Madden 11 Ships

Thanks to Amazon’s Prime service, with release day shipping to my door, Madden 11 should be waiting on me by the time I get home.

Apparently there are a lot of mixed emotions about this year’s installment on the various boards and blogs that cover such things as glitches in QB throwing motion animation sequences. I kid you not; Madden releases are serious business.

Once upon a time I would keep the previous version of Madden (or any other sports game for that matter) so I would have an option if the new version sucked (or contained some serious flaw). I would also use the older version as a point of reference; i.e. research what was improved, revisit how some previous feature worked, and other nutty stuff that I did as a game reviewer. Besides, I “collected” games – what a loser. These days I typically try to time throwing a sports game like Madden 10 on eBay to capitalize on the fact that the game is not fully discounted at retail and the new version is still a few months out. So if Madden 11 contains some major issue that was not in Madden 10, there is really no going back.

In the end I think things will be OK. The developers will address any serious flaws or bugs in the inevitable patch(es), and the player ratings and rosters will be adjusted a couple of times during the season. After playing the demo I hope items like piss poor punt return blocking and lack of quality kickoff returns will be addressed in the first gameplay patch.

If you are looking for an overhaul in the franchise system, that is not going to happen this year. After reading some of the comments from the producer, I am not sure if an overhaul of the franchise mode will ever see the light of day; apparently only a small, but very vocal minority of gamers care about such things as salary caps, owner mode, player rating progressions, and how the CPU handles trades, free agent signings, and the like.

I will be happy if I manage to get in a couple of games tonight. Typical “take these comments with a box of rock salt” impressions and comments forthcoming.

Happy Madden everyone!

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2 thoughts on “Madden 11 Ships”

  1. I’m doing regular shipping, due 8/12 via USPS. Of course I could pick it up at Target and then return the unopened Amazon one when I get that one. But I haven’t even installed the demo yet (just downloaded it).

    Signed up for an OTP league, not sure how many people they will get.

    I spent the $20 credit to preorder Little Big Planet 2 due out in November. I’m banking on Toys R Us and Best Buy having Buy 2 Get 1 free sales in September so I could get NHL and a couple of other games.

    Unless the OTP is really good, I will probably just sell Madden after about a month.

  2. I used the $20 credit to buy Tiger Woods 11 for my oldest son’s bday -Aug 22 he will be 12 which is just f’ing hard to believe! Anyway, he has been in the local First Tee golf program the past couple of years and this is the first time he has wanted a “real” golf game, so I figured why not.

    I have thought about LBP 2, but I know I will not get my money’s worth … so I will probably try to wait.

    I doubt I will do OTP … not to begin with. Just not a big fan of online leagues. Unless Madden 11 has some serious show stopper, I am sure I will be playing it for a while. Last year I really had a blast with Ultimate Team; would be nice if you could do some type of franchise or season mode. Maybe next year.

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