Madden NFL

Madden NFL
File:Maddenlogo.jpg The current Madden NFL logo with the pre-2008 NFL shield.
Developer(s)	Electronic Arts Tiburon
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Platform(s)	Apple II, Macintosh, SNES, Sega Genesis, 3DO, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo 64, Windows PC, DOS, PlayStation, Xbox, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Sega Saturn, Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation Portable
Release	First released in 1988
Genre(s)	Football Simulation
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Madden NFL is an American football video game series developed by Electronic Arts Tiburon for EA Sports. The game is named after Pro Football Hall of Famer John Madden, a well-known color commentator for NBC Sports and formerly a successful Super Bowl-winning coach during the 1970s with the Oakland Raiders.

The game has consistently been a best seller, and has even spawned TV shows where players compete. No PC version was released for the 2009 version, with the majority of EA's focus centered on improving the gameplay for console games.

EA has announced that Madden 2010 will have a PC version.

Evolution

File:N64 Madden NFL 2001.jpg

Screenshot of Madden NFL 2001 (Nintendo 64 version).

File:Madden06Screen.jpg

Madden NFL 06 Xbox 360 version.

The first version of the game was published in 1988 and titled John Madden Football. Because of the graphical limitations of computers in the 1980s, this first version was limited to only 6 players per team on the field at one time.

The game has improved and dramatically 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. This commentary was performed by John Madden and his contemporary broadcast partner. Initially, this was Pat Summerall (Madden's partner during his days at CBS and FOX during the early 1980s on through the early 2000s) until Summerall retired; the role was then 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).

1990s

In the 1990s, EA producer Richard Hilleman brought in veteran sports game designer Scott Orr, who had founded the mid-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 American video gaming history. Early versions of Madden were created by external development studios (including Park Place Productions and Stormfront Studios) but by the late 1990s development was brought in-house and centralized at EA Tiburon in Orlando, Florida.

Franchise Mode

In 1997, inspired by the franchise-management game Baseball Mogul, Electronic Arts added Franchise Mode to Madden, giving players the ability to play multiple seasons, make off-season draft picks, and trade players.

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 early 2004. At E3 2004, Microsoft and EA Sports released a press statement announcing that games made from July 2004 on would now be Xbox Live-enabled. In August 2004, EA Sports released Madden NFL 2005 and this game and all future versions of Madden became very popular games on Xbox Live.

Also, starting with Madden NFL 2004, EA Sports created the new Playmaker 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, thus adding more realism to the game.

In Madden NFL 2005, EA Sports further utilized the right analog joystick on defense by creating the "Hit Stick", an option on defense that allows the controlled player to make big hits that can cause fumbles. When running the ball on offense, the runner can control the direction in which the blocker is going. When the quarterback has the ball the joystick can be used to make receivers alter their routes mid-play.

2005 also added "EA Sports Radio", a fictional show that plays during the menu screen of Franchise mode to provide a greater sense of a storyline during gameplay. It features Tony Bruno as the host, who often interviews players and coaches about how the season is going and also has quiz questions in which fake listeners call in to make attempts at answering football-related questions. It has recently included fake interviews of famous NFL players and coaches. Some fans have criticized EA Sports for not including new features to the 'programming', but the feature drew acclaim for adding content to the normally bland Franchise menu.

In Madden NFL 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, interviews, workouts, the NFL Draft, hiring an agent, and other aspects of a superstar's life.

EA also introduced the QB Vision feature in the 2006 instalment. 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 and Passer Accuracy 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 07, 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 anyway. Instead, more agile backs perform acrobatic ducks and dodges to avoid tackles.

In Madden NFL 08, the Weapons feature was added, allowing super star players to be noticed. Randy Moss, for example, is a Spectacular Catch receiver, allowing him to make amazing one-handed grabs. Peyton Manning is a Smart QB, letting him read the defense's play after they repeat the same play. Reggie Bush is an Elusive back, making him more agile than most players. Devin Hester has Speed, making him faster than others, complementing the fact that he has 100 speed; the first to have a 100 speed rating.

Madden NFL 09 was released on August 12, 2008. Citing business concerns, EA chose not to release it on the PC platform. The game features quarterback Brett Favre of the New York Jets on the front cover wearing a uniform for his former team, the Green Bay Packers. EA Sports announced on August 7, 2008 that they would be offering a free download for the game which will include an alternative cover featuring Favre in a Jets jersey. The downloadable plug-in will also include the newly revised Jets 2008-2009 Squad with Favre at the helm. Madden NFL 09 will also be the first of the series to offer online, league game play, allowing up to 32 players to compete in an online, simulated NFL season. According to EA Sports Senior Producer Paul Frazier, up to 32 players will be able to participate in competitive games, the NFL Draft and conduct trades between their teams. The game will also be the first of the series to incorporate a Madden IQ. The Madden IQ will be used to automatically gauge your skills through a series of mini-games presented in a futuristic, hologram style. They will consist of run offense, pass offense, run defense, and pass defense. At the end of each of the drills, there will be a score in each category, ranging from rookie to all-Madden. The final Madden IQ is a mixture of those scores which is used to control the game's difficulty. As a player’s skill increases or decreases the game will automatically adjust its difficulty ratings to coincide with his Madden IQ.

Licensing

The NFL Coaches Association sells the rights to have NFL coaches' names appear in the Madden NFL games. Neither New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick nor Bill Parcells appeared in the game as they are not members of the NFL Coaches Association.

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. This was recently extended until 2012. There has also been speculation that when the contract is up (if not extended) that the 2K sports may make an NFL game.

Head Coach series

In August 2006, EA Sports debuted NFL Head Coach, which utilized the Madden engine to create a football management simulation. The game was criticized as buggy and unrealistic. EA Tiburon rebuilt the game from the ground up, addressing flaws and creating a proprietary engine, over the course of three years. NFL Head Coach 09 was released on August 12, 2008 bundled with the special edition of Madden NFL 09 and as a standalone game on September 2, 2008.

Criticism

Annual updates and prices

The Madden NFL series each year is given annual updates, as well as graphical updates. For example, Madden 2004 introduced a new feature, Build-A-Stadium, and the 2006 version was the first in the series with QB Vision. The game sells well each year, possibly 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 video game officially licensed by the NFL.

Updated rosters are only available via EA online, and only for the season the game covers. For example, Madden 08 will offer periodic updates for download during the actual 2007 NFL season, but only for that season.

Exclusivity

In 2005, the producers of the Madden games, EA Sports, signed an exclusive licensing deal through 2009 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 deal has since been extended through 2012). 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 violent Blitz: The League, have elected to continue, seeking to distinguish themselves through innovative gameplay, while others such as the well-reviewed NFL 2K series have been forced to cease production. In 2007, 2K Sports released All Pro Football 2K8, which used former NFL stars. 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, Sprint, etc.).

Historical teams

Starting with the very early versions of Madden Football, gamers were allowed to play against each other using historic teams of the past along with the current teams provided in the year of the game.

One popular version was a "gold" edition of John Madden Football '93 for the Sega Genesis. This version consisted only of Super Bowl teams, and was exclusive to Blockbuster Video for the first several months of release.

While the players assigned to each position performed close to their historic mirrors, their information was either not provided or incorrect, mostly due to licensing issues. Many versions of Madden would have, for example, Joe Montana of the 1989 San Francisco 49ers listed as "QB #16". At the time, Joe Montana had his own Sega Genesis game, Joe Montana Football, and was not included in the general NFL Player's Association agreement, so his name could not be used by Electronic Arts. Eventually, Madden gamers were allowed to edit the rosters of these historic teams, giving them a chance to have historically accurate teams.

The Madden Challenge

The Madden Challenge is a tournament to decide who is the best Madden player in the world. It started with qualifying tournaments in only a few cities, but then was expanded to every NFL city and recently was removed from a few cities and added international cities and an online tournament. Winners from each round go on to play in the finals in California for a $50,000 Best Buy gift card and $10,000 in cash.

Madden Curse

Prior to 1999, every annual installment of the Madden NFL series primarily featured John Madden on its cover. In 1999, Electronic Arts selected Garrison Hearst to appear on the cover, and has since featured one of the league’s top players on every annual installment. Since then, certain players have experienced a decline in performance, usually due to an injury. For example, quarterback Michael Vick appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 2004, and suffered a leg injury that sidelined him for most of the 2004 season. In a similar example, running back Shaun Alexander, then the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, was featured on the cover of Madden NFL 2007, and sustained a foot injury that caused him to miss six starts. As a result, Alexander’s rushing statistics were substantially less than those from the previous season.

When asked about the “Madden Curse”, Chris Erb, the EA Sports director of marketing, commented, “I don't know that we believe in the curse. The players don't believe in the curse” Greg Pearson, a writer for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, commented that the string of injuries that Madden cover athletes experience can be attributed to the physical-nature of football. Alexander himself has claimed, “Do you want to be hurt and on the cover, or just hurt." When Vince Young appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live to officially announce that he would appear on the cover of Madden NFL 2008, he derided allegations of becoming the curse’s next victim, and stated, “I done prayed about it and we're gonna go home and try to get to the playoffs and try to get to the Super Bowl. We'll see what happens." In 2007, GameSpot and CNBC reported that a large number of LaDainian Tomlinson's fans, who believed in the Madden Curse, were strongly opposed to EA Sports' initial decision to feature him on the 2008 cover, so much that a fan created SaveLTfromMadden.com to voice their disdain. Tomlinson eventually declined the offer, but stated it was solely due to contract negotiations.

Players who have appeared on the cover in subsequent years have generally failed to reproduce their success of the previous years. In total, the 10 cover players since 1999 had a total of 39 Pro Bowl appearances prior to their Madden cover appearances, compared with just 4 Pro Bowl appearances afterward.

1998

Garrison Hearst was the first player to ever be featured on a Madden cover, appearing on Madden NFL 99. Hearst's 1998 season was the best of his career, rushing for 1,570 yards and seven touchdowns. He led the San Francisco 49ers to the playoffs and a wild card win over the Green Bay Packers, but on the first play of the divisional game versus the Atlanta Falcons, he suffered a bad ankle break and his team would go on to lose the game. He was never the same and did not play again until 2001.

1999

Barry Sanders shared the cover with the then-customary picture of John Madden on Madden NFL 2000. 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. Because of his retirement, Barry Sanders is the only player not to be injured after appearing on the cover.

2000

Eddie George, then of the Tennessee Titans, who graced the Madden NFL 2001 box, is the next 'cursed' player. Following his appearance on the cover, he averaged only 3 yards per carry and rushed for career lows of 939 yards and 5 touchdowns due to a nagging toe injury that bothered him the entire season. For the rest of his career, he never averaged more than 3.4 yards per carry.

2001

Former Minnesota Vikings star quarterback Daunte Culpepper appeared on the Madden NFL 2002 cover after throwing for nearly 4,000 yards and 33 touchdowns while rushing for 470 yards and 7 more scores in the 2000 season. However, Culpepper struggled with turnovers in the first 11 games of the 2001 season, throwing 13 interceptions and only 14 touchdown passes. A back injury ended his season in the 11th game.

2002

Running back Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams, who was on the Madden NFL 2003 cover, suffered an ankle injury, missing five games. He did amass nearly 1,600 total yards and 10 touchdowns in limited time in 2002; however, it was a steep decline from his 2,000 yard and 21 touchdown campaign of 2001. He never broke through the 1,000 yards rushing mark for the rest of his career.

2003

Five days after Madden NFL 2004 was released, which featured Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick on the cover, he was injured during a preseason game against the Baltimore Ravens, suffering a fractured right fibula. Vick played in only the last 5 regular season games, finishing with just 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.

2004

Madden NFL 2005 featured Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, the first defensive player ever to appear on the cover of a Madden game. It was Lewis' first season without a single interception, after posting a career-high 6 the previous year. Lewis nearly avoided the curse, but suffered a serious hand injury during the final game of the regular season. The Baltimore Ravens also failed to make the playoffs that season after winning their division the year before.

2005

During the 2005-2006 season, Donovan McNabb suffered a sports hernia, but elected to play until after the November 14th game with the Dallas Cowboys. During this game, McNabb was knocked down after an interception return by Roy Williams, aggravating the injury. He then had to have a season-ending surgery that was required to repair the injury.

2006

Shaun Alexander, who had missed one start in his previous 64 contests, fractured the 4th metatarsal in his foot after he was on the cover. He missed six starts and failed to rush for 1,000 yards for the first time since 2000. Additionally, his touchdown record from the previous year was broken by LaDanian Tomlinson, who scored 31 touchdowns in 16 games.

2007

Vince Young injured his quadricep during a matchup against Tampa Bay Buccaneers in week 6 of the 2007 NFL season. Young missed the following weeks matchup against Houston Texans, but started the next week against the Oakland Raiders. His performance that season has since suffered considerably.

2008

After an 8-3 start, Favre would injure his Biceps and the Jets would lose three straight games against teams without a winning record: San Fransisco, Seattle and Denver. The Jets would miss the playoffs.

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 who are 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

• 1995 - Steve Smith
• 1996 - Reggie Brooks
• 1997 - Jimmy Spencer
• 1998 - Morris Chestnut
• 1999 - Ray Mickens
• 2000 - Terry Jackson
• 2001 - Jacquez Green
• 2003 - Dwight Freeney
• 2005 - Michael Lewis
• 2006 - Alex Smith
• 2007 - Alex Smith
• 2008 - Willis McGahee

Rookie Madden Bowl winners

• 2006 - Alex Smith
• 2007 - Vince Young
• 2008 - Devin Thomas

Annual EA Super Bowl simulation

Every year since 2004, shortly before the actual Super Bowl, EA Games has run a simulation of the Super Bowl using the latest game in the Madden NFL series and announced the result. EA also releases a computer-generated description of the simulated game as if it were a summary of the real Super Bowl. To date, the simulation has correctly predicted the winner of four out of the five games. The results of the simulated and actual Super Bowl games are listed below.

• 2004 - Patriots 23, Panthers 20 (Actual Score: Patriots 32, Panthers 29)
• 2005 - Patriots 47 - Eagles 31 (Actual score: Patriots 24, Eagles 21)
• 2006 - Steelers 24, Seahawks 19 (Actual score: Steelers 21, Seahawks 10)
• 2007 - Colts 38, Bears 27 (Actual score: Colts 29, Bears 17)
• 2008 - Giants 30, Patriots 38 (Actual score: Giants 17, Patriots 14)

See also

• NFL Head Coach
• NFL Street
• NFL Tour

External links

• Official site for Madden NFL 09
• Official EA Sports website
• Official EA Tiburon website

• Madden NFL series at MobyGames
• Joe Montana Football at GameSpot. Major competitor to John Madden Football on the Sega Genesis