Madden 11 Impressions

[Rodster]

Any good Madden 11 deals out there?

Mizz, you might want to check with Gamestop and see if they're still doing the $40 trade in of Madden 10 for Madden 11. That's what I did, I traded M10 towards M11 after the NFL was already over.

I don't have M10

That's a shame. I don't shop at Gamestop anymore but I couldn't pass up on that deal.

[Rodster]

Supposedly the commentary will be more dynamic in the release version;not enough room on demo according to devs.

IGN posted their impressions of the final build. While they say it's a really good game this year the audio is still all over the place. Too bad the Madden team can't get help from EA Canada who does the FIFA and NHL games.

[Rodster]

I don't have M10

[GTHobbes]

I wonder how many sales are added each year due to all of the special deals that are run out by gamestop, walmart, amazon, dell, etc., etc., etc. I mean, if people had to pay $63.59 each year for Madden the way we do for just about every other game that comes out, I wonder if they'd still crack 3 million sold. Regardless, thanks for the continued deal alerts.

[Aristo]

Trading in two titles from that list is a significantly worse deal than getting $40 for last year's Madden. In fact, of the games I have that I would consider trading in, $20 doesn't seem like that great of a deal.

[Rodster]

I wonder how many sales are added each year due to all of the special deals that are run out by gamestop, walmart, amazon, dell, etc., etc., etc. I mean, if people had to pay $63.59 each year for Madden the way we do for just about every other game that comes out, I wonder if they'd still crack 3 million sold. Regardless, thanks for the continued deal alerts.

So I take it you won't be trading in Backbreaker towards M11.

edit: actually it's not really a bad deal because some of those games like Tiger Woods 10 and NBA Live 10 probably aren't worth $20 by themselves.

[AJColossal]

For what it's worth, I was still able to get $40 for NCAA 11. The guy at Gamestop said they're not really *advertising* that deal anymore, but if you bring it up they may honor it.

Worth a shot.

[Danimal]

I wonder how many sales are added each year due to all of the special deals that are run out by gamestop, walmart, amazon, dell, etc., etc., etc. I mean, if people had to pay $63.59 each year for Madden the way we do for just about every other game that comes out, I wonder if they'd still crack 3 million sold. Regardless, thanks for the continued deal alerts.

Yeah because no other big titles have deals with Gamestop

[Danimal]

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/

Bill's impression, pretty much what i was expecting. What a f***in waste of a years worth of development.

[Murph]

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/

Bill's impression, pretty much what i was expecting. What a f***in waste of a years worth of development.

Bill made sure we knew this was NOT a review.

[MizzouRah]

http://nutweasel.blogspot.com/

Bill's impression, pretty much what i was expecting. What a f***in waste of a years worth of development.

I noticed some of his issues in the demo, disappointing they haven't been addressed yet.

Looks like I will stick with NCAA 11 for now and maybe pick up Backbreaker post patch.

[Rodster]

For what it's worth, I was still able to get $40 for NCAA 11. The guy at Gamestop said they're not really *advertising* that deal anymore, but if you bring it up they may honor it.

Worth a shot.

Here's a better deal. Tiger Woods 10 is now on clearance at Target for $7.48x2 = $14.96, take both copies to Gamestop and trade then towards M11. You'll get your $40 trade

[Lancer]

Gameflow for me is useless now. It was nice the first day or so, but after that it's just sort of a waste of time. I will probably never use it in the full version. I agree with what he said about the new strat pad. It's more complicated than the NCAA 11 'old' Method. I hope that was not advertised as a new feature.

I'll still get madden, Im a NFL guy. and it's all we got.

[Wilk5280]

The "old way" is being patched back into the game. Don't expect it until Sept. sometime.

I was seeing a lot of the big plays Abner was talking about, but I've been able to cut them down a lot, at least on defense. I think the reason we see them while on offense is because the D is really aggressive in this game and it brings a lot of people up to the line. If you get past that first layer, a lot of times there's nobody back to help. I see the cpu run a lot of safety blitzes which = trouble in videogame football.

I don't see where he likes the defensive pass rush at all. Other than one game (Broncos at Jags), I get little to no pressure on the QB, at least in the form of sacks. I may get some hurries, but sacks are far too few and far between.

The idea that you will play a game of Madden in 30 minutes is true...if playing on default settings. If you are reading this blog you most likely do not do that. You most likely, like me, play with 13 to 15 minute quarters with the Fast Clock option turned on so that you get a realistic number of plays. If you do that expect anywhere from 60-70 minutes per game. This is with Gameflow turned on, btw.

Did he really expect to play a game with 13-15 minute qtrs. in 30 minutes????

Big Plays. There are simply too many. In my last game vs the Steelers I had plays of 53, 59, 67, and 79. (3 passes and 1 run). Will sliders alter this? Perhaps. But this is a pretty common thread I am seeing each game I play. Big plays are exciting but right now the idea of playing a game of Madden with 110-120 plays a game and the score being 17-10 ...is unlikely.

This comes back to where he mentioned a few bullets above this one about the defensive AI needing tweaked. I wouldn't say it's completely the awareness, but maybe I'll have to test it out. I say it's more like it's just way too aggressive. Either way, there are a lot of big plays. One way of controlling that for your own defense is to take control of a safety instead of playing with a DE.

Fortunately for me I play mostly head-to-head online with friends so the cpu AI issues get cut way down. Regardless, I'm having a lot of fun right now with my Broncos franchise (more like season for me, it's all I'll play). I seldom get through an entire season without quitting on it. Playing the cpu in general for any sports game really is just not fun for me.

[TheTruth]

The idea that you will play a game of Madden in 30 minutes is true...if playing on default settings. If you are reading this blog you most likely do not do that. You most likely, like me, play with 13 to 15 minute quarters with the Fast Clock option turned on so that you get a realistic number of plays. If you do that expect anywhere from 60-70 minutes per game. This is with Gameflow turned on, btw.

Did he really expect to play a game with 13-15 minute qtrs. in 30 minutes????

I believe he was referring to one of the advantages EA is claiming with the new Gamflow system.

[Bill_Abner]

The idea that you will play a game of Madden in 30 minutes is true...if playing on default settings. If you are reading this blog you most likely do not do that. You most likely, like me, play with 13 to 15 minute quarters with the Fast Clock option turned on so that you get a realistic number of plays. If you do that expect anywhere from 60-70 minutes per game. This is with Gameflow turned on, btw.

Did he really expect to play a game with 13-15 minute qtrs. in 30 minutes????

I believe he was referring to one of the advantages EA is claiming with the new Gamflow system.

Correct.

[Leebo33]

The gameflow cutting gameplay down to 30 minutes is also a reason why they've said the need for in-game saves is not a higher priority with them, which is utterly ridiculous.

[Leebo33]

I wonder how many sales are added each year due to all of the special deals that are run out by gamestop, walmart, amazon, dell, etc., etc., etc. I mean, if people had to pay $63.59 each year for Madden the way we do for just about every other game that comes out, I wonder if they'd still crack 3 million sold. Regardless, thanks for the continued deal alerts.

Yeah because no other big titles have deals with Gamestop

Not to get too far O.T., but anyone that is paying $63.59 for any game at this point is pretty much throwing good money away. I almost always have a 10% Best Buy coupon or a $10 off $50 TRU coupon available, Costco has many of the top selling games for 10%-15% off (Madden 11 will be in store on release day if the past 2 years are any indication), and plenty of online retailers like Amazon and Dell routinely have deals. That doesn't even count the buy 2 get 1 free offers that appear occassionally at Target/TRU/Best Buy.

[GameSeven]

Not to get too far O.T., but anyone that is paying $63.59 for any game at this point is pretty much throwing good money away. I almost always have a 10% Best Buy coupon or a $10 off $50 TRU coupon available, Costco has many of the top selling games for 10%-15% off (Madden 11 will be in store on release day if the past 2 years are any indication), and plenty of online retailers like Amazon and Dell routinely have deals. That doesn't even count the buy 2 get 1 free offers that appear occassionally at Target/TRU/Best Buy.

Amazon is running $20 game credit for Madden 11 right now. Although it *does* expire if not used, I have bought my last few titles from Amazon with anywhere from $10 to $20 credit per.

[Rodster]

I'm so glad Madden 11 is only costing me $19.99 this year.

[GameSeven]

I'm so glad Madden 11 is only costing me $19.99 this year.

Yes, in hindsight, I should've taken advantage of the trade-in as well

[JRod]

I'm so glad Madden 11 is only costing me $19.99 this year.

Or you could skip Madden 11 and head straight to NHL 11 and FIFA 11. Those are going to be my sports games of the year!

[Wilk5280]

Correct.

Not sure why you would expect that to be the case for anything other than default settings. To think that you're going to play a full game with 13-15 minute quarters, even with accel. clock, in 30 minutes is crazy. I mean think about it, all it does is basically pick your play for you.

It's a gimmick and a pretty shoddy one at best. Clearly a case of them trying to figure out a way to draw in more / new consumers.

[Zlax45]

I'm so glad Madden 11 is only costing me $19.99 this year.

Or you could skip Madden 11 and head straight to NHL 11 and FIFA 11. Those are going to be my sports games of the year!

Even though NHL and FIFA are coming out two weeks apart, I am doing this also. NO MADDEN FOR ME!

[MizzouRah]

Correct.

Not sure why you would expect that to be the case for anything other than default settings. To think that you're going to play a full game with 13-15 minute quarters, even with accel. clock, in 30 minutes is crazy. I mean think about it, all it does is basically pick your play for you.

It's a gimmick and a pretty shoddy one at best. Clearly a case of them trying to figure out a way to draw in more / new consumers.

I didn't think it was "shoddy" I actually like gameflow.