Neither, to be honest. It's not a gimmick because its a substantive addition that improves realism. It's not a revolution because it wasn't fully realized, and as far as I've seen, might end up going unused on my console as the flaws are starting to outweigh the benefits.

Its great that the Madden team wanted to give the game more added realism, but for me I enjoy strategizing during the game and picking my own plays. If they want Gameflow/Gameplan to become a widespread/popular feature, that definitely need to add more depth to it. As for in Madden 11, I'm definitely stickin to conventional playcalling.

I don't see it as a gimmick, I think that with some tweaking it could become a new way to play as long as they give you the option to call your own plays!

Great blog post Chris. As someone who has coached high school ball and who hopes to do it again, gameplanning is one of my favorite aspects of what will likely be in NCAA 12. If EA tweaks the system so that it works properly and puts the weapons feature back in, it would be a nice combination. Also, they need to incorporate 80 man rosters and roster cuts in order to make the pre-season relevant. The hall of fame game would be nice too.

I don't see it as a gimmick but I didn't like my brief time with it on the demo.

To truly take the next step in football video gaming it won't have anything to do with features imo. It will simply be about getting the cpu AI to play smarter. When the day comes that playing the cpu feels like playing another human then I will be ecstatic. Football is the hardest sport to replicate that feeling imo.

I don't think it's a gimmick if you can make a gameplan and use it for gameflow. Then they are plays of your choosing that you are running.

you dont need gameflow to pick your play by down and distance that is more than likely how every SIM player plays

I agree with Blocknose. My friends and I started a *quick* dynasty last night just to see how franchise play worked. Took the Lions, no trades, sim the preseason and lets rock. Just picked our captains.

Now on its face, I didn't get into it TOO much... I felt that the computer playcalls were far too conservative (ran 5 straight times with a 21 point deficit in the 3rd - a first down and then two additional) - but as it was a test I refused to audible out until it was 3rd and 13 at the end of the 5th play and they called yet another run... NOW, to be fair - we played with the stock gameplan. I think if I actually put my OWN gameplan in, this feature could not only be realistic, but an amazing interpretation of the QB's interaction with the coordinator. What I *do* wish, was as we were playing cooperatively... that the coachspeak in my "helmet" (headset) gave me more ideas such as reads, etc. Kinda like how Cap Rooney was relaying stuff to Willie B. in "Any Given Sunday" - "watch the robber on your right" - "its a beautiful thing to watch you throw, kid" - other than just what they show all players on the screen underneath the line. I do not think it is a gimmick, however. With a proper gameplan, I think it could be incredibly rewarding, it speeds the game up greatly, and offers a realism unlike anything we've seen. With the ability to still go to the playbook, I love the feature!

It's neither in my book. Why are you so hung up on the word "revolution"?

they need to start keeping things more than 2 years. I want the vision cone back. Gameflow seems like something that could be great

Well said adembroski, that was my view as well, though I categorize it as gimmick because it's not fully realized, and more than likely will never be. EA has a history of adding something, and then leaving it. GameFlow was meant to make the game more simple for casual gamers, end of story. It wasn't fully realized because there was no more need to make it so as the casual gamers (it's real target) would never have used the additional features.

Madden 11's goal this year for features was to entice casual fans, or to build features that had an immediate ROI in the form of coins or MS Points. Casual fans were a target because they believe they have lost them due to the complexity of the game. It seems EA and their team want to make every excuse for their product rather than face the fact that the quality comes up short. 2 years ago I would have said Ian was going to change that in the game, but I don't see it happening now. I see more excuses, a shift to casual fans, and a HUGE drive towards a virtual economy to nickel and dime their existing user base.

Madden 11 seems to be available for $40 everywhere this year. I believe the sales will be up this year, they should, for a product that's two-thirds the price it usually is, but it will be interesting to see if the gains carry over to M'12.

Of course it isn't a revolution. Come on. Think about the meaning of that word. We've had the American Revolution, the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, the Digital Resolution, and so on and so on...

The point is a revolution is something that is a changing event. It's something that when it happens things are totally different and they can never go back. And it's not a minor change...it's a major change in ideology or history.

Bringing this back down to a more pedestrian level, do you think football video games have changed forever because of game flow? Can we never go back to another video game without it?

The answer is clear: this isn't a revolution, and some may not even think it's evolution..but that depends on your opinions. But it is most certainly not a revolution in any sense of the word.

@valdarez
Once again it's a business. The entire video game and electronic industry has shifted toward pulling in more mainstream clientele. Why should EA choose otherwise? Madden 11 is a good game that builds upon the solid madden 10. I'm expecting the greatest madden game of all time with madden 2012.

@shadthedad
Agreed. Though I believe Madden is the predominant game on a console to so closely be run like a business with genuine business goals/targets year over year, rather than producing the best experience (whatever that experience may be). The biggest driver there is Mr. Moore, who wants to see the M$ Points ecnomy realized in Madden via the coins economy. He's taking it there, and everyone else whether they want to or not.

Well written Mr. Sanner. I think Gameflow is here to stay. The convenience of simply hitting "A" to kick off or punt is very appealing to me. So far, I've loved gameflow on offense, but have been tentative to use it on defense.