EA Sports Responds to Madden 11 Strategy Pad Controversy

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Posted July 30th, 2010 at 3:07 pm

With the overwhelming negative response to the Strategy Pad in Madden 11 it was only a matter of time before EA Sports would officially respond. That came even a little quicker than expected with a new blog that has just been released that goes over the reasoning behind the change while acknowledging the uproar and communicating the ultimate solution. The old style of pre-snap adjustments will be patched into the game though it will probably be September by the time it arrives.

We do believe that this change is for the better, and that in the long run it delivers a much more positive experience to the gamers that are willing to try and adapt. Due to the overwhelming feedback however, we will be providing the old-style button commands as an option that can be enabled. We are currently targeting this change to be released around the first week of the NFL season as it will take some time to get through third party approvals.

Patching in the old controls while leaving the Strategy Pad as the default made the most logical sense of anything that could be done. If EA believes that the Strategy Pad is more welcoming to inexperienced gamers and solves some issues then great, however having the old way of doing things as an option is only fair to those who have bought the game year after year. They have made other changes in the game but have continued to make them optional, however in this case for some reason overlooked the potential reaction that would come from removing it completely.

The only question now is whether the fix will come too late. EA was much more responsive with this issue collecting feedback immediately and implementing a plan to resolve it within days as compared to what went down with Fight Night Round 4. In that case there was consumer uproar over the removal of the button control configuration that was ignored by EA leading to them literally telling people to get over it or move on. Gamers actually did move on as FNR4 took a big hit in sales, only for the button controls to be patched a few months after release. Will there be an impact in being stuck with the Strategy Pad for a month or however long it takes? That will be something to monitor. As always leave your thoughts on the developments in the comments!

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  • HUEJAC2

    Now that some of the emotions have worn off maybe now I can better cumunicate my feelings about the new Madden. Love the graphics. As for the strategy pad it is faster in some ways. However, it's hard for me to get use to not being able to use the directional pad direct the player.

    I thought last year that the defense had too much timIf e to make adjustments now, its totally dictated by the offense. If the offense makes 1 2 or 3 adjustments the defense will have time to make adjustments as well. However this year if the offense wants to quick snap now unlike last the might have time for 1 adjustment. I guess that is some what realistic, which is why I stopped playing NFL 2k and started playing Madden in the first place. I would like to maybe see a little more time for defensive adjustments perhaps but that could change as get a little more use to the stratgey pad.

    What don't like is that all the head to head advances are now gone. Last year head head you could not tell what play your oppenent was calling until after the fact. Now every selection is high lighted in cluding hyper audibles. This is somethong I do not understand. What casual gamer can not remember if he or she touched the x or the o button?

    Over the with exception of no longer being able to use the directional pad to guide a player it's ok. I think both my self and others have over reacted to the changes but I still feel that EA should told us about the drastic changes in the control function.

  • Redskinsfan2424

    i hated playing with the pad the first couple of demo gams but after 5 games im used to it by now. and the game does feel more realistic and the only reaso i get madden is for the online play i am looking forward to the 3 on 3 and i really hope that there are no disconnect glitches people finish the fucking game

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  • Kaylab44

    u mean to tell me two weeks from now EA will not work overtime to give there loyal fans who love the game to put the old way back when the game come on EA if your'll know your'll have a great game this year and 1 thing what could spoil it for your fans with all of that complaints already with the Dpad give your fans what they want don't forget this slowgain THE CUSTOMERS IS ALWAYS RIGHT!!!!!!!!

  • pasta sucks

    I AGREE 100% WITH ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  • E_rock252

    Yes Nomore SP the people who make madden do not play online just assuming that millins of people made audible by accident online is crazy people do nano blitzing and 3 to 4 other audibles in a single play not by accident they want u just to be able to do one audible per play. SP will ruin the madden franchise for ever if they keep using it

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Corey-Ragland/13752595 Corey Ragland

    Yes people complain about wanting changes, but the things that end up getting changed are things that no one asked for. THAT'S why people get mad about changes like the SP

  • http://www.facebook.com/untamedyouth Jason Steele

    great news pasta! it is community websites like this one that give us one unified voice toward gaming companies. cheers!

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  • RageingKender

    Really really didn't care for the Demo, does anyone else miss the sprint button? I don't want to have to look for a hole when my line doesn't do it's job and block, I want to scurry and try to get the yard or two i can.

  • SCjumpman45

    Personally i was not impressed with the demo over all i might move my reserve to Halo :( i normally love madden but this year looks really poor

  • Austin

    Honestly, I think the Strategy Pad is/was only implemented to mask the exploits of Nanos, etc…

  • Terentiusxiii

    I HATE the new strategy pad! I want the option to make adjustments and audibles using the old method. The old method is second nature to me. Plus, when you play someone in person your opponent can see your adjustments and audibles.

  • Dwill0408

    I believe that it should be patched in for us old school players. And maybe they can do something about the tackling…these are pros and the computer especially on all-madden breaks way to many tacklers this needs to be fixed through a patch and not through tuning the tackling in the settings

  • Dwill0408

    on the real copy you can turn the sprint button back on. it was the same set up on ncaa 11 also

  • Mjterifaj

    Thank God, the strategy pad was almost as dumb of an addition to Madden as the “QB Vision” cone was a couple years ago. I was pissed off at it during the demo, let alone someone online that likes to run no-huddle. It gave you know time to move your secondary, line, linebackers, and make any individual assignment adjustments. You were pretty much screwed with whatever play you called due to all the extra buttons you would have to push.

  • Rain007

    You are on point with this article because I was a big fight night rd3 fan played the demo for rd 4 and didnt even attempt to buy it due to the controls hopefully EA will learn or else we need to rally for 2k sports before madden has a lock out like the 2011 NFL season!!!!!!!!!

  • Jimjones

    They arent losing money, they just arent making as much.

  • Helyksitz

    No, I’m waiting too and a few of my friends as well.

  • Varneyron99

    what! What! i was soooooooo excited to play franchise mode,,,,, they braged it up on the t.v show about madden,,,,, mmaann!!!!!!! and i would rater call my own plays i dont give a care if it take longer. what is the point of playing if i want the game shoter??!!

  • Alps1289

    strategy pad is terrible… i can’t even play the game it screws with my defense so bad

  • Tzcrosscountry

    changing controls on a game like madden that I have been playing since the days of Sega Genesis is equivalent to someone changing all the letters on a computer keyboard and then someone saying, “It’s O.K., you will get used to it! Things become automatic, and that automaticity is what separates good madden players from great ones.

  • Tim

    i definately like the old button scheme better… but im a gamer that can adapt…. but it seems to me that if you were going to the audible system MORE complicated… (more buttons to push etc.), then you would give the user more time after the play call to make these audibles…. i want the most realistic game possible… even when you play with the accel. clock on the comp still snaps the ball almost as soon as the get to the line… when do u ever see a play in the nfl that starts before 10 seconds left on the play clock except when the comp is trying to run out the clock??? if you are going to make it take longer to call those audibles… give us time to actually use it.

  • craig

    thats cause ur dumb!! iv never got stuck in the presnap menu..ur one of the reasons ea fucked madden 11 up for real fans of the genre…but lets not get carried away…as much as the pdad sucks and its one of the biggest problems in the game..its not the only problem..the kicking meter is cool if ur not playing online..but if u play online and theres any kind of lag at all, ur probably gonna kick out of bounce or miss a extra point..also..what happened to defense..why is it that the offense…no matter who the player is..can break multiple tackles? the zones in the middle of the field barely work ..u pretty much have to play as ur linebacker if u wanna cut off a play

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