS4 then the PS3? Lol madden sucks in its first run on any console.

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      August 6, 2012 12:41 PM

      Probably need to get the engine working well on the Wii U considering the dev kit wasn't available when the infinity engine was being made.

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        August 6, 2012 12:42 PM

        Also probably EA not wanting to dump a lot of money into WiiU development, until it's a proven platform.

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          August 6, 2012 3:56 PM

          i wouldn't want to dump money into developing on an unproven platform, too

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      August 6, 2012 1:34 PM

      So this definitely proves that Wi-U is inferior to current-gen consoles. Can't say I am surprised. Nintendo always is running behind the curve in the hardware department

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        August 6, 2012 1:49 PM

        no... it doesn't prove that at all.

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        August 6, 2012 2:33 PM

        Wasn't gamecube more powerfull than the xbox and ps2 or am I mistaken?

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          August 6, 2012 2:37 PM

          More powerful than the PS2, pretty inline with the Xbox depending on what you were doing and who was doing it, akin to the relative power levels of the 360 and PS3 today I think.

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          August 6, 2012 2:38 PM

          PS2, yes. Xbox, not quite.

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        August 6, 2012 2:55 PM

        It just proves they didn't get enough time to port the engine to the WiiU. Nintendo probably wanted Madden as a launch title.

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        August 6, 2012 4:28 PM

        Sure, where "always" is interpreted as "during the current generation" for some reason. That's not to suggest Wii U will have powerful hardware, of course. It looks like the low cost hardware route is their plan for the forseeable future.

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        August 6, 2012 4:41 PM

        Wow. These threads sure do bring out the "special" people.

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      August 6, 2012 9:09 PM

      It has nothing to do with power (which may or may not be an issue), when you're porting a game to a new platform with limited experience and probably hardware you port last year's game.

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