The iPlayoff; Madden NFL 11 and NFL 2011 go head to head

There have been many battles on the Gridiron, as recent as the Arizona Cardinals with their heart breaking loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII and dating all the way back to Super Bowl I where Bart Starr and The Green Bay Packers handed the KC Chiefs, a 35-10 loss. There have been many battles in between.

Now, in 2010, the battle will be in the in the palm of your hand; in the form of the iPod Touch or iPhone. The question is, Which team will prevail; Gameloft and NFL 2011 or EA Mobile and Madden NFL 11 ? You will have to read on to find out.

I recently took a look at and reviewed Madden NFL 11 by EA Mobile, and was quite impressed, being the arm chair QB that I profess to be. Time out though. It would be illegal use of the hands to not try another game that will bring the arm chair QB to stardom.

To start out, the graphics on both were nothing short of incredible. The detail on the uniforms as well as the players moves and even looks, were amazing. However Madden does offer a choice of uniforms, whether it be Home, Away, Alternative Home and Away, and also the Throwback style. That however is just a cosmetic difference, but none the less, may be important to some users.

The rosters on both games are fully up to date. One feature I would like in both apps, is an update of the roster. The example here, is that in NFL 2011 by Gameloft, I noticed that Tory Holt was #84 on the Patriots. I was excited to see him in the game as he is a great player. In looking him up on the Patriots website, I found he was put on the IR list.

The placement of the onscreen thumb/finger control is in the lower left corner on both apps. Other controls are well placed. Formations, plays and motions, including audibles, penalties, etc., are dead on with what we see on the big screen. In playing on both, I actually got a delay of game penalty for failing to snap the ball on time. While I didn’t want the penalty in either case, it is great to see the accuracy in both cases.

So let’s say you are playing, and are wondering what is going on in the non fantasy NFL world ? You can either shut the game off and turn on the tv or look online, OR, if you have NFL 2011 by Gameloft, you can allow the RSS feeds right on your screen (on the bottom, scrolling). So once your great play is over, you can see the news scrolling below. If you see a news story that interests you, simply tap it and it will pause the game and bring it up in Safari.

Both games have the Licensing of the NFL and Players as well, so they are not fly by night at all. Madden NFL 11 has the ability for multiplayer games via Bluetooth. Gameloft NFL 2011 allows you to follow their onboard play book of over 200 plays, and/or create your own. In essence, Gameloft allows you to be a real gridiron field general. Indeed, I did try it, by bringing out my old HS playbook. Wouldn’t you know it, I scored a touchdown.

So in going through the features, game play, and graphics, I am equally impressed with both versions. However, in this first “unofficial” iPlayoff, a winner (in my opinion) has to be declared. That winner is Gameloft and NFL 2011. While Madden NFL 11 did have some impressive features that Gameloft did not, such as Bluetooth multiplayer and voice overs by the master of the obvious himself; John Madden, Gameloft and NFL 2011 edged it out for a couple of impressive features; The rss feeds and the ability to make your own plays.