Is Madden's Gameflow a Revolution or a Gimmick?

[infamyice]

It's a keeper, if used properly.

[boxboy99]

Can a gameplan be loaded for my computer opponet? When I edit the gameplans I assume the default teams playbook stays the same. I seen a couple people mention tweaking the computers playcalling but I am not sure how to do make this work.

[Instant C1a55ic]

I like using it when im in a hurry...so i guess it lives up to its purpose. Like everyone has said before me, it does have its problems. I made a gameplan and ranked all of my pass plays higher than my run, and i still run close to twice as many runs as passes.

However, i changed things up and made no gameplan and the game seemed to adjust to my teams strengths. Game flow properly set me up with plenty of play-actions and boot legs to set up the run. I was 19-25 for 270 with Kyle Orton on All-Pro.

[blackceasar]

I can't help but feel its a gimmick by EA to dumb down the game for the casual masses. Like I said in a post before, if you could Youtube or look up the commericals over the past 5-7 years they are always about new features/gimmicks EA has dumped into the game. You dont see commercials just about the game in general anymore. It's like Ian and the gang sit around in a board room every year and say "What 2-3 new gimmicks can we add to the game this upcoming year so we have a reason to make new commericals? These will be our new selling points". I honestly really feel this way. I think some of the crap they have put in OR changed in the game is just as much for selling points that can be talked about in commercials than anything else. Could you imagine a year where they actually really just fix everything thats broken and jacked up and gave everyone the Madden they really deserve? Good for us, but nothing to write home about for them.

The public turns on the TV and sees a Madden 11 commercial "quicker, simpler, deeper" and it gets the lemmings out there all hyped up as if to say "OMG! Madden does it again! hellz yeah I cant wait for this game to come out" It's marketing. Marketing and $$$ are the reason why every year madden feels like a patch of the previous year. Now some years the patch is larger than other years, but it's still really a patch. Underneath it all its the same game engine, same graphics engine, same controls etc that just get tweaked and spruced up but they have never been torn down and rebuilt from scratch since next gen hit. They will tell you it has been in some years but the smarter people know better than this.

Overall do I like Madden 11? Sure I do... its a fun NFL game...the ONLY NFL game. Do I feel like every year feels more like a super patch than a true evolution or revolution of gaming football? You bet. EA, you have a cute dog but for the most part he's been doing the same tricks since 2006. Sure you give him a trim here and there, a new cut, sometimes you spend a little time to get the wet dog smell off of him that the year before might have had but at the end of the day, it's still the same dog, but he's aging... and rather than give birth to a new puppy you try to get a few new tricks out of the current dog every year. I get that it's smart for your business and bottom line but don't BS the public. I mean the people that are truly important to you are still going to buy the game even if you're honest about it because they just want new rosters and the ability to throw 80 yard bombs from a 20 yard drop back all day online.

[Dog]

i think it could be the start of a revolution, but not right now

[TheMatrix31]

I didn't know about this feature going into it (didn't/don't pay attention to much to previews and all that) and turned it off almost immediately.

[simeoncam50]

Is gameflow a form of the NCAA version of family play? where the plays are picked for you and you just play. Maddens is spiced up a bit but is it not the same type of feature? I think it worksfor kids,my five year old played it well but for real gamers it is definitely a gimmick.

[MajorDutch]

I think it may be a little bit of both.

I think it's a neat feature for people that have been playing Madden for a long time, and it is something that newer players will use to get the hang of the game.

I also think that since outside of visual changes, not much else was changed and they needed a new feature to pass off.

Playing Gameflow with a headset on is pretty cool though.