Well to clear it up... there are two audible features so I'll clarify:
1. R-Stick Audibles (those ARE in the 360/PS3 game):
These are the audibles you can perform when you are on the field. Where you press the Audible Button adn then the R stick up, down, left or right. Each formation has 4 pre-defined audibles that you can tap into using this method. This feature is ok and all, but not the one I'm looking for.
2. Audibles On The Fly (These have NEVER been in the PS3 / 360 game, only PS2:
With this feature, while at the play call screen, you highlight a play, you press down on the R stick, and then click on an audible button to assign that particular play to that audible button. You can re-define your audibles "on the fly" every time you are at the play call screen. I would alwyas pick 3 plays when I went to the line, a run left, run right and run gut if I came out in passing... or something else .. it all depends, but this was one of the best features ever, and I find it hard to believe that we still have not gotten it in the PS3/360 game.
It opens up the offensive game big time, it really is great.
Oh true, there were certainly much bigger issues in the on-line world than icons, but screen clutter is a big pet peve of mine, and the inability to turn them off was really an annoying one for me. I assume that it was a bug, but if they get rid of the icons period then I wont' have to worry about a bug
Another reason why I hated them. They provided no useful information what so ever. If anything, the info was misleading.
If they can be turned off EVERYWHERE (on-line is the only way I really play the game), then I have no problem with it. You can put in a feature where an oversized donkey shows up and takes a sh1t on my Left Tackles head, but as long as I can turn it off then I don't care. But with any feature that you can turn off, there's always the risk of a bug where for some reason you just can't turn it off... and that is always a concern.