Guys this will be the first Rugby game on next gen. Lets just thank baby jesus and all the guys with the brains (devs) and the guys backing this with real money that we are getting one finally. For those of you who think they will get something like Rugby League Live that will not be the case. Rugby 08 was leaps and bounds ahead of the league game and I have no doubt that 2012 will destroy all aspects of RLL!
Everyone wants a manager mode similar to FIFA (Even tho FIFA manager has serious flaws with regards to many, many things including SPL season finishing at 33 games with the remainder 5 not accruing any points towards the overall league ladder, WTF!!!) but I think something like what they had done previously may be a little more realistic where you can play a whole season then once finished game over (E.g. Super 14). That would be a good addition to 2012 which would add to the longevity. Obviously this would not include player trades and we should all be OK with that because realistically players do not move from club to club as they do in soccer anyway.
That being said this is what they really need to work on...
1. Gameplay at breakdown... This would have to be one of the hardest things to get right and the most important. Maybe something simlilar to button timing like what you see on Guitar hero- as players go into the ruck/maul the team which has most forwards or suporting players closer to the breakdown having less or easier combinations of sequence ( PS3 x, x, x, x, o, o as oppossed to x, o, triangle, x, triangle, o,o if that makes any sense???) to give a realistic advantage also player skill would need to be implemented. Maybe including the R1 button with the button sequence mentioned for quick ball recycle at the cost of increased probibilty of knock ons or penalties? This is not button mashing it is button timing. For those who do not want to complicate the controls at the breakdown I would say that this part of the game must be complex because it is the very part that makes Rugby Union uniuqe from all other codes and achieve a game seperate from anything we have seen before. Forwards must be given the ability to make a difference in this game or else it will become a "who has the fastest winger" game.
2. Sliders. 2K sports and the guys who make MLB 'The show' out of San Diego are the masters at this. Even Madden 11 with all its fumble and break tackle bugs and OL crumble etc etc. is playable once a fully researched slider set has been implemented. This is so important as if something like knock ons become to prevalent you can adjust knock ons to being less frequent- It can make a huge difference to gameplay even make a game playable that is not playable when on default settings (ala Madden).
3. Licensing is important but player likeness not so at this early stage. Just make sure the guys have the right skin colour and hair length and colour. Dont worry about player create/ Team custom mode. We want a realistic game not one with me playing as an All Black at centre or Paraparaumu college playing in the super 14. Do not waste time and resources on this please! at least not yet.
4. Dont worry about making it fun for fickle people.....Dont add any silly features like 3 v 3 online or player mode where you move up the ranks to play for your country. This cannot be done unless the game is fully authentic and will take years to even get anywhere near games like The Show or 2k11 NBA(And even those guys dont have it anywhere close to 100%).
5. Online play. All features like WC online similar to Madden online franchise(One of the greatest ideas EA have ever come up with although have not extended on the platform since 10 which is a shame) could be something added in the next version but for now just keep it basic. Us hardcores will develop websites for our competitions like we have been for many, many years so all we need is flexible game options like weather stadium selection squad selection strip selection before the game commences(Dont miss this one- the last thing we need is a WC quarter final between Scotland and New Zealand in the mud). Updated rosters would be good but not something we need straight away if to hard to implement.
Thats all for now as I really do have to get back to work.
Thanks again to all those responsible for getting this game up and running and to all those involved with the development of this game.
