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Madden NFL

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File:Madden07.jpg
Official cover for the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 07, starring Shaun Alexander.

Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The game is named after John Madden, a well-known football color commentator and formerly a successful Super Bowl-winning professional football coach during the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders. Madden insisted that he would only give his endorsement to a game that was as close to real life football as possible. Madden's nephew, Al, is reportedly the family's liaison to EA.

Early versions

The first version of the game was released in 1989 for the Apple II, as John Madden Football. The first console version (and the version that made it a top-selling franchise) for the Sega Genesis followed in 1990 with a Super Nintendo version available a year later. EA Sports has released annual updates for all versions since 1991's John Madden Football '92. The series gained full NFL licensing and became known as Madden NFL with 1993's Madden NFL '94; NFL players licenses came two years later. The game's total franchise sales surpass 51 million worldwide, most of it in the U.S. [1]

2000s

The games are currently available for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Microsoft Windows (Marketed as PC), Nintendo DS, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, and Xbox 360 platforms, while a version of the game is slated to become available for the Wii. A PlayStation 3 version has also been announced, and on April 27, 2006, EA announced plans for the '07 Wii version as a launch title for Nintendo's latest console. A version of Madden NFL 07 has also been made for Mobile Phones. These 10 different versions of Madden NFL 2007 will set a new record for versions of the game in a single year.

Madden NFL '07

Madden NFL 07 was released on August 22, 2006. In anticipation of this year's release, ESPN and EA have teamed up to produce an exclusive pay-per-view event, Inside Madden NFL 07, airing on Friday, August 4 at 8 p.m. ET and re-airing throughout the month of August. In this special, EA game designers, top-ranked players and others will lead fans on a guided tour through new changes and advances in all aspects of the game. To mark the debut of Madden NFL '07, EA Sports released Madden NFL '07 in tiny Madden, Mississippi - the only municipality in the United States to have the same name as Coach Madden. With a population of 74, each resident of Madden, Mississippi received a free Xbox 360 gaming console and a free copy of Madden NFL '07. NFL stars in attendance were Jerry Rice, Warren Moon, and Marshall Faulk. Madden NFL '07 was playable in full form via Xbox 360 kiosks as well.

Evolution

File:Madden90.jpg
John Madden Football (1990).
File:N64 Madden NFL 2001.jpg
Screenshot of Madden NFL 2001 (Nintendo 64 version).
File:927449 20050422 screen001.jpg
Prerendered CGI of Madden NFL 2006.
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Screenshot of Madden NFL 2006 (PlayStation 2 version).
File:Madden06Screen.jpg
Madden 06 Xbox 360 version.

The game has grown, refined and matured over the years, adding many new features. Among these is voice commentary, allowing players or watchers to hear the game being called as if it were a real game on TV. The commentary is by John Madden teamed with his regular broadcast partner, which meant Pat Summerall (Madden's partner during his days at CBS and Fox during the early 1980s on through the early 2000s) until he retired; the role is now filled by Al Michaels, John's current broadcast partner on NBC Sunday Night Football (and former partner from 2002 through 2005 on ABC Monday Night Football).

1980s

The original version of the game was commissioned by EA founder Trip Hawkins in 1984, and originally ran on an Apple II. EA had just shipped the hit Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One on One and would soon begin work on Earl Weaver Baseball and World Tour Golf, which together were the foundation for the EA Sports line of video games. The Apple II was not fast enough to show all the players running in real formations on the field. Madden personally rejected the initial proposed build because there were only seven players on each team. After several years of unsuccessful experiments the game finally shipped in the late 1980s and did not sell well.

1990s

When the Sega Genesis gained popularity in the early 1990s, EA tried again. Producer Richard Hilleman brought in veteran sports game designer Scott Orr, who had founded 1980s Commodore 64 game publisher GameStar and had led the design of their best-selling sports games. The team of Orr and Hilleman designed and led the development of what is today still recognizable as the modern Madden Football, the highest revenue-generating video game series in North America in game history. Early versions of Madden were created by outside studios (including Park Place Productions and Stormfront Studios) but by the late 1990s development was centralized internally at EA Tiburon in Orlando, Florida.

2000s

There are multiple modes of game play, from a quick head-to-head game to running a team for a whole season or even multiple seasons. Online play, which was a new feature for Madden NFL 2003 was only available for users of the PlayStation 2 console or a Microsoft Windows PC until earlier this year. At E3 2004, Microsoft and EA Sports released a press statement announcing that games made from July on will now be Xbox Live-enabled. In August of 2004, EA Sports released Madden NFL 2005 and thus became a fierce competitor in the Xbox Live Community.

Also, starting with Madden NFL 2004, EA Sports created the new "Play Maker" tool, using the right analog joystick found on many controllers. This allows the players to make pre-snap route adjustments, as well as defensive alignment adjustments. In Madden NFL 2005, EA Sports further utilized the right analog joystick by creating the "Hit Stick", an option on defense that allows the controlled player to make big hits that can cause fumbles. In the second-to-most-recent edition to the Madden series, Madden 06, the truck stick was introduced. This feature allows the offensive player to lower his shoulder and break a tackle, or back juke to avoid one. Another new feature is the 'Superstar Mode', which allows the player to take control of a Rookie, and progress through his career. This includes an IQ test, the NFL Draft, hiring an agent, and other aspects of a superstar's life. However, the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 06 lacks many of these features and only includes a play now, season, and stripped-down franchise game modes; the graphics, however, are superior to the other versions.

Coaches

Due to a contractual obligation, Bill Parcells cannot appear in the Madden NFL series until his television contract with ESPN actually expires. Currently, the game names the Dallas Cowboys head coach "Dallas Coach." New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is also not in the game because he is not a member of the NFL Coaches Association, which sells the rights to have the coaches' names in the game.

On December 13, 2004, EA Sports announced it had secured exclusive rights to the NFL for the subsequent five years, precluding any other third-party from selling a football game using NFL players, teams, stadiums or other licenses.

The "Madden Curse"

Prior to 2000, all of the Madden NFL game box covers prominently featured John Madden only. When EA started to have NFL players on the cover of the Madden NFL games, some later (half-jokingly) speculated that there was a "Madden curse": a coincidental series of misfortunes that befell the product's cover-athletes. People started noticing a pattern with St. Louis Rams' halfback Marshall Faulk from the fallout of a Super Bowl-winning season, and great season statistics earned a cover spot. The following year his stats dropped sharply compared to his prior season. Also the Atlanta Falcons' star player, quarterback Michael Vick, was injured during the 2003 preseason after posing for the cover of Madden 2004. Vick suffered a broken fibula in a preseason game against Baltimore, the day after Madden 2004 was released to retailers. The injury resulted in a painful 5-11 year for Vick's team. Although people who believe in the curse state that the featured player will wind up having a weak or injury-prone season, EA officials point out that Ray Lewis and Eddie George appeared on the covers of the 2005 and 2001 versions, respectively, and had successful seasons without injury.

Barry Sanders

  • The first NFL player to be on a Madden NFL cover was Barry Sanders in 1999, for Madden 2000. He shared the cover with the then-customary picture of John Madden. However, a week before training camp began in 1999, Sanders abruptly retired - ending his career and leaving the Detroit Lions without their star running back of the previous 10 years. Sanders' part in the curse is debated because he is not pictured alone on the box, and he had willingly retired.

Dorsey Levens

Dorsey Levens was also featured on the 2000 cover, but that version of the game is much less common. He was cut by the Green Bay Packers in 2001, and finished his career in 2004.

Eddie George

  • Eddie George, then of the Tennessee Titans, who graced the 2001 box, was the second 'cursed' player. Although he had the best year of his career, rushing for 1,509 yards, catching 50 passes for 453 yards and scoring 16 total touchdowns, he was cursed by bobbling a pass in the playoffs. The pass was then intercepted by Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who returned the ball for a touchdown. George, (up until then) known for his durability, would also get injured the following season. After regularly averaging nearly 4 yards per carry in his first five seasons and rushing for over 1,300 yards in each one, he averaged only 3 yards per carry and rushed for career lows of 939 yards and 5 touchdowns in the 2001 season. For the rest of his career, he never averaged more than 3.5 yards per carry, but did rush for over 1,000 yards twice and scored 14 touchdowns in 2002.

Daunte Culpepper

Marshall Faulk

  • Running back Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams, who was on the 2003 box, suffered an injury and had a bad season overall. He never broke through the 1,000 yards rushing mark for the rest of his career.

Michael Vick

  • One day after Madden 2004 hit the shelves featuring Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on the cover, Vick was injured during a preseason game, suffering a fractured right fibula. Vick played in only the last 5 regular season games, finishing with only 585 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. The Atlanta Falcons missed the playoffs and were already out of contention by the time Vick returned from his injury. They finished the season with 5 wins and 11 losses, a stark contrast to the team's 9-6-1 record the season prior.

Ray Lewis

  • Madden 2005 featured Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens. He had an injury that kept him out of the last game of the regular season. It was also Lewis' first season without a single interception, after posting a career-high 6 the previous year. The Baltimore Ravens also failed to make the playoffs that season (2004), after winning their division the year before. Furthermore, in Week 6 the following year, Ray Lewis' season was ended by an injury. [2]

Donovan McNabb

  • The Philadelphia Eagles' star quarterback Donovan McNabb was on the cover of Madden NFL 06. Prior to the 2005 season, McNabb had a highly-publicized feud with his teammate, wide receiver Terrell Owens (who was, coincidentally, the cover athlete for rival Sega Sports' ESPN NFL 2K5, though no "Curse" had been associated with that series of games and won't be, since EA purchased exclusive rights to the NFLPA, thereby eliminating any NFL-based competition). Also, in the first game of the regular season, McNabb took a hit to the chest from the helmet of Atlanta Falcons defensive tackle Chad Lavalais. After the game, it was revealed that McNabb had a 'sports hernia' [3] that needed surgery. Refusing to have the required season-ending surgery while the Eagles (who had made the Super Bowl the previous season) still had a chance to make the playoffs, McNabb played in discomfort and pain throughout the season. In the tenth game of the season, McNabb re-injured his groin when shoved to the ground by Dallas linebacker Bradie James while McNabb was attempting to tackle Dallas Cowboys defensive back Roy Williams, who was returning an interception for an eventual game-winning touchdown. McNabb did play the next series but was ineffective and then decided to pack it in for the rest of the season. On November 21, 2005, McNabb, on the advice of his doctors, opted to have season-ending surgery for his sports hernia; the Eagles had been eliminated from playoff contention and finished the year with a 6-10 record. [4] [5]

Shaun Alexander

  • The MVP of the 2005 NFL season was the cover athlete for Madden 07 in 2006. He broke his foot in Week 3 and will be out 2-4 weeks. At the time of the injury Alexander had only 187 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the season and has yet to rush for 100 yards in a single game. At the same point in the previous season Alexander had 257 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

Criticism

File:Madden 99 playstation cover.jpg
John Madden appeared on the cover of the game until 2000.

Annual updates and prices

The Madden NFL series each year is given annual updates that are generally small, sometimes a new feature or two, and updating the graphics slightly, all for the same $50 price as the previous years' title (now $60 on the next-gen Xbox 360 console). For example, Madden 2004 introduced a new feature: Build-A-Stadium, and the 2006 version had absolutely no updates on this feature. Many players have been calling for a Career Records listing in Franchise Mode (such as the top ten all-time rushers or passers) for many years, though the producers of Madden have never obliged. Still, the game sells well each year because of player movement in the NFL, as well as being the only "real" (or, official) NFL video game.

Missing features

Each year, Madden developers also fail to address certain issues that fans have found with the game. It has been debated that each year Madden removes features from previous editions only to make returns in future versions of games. The Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 06 removed many features and the ability to challenge plays. While the missing features from the Xbox 360 version of Madden would appear consistent with the argument, it has also been argued that EA simply rushed this version of the game to release so that the game would coordinate with the launch of the next generation console.

Exclusivity

In 2005, the producers of the Madden series, EA Sports, signed an exclusive licensing deal with the NFL and the NFLPA to give them the exclusive right to use the NFL's teams, stadiums and players in a video game, something which has been widely criticized. This exclusive license has put an end to competition in NFL video games and, some have suggested, this gives EA less incentive to maintain quality and a greater opportunity to increase prices. In this climate, some football games, such as the ultra-violent Blitz: The League, have elected to continue, seeking to distinguish themselves through innovative gameplay, while others such as the well-reviewed ESPN NFL 2K series have been forced to cease production. However, it should be noted that EA's exclusive licensing deal is not unique. The NFL has similar exclusivity deals concerning virtually all of its licensing (DirecTV, Reebok, CBS, Fox, etc.)

QB Vision Control

Another criticism comes from the new vision cone feature in Madden NFL 06 and beyond also features the new QB Vision Control. A cone, appearing as a spotlight emitting from the quarterback, simulates his field of vision. To make an accurate pass, the quarterback must have his intended receiver in his field of vision. Passing to a receiver not in the cone reduces pass accuracy significantly. The size of the quarterback's vision cone is directly correlated to his Awareness rating; Peyton Manning and Brett Favre see nearly the entire field at once, whereas a substandard quarterback such as JP Losman or Kyle Boller will see only a sliver of the field, however this has been very criticized by many fans because it may resemble some bias that EA Sports and the Madden series itself is frequently accused of.

Soundtracks

Main article: Madden NFL series soundtracks

The Madden Bowl

The Madden Bowl is a single elimination tournament held on the most current edition of Madden NFL. It has been held since 1995 during Super Bowl weekend in the host city and, in the past, participation included NFL players and celebrities. The Madden Bowl's participation has changed over the years from being an event held with athletes, musicians, and celebrities, to become an event where only NFL players invited to participate get a chance to play. Participants in the Madden Bowl are free to choose which team they will play as - the player does not necessarily have to play as the team that he plays for in real life. Winners receive a Madden Bowl trophy and recognition in the upcoming Madden video game.

The 2006 Madden Bowl, held during the weekend of Super Bowl XL in Detroit, Michigan, was televised on ESPN and premiered in April 2006. It is not to be confused with Madden Nation, which was a reality television show that chronicled a cross-country trip to crown the best Madden player in America, which also aired on ESPN.

Madden Bowl Winners

Voice cast

Note: Dates indicate the version number, not the calendar year when it was actually released.

References

  1. ^ [1]
  2. ^ "Will Ray Lewis be cursed?". CNN. 2005-05-07. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
  3. ^ [2]
  4. ^ "McNabb has history with 'cursed' products". ESPN. 2005-06-17. Retrieved 2006-07-21.
  5. ^ "Cover and out? McNabb latest Madden star to fall". ESPN. 2005-11-21. Retrieved 2006-07-21.

See also

Template:MaddenNFL-Athlete

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