| 28 July 2010
Madden 11 senior producer Phil Frazier was on The Madden Voice radio show yesterday and addressed what seems to be the major concern among Madden player this year: the strategy pad.
Frazier told players to not be concerned about the changes in controls. Yes, it is like learning a new system after so many years of having the same style. However, the goal is to make the game more efficient for all players.
It seemed as though there were certain features over the past couple of years that were catered heavily toward the tournament players. But while the tournament players are the hardest of hardcore, they are the minority. And as Frazier mentioned during the radio show, the novice and players would get stuck.
"We've watched people with the game (past Maddens), and we've experienced the fact that you can get locked in that menu and run into a situation where you can't get out," Frazier said. "You do a line move, but you can't snap the ball because you're still in the line menu.
"There was so much functionality built into the pre-play adjustments, a lot of that was for the tournament crowd. There's a lot of people upset because they have to re-learn the system. All the functionality is still there, nothing has changed."
What some tournament players have mentioned -- and I agree with -- is that quick snapping will be exploited. Those on defense that don't learn the system right away or have trouble will get quick snapped on by their opponent and will have to adjust as the play is going on, which usually spells doom.
The CPU opponent does quick-snap, and Frazier said he'll be looking into that today. A change could possibly come before the Aug. 10 release, or possibly later on as part of a patch or game update.
Another part of Strategy Pad is that NCAA 11 does not offer it; that game still has the "traditional" system, so many players that play both games will have to learn two different systems.
Frazier said it's a valid argument, but not really noteworthy becuase a small population -- he said the percentage is in "single digits" -- own and play both games.
Frazier talks about how and why they picked Gus Johnson. He referred to the Brandon Stokley tipped touchdown catch last season that was a tipping point.
"This guy can deliver," Frazier said.
He mentioned Gus Johnson doing thousands of hours of audio voiceovers that will be in the game this year.
There's plenty more in this interview, and Commissioner T offers listener questions from the crowd, so be sure to listen to the whole show.
