Ian Cummings’s post hints to the data showing issues . . . and I have to respect that they’re looking at this. Data tells the truth. My issue, however, is that not all Madden Gamers fall into the same bucket. I’m not saying that EA should cater to the 10% of the community that play tournaments or are highly competitive online (i.e. “hardcore”), but it’s nice that they’re in the process of reverting the controls for us.

There’s a little bit of a business study here – what happens to your brand (product, service, etc.) when you make changes that upset or alienate your most hardcore fans? I mean, after all, it’s us that interact the most online through blogs, Twitter, message boards, etc. Frankly, it’s us that drives demand – Madden Nation on ESPN wasn’t first-time players that were getting stuck in hot route mode. When they show MJD as the spokesperson in commercials, he’s not the kind of player that they’re catering to, either. There is a disconnect there.

Ultimately, perhaps you make changes based on the data for the other 90% of your consumers (i.e. the “mainstream”) . . . but you have to be real careful how you handle your 10% of most hardcore fans. The bottom line is that it’s us who drive the most demand for the game – not commercials or the EA blog.

It’s great to see EA learning their lesson here and reverting the controls back for us. And let’s be honest – if the Strategy Pad worked even halfway decent, there wouldn’t be this uproar. It’s poorly designed and cumbersome – the problem isn’t so much our rejection of “change”, but terrible design. History might not be written that way, but that’s the real deal.