Madden NFL

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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 football hall-of-famer John Madden, a well-known color commentator and formerly a successful Super Bowl-winning 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.^{[citation needed]} Madden's nephew, Al, is reportedly the family's liaison to EA.^{[citation needed]}

1 Early versions
2 Evolution
3 The "Madden Curse"
4 Criticism
5 The Madden Bowl
- 5.1 Madden Bowl Winners
6 Voice cast
7 References
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] 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 Mega Drive 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]

[edit] Evolution

John Madden Football (1990).

Screenshot of Madden NFL 2001 (Nintendo 64 version).

Prerendered CGI of Madden NFL 2006.

Screenshot of Madden NFL 2006 (PlayStation 2 version).

Madden 06 Xbox 360 version.

The game has greatly grown 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 1990s 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).

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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 (in this versions there are also mini-camp challenges) 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 penultimate 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.

In Madden 2006, EA introduced the QB Vision Feature. With this feature, a cone of spotlight emits from the quarterback during passing plays, simulating 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 an inexperienced quarterback such as J.P. Losman or Kyle Boller will see only a sliver of the field. This feature also allows for Precision Passing. With precision passing, users can pinpoint where the ball should go. It can be thrown high, low, left, right, etc.

In Madden NFL 2007, EA introduced "Lead Blocker Controls" which allow users to control blockers during running plays. In addition, EA redefined the Truck Stick into the "Highlight Stick". With the Highlight stick, users can have their running backs perform different running moves and combos, instead of just bowling over defenders. Truck Stick features still exist for bigger backs, but not for smaller backs who would never realistically use them anyways. Instead, more agile backs perform acrobatic ducks and dodges to avoid tackles.

[edit] Licensing

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 him "Dallas Coach." Also, 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 and its players' union for the subsequent five years, precluding any other third-party from selling a football game using NFL players, teams, stadiums or other licenses.

[edit] The "Madden Curse"

Main article: 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. This is similar to another EA game, Knockout Kings, in which many of the boxers put on the cover seemed to end up losing relatively soon.

In the 2002 edition of the game, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper appeared on the cover, and suffered an injury plagued year. People started noticing a pattern with St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk, who appeared on the 2003 edition cover of Madden, witnessed a sharp statistical decline the following year. The next year, Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was injured during the 2003 preseason after posing for the cover of Madden 2004. Vick suffered a broken fibula the day after Madden 2004 was released to retailers. The injury resulted in a 5-11 year for Vick's team. Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis broke his wrist and failed to record a single interception the season after he appeared on the cover of Madden 2005. Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb suffered two injuries during the 2005 NFL season, and the Eagles finished in last place after he posed on the cover of Madden 2006. And let's not forget about the controversy between him and Terrell Owens, which pratically ruined the Eagles season. Then Shaun Alexander suffered a broken foot and was out for more than three weeks after being on the cover of Madden 2007. In 2005, Shaun Alexander held the NFL record for most touchdowns in a season with 28 touchdowns. Three weeks after he returns from injuries, his record was broken by LaDainian Tomlinson with 29 touchdowns in a season. On a second note, commercials for the 2007 edition include a spot in which Daunte Culpepper, a former cover athlete, and Chad Johnson competing in a game. Once again, Culpepper was bitten by the Madden curse. After an inefficient and injury plagued start to the season, Culpepper was benched in favor of Joey Harrington, turning the Dolphins season around. In late 2006, a commercial for Madden (PS3 version) depicted the Indianapolis Colt's tight end Dallas Clark being tackled hard by an Eagles defender. A few weeks later, Clark suffered a sprained knee against the Philadelphia Eagles.

[edit] Criticism

The neutrality of this section is disputed.
Please see the discussion on the talk page.

John Madden appeared on the cover of the game until 2000.

[edit] 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 (which has caused the series' detractors to refer to each game as simply a roster update, such as Roster Update 2007), as well as being the only "real" (or, official) NFL video game.

[edit] 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.

[edit] 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.)

[edit] QB Vision control

The Vision Control feature continues to be controversial amongst certain Madden NFL fans. Some players think that the option makes the game more realistic, as real quarterbacks cannot look at one receiver while throwing a perfect pass to another. However, detractors of the feature argue that it is unrealistic to have to look with one's eyes for an open receiver, and then move the quarterback's vision to where one's eyes are. The lag in between spotting a receiver and moving the vision to a receiver can be all the difference in a complete pass and a sack. QB Vision Control was optional in Madden 2006 and Madden 2007.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Madden Bowl Winners

1995 - Reggie Brooks
1996 - Reggie Brooks
1997 - Jimmy Spencer
1998 - Morris Chestnut
1999 - Ray Mickens
2000 - Terry Jackson
2001 - Jacquez Green
2002 - Jacquez Green
2003 - Dwight Freeney
2004 - Dwight Freeney
2005 - Michael Lewis
2006 - Alex Smith

[edit] Voice cast

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

Color commentator: John Madden
Play-by-play: Pat Summerall (1996 - 2002)
Play-by-play: Al Michaels (2003 - present)
Sideline reporter: Lesley Visser (1996 - 2002)
Sideline reporter: Melissa Stark (2003 - 2004)
Sideline reporter: Jill Arrington (2005)
Studio host: James Brown (1997 - 2002)
Sports radio host: Tony Bruno (2005 - present)
Referee: Red Cashion (1998 - 2002)
Referee: (Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3) Ed Hochuli (2006 - present)

[edit] References

^ [1]

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Madden NFL Cover Athletes

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