Madden NFL 11′s strategy pad not winning over veteran gamers

The Madden NFL 11 demo recently went live (July 27, 2010), with the new features EA touted overshadowed by one change: the strategy pad.

The strategy pad changes the way players make pre-snap adjustments. In previous Xbox 360 incarnations, if you wanted to shift your linebackers right you simply hit right bumper and moved your analog stick right. Now to do the same thing you must hit down on the directional pad and right on the D-pad twice.

Casual players probably won’t notice anything at all. Grizzled Madden veterans, though, make numerous pre-snap adjustments. Or, at least, that’s what used to happen. The response to the strategy pad on Madden forums has been almost universally negative.

This controversy comes in a year Madden 11′s ad campaign proclaims the game is much simpler to play. Perhaps this is part of that effort. I’ve been playing Madden for years and can count the number of pre-snap adjustments I’ve made on one hand. I’m certainly no elite player and don’t claim to be. I win about 50 percent of my games and am totally OK with that.

There is a fine line between what’s a legitimate adjustment and what exploits a glitch in the game. It’s possible this is EA’s way to address some of these exploits. I don’t know how many adjustments the New Orleans Saints make on every play in the real NFL. I know that a game that requires players to move linebackers, press the corners and do two or three other things before every snap presents huge barriers to any casual play.

Even the experts in pre-snap adjustments are saying they’ll be lucky to make more than one change before their opponent snaps the ball now. New features such as Gameflow appear to make things easier for those who don’t know the entire playbook of their favorite team, or have any real desire to.

Feedback on the strategy pad is the exact opposite of what happened when EA changed the control scheme for Fight Night Round 4. Veteran players hailed the more complex scheme as ending “button mashing.” Casual players tried the demo and didn’t like analog based punching, and the game’s sales were hurt as a result.

Controversy aside, the strategy pad will likely not stop Madden NFL 11 from being one of 2010′s bestselling games. It releases August 10, 2010, on the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and PSP.

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Buy Madden NFL 11 from EA’s Online Store or from Best Buy for PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, Wii, PS3 or PC.