Madden NFL
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Official cover for the Xbox 360 version of Madden NFL 07. |
Madden NFL is an
American football video game series developed by
Electronic Arts Tiburon (EA) for
EA Sports. The
Madden NFL series consistently is one of the top selling video games in
North America every year. 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.
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 80 million worldwide and over 30 million in the U.S.
The games are currently available for the
Xbox,
PlayStation 2,
GameCube,
Microsoft Windows,
Nintendo DS,
Game Boy Advance,
PlayStation Portable, and
Xbox 360 platforms, while versions of the games should become available for the
PlayStation 3 and
Wii. The PlayStation 3 version has yet to be announced, while on April 27, 2006, EA announced plans for the '07 Wii version as a launch title for Nintendo's latest console.
Madden NFL 07 is due for release on
August 22nd
2006, according to the official
EA Sports website. 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 4th at 8 p.m. ET and re-airing throughout the month of August. In this special, EA game designers, world-ranked top players and others will lead fans on a guided tour through new changes and advances in all aspects of the game.
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John Madden Football (1990). |
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Prerendered CGI of Madden NFL 2006. |
|
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 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).
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.
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.
There are multiple modes of 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 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.
Due to a contractural obligation,
Bill Parcells cannot appear in the
Madden NFL series until his television contract with ESPN actually expires (however, with ESPN partnering with EA Sports, that remains to be seen for the
07 version). Currently, the game makes the
Dallas Cowboys head coach named "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.
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.
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-boys. People started noticing a pattern with St. Louis Rams' running back Marshall Faulk. from the fallout of a superbowl winning season, and great season statistics earned a cover spot. The following year he fell off the edge of earth 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 pre-season 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. Some of the people that believed in the curse stated that the player featured on the box would get injured, or simply have a weak 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.
*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 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, 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 1509 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 1000 yards twice and scored 14 touchdowns in 2002.
*Former
Minnesota Vikings star
quarterback Daunte Culpepper appeared on the
2002 cover, and the Vikings struggled to a 4-7 record until Culpepper was shelved with a season-ending knee injury.
*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 has yet to break 1,000 yards rushing since.
*In
Madden 2004, Atlanta Falcons Quarterback Michael Vick was injured during a preseason game, suffering a fractured right fibula. Vick played in only 5 regular season games, finishing with only 585 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. The Atlanta Falcons missed the playoffs, finishing the season with 5 wins and 11 losses, a stark contrast on the team's 9-6-1 record the season prior.
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.
*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' [
1] 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 horrible 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.
*On
April 20,
2006, Electronic Arts officials, with the help of
ESPN, announced
Seattle Seahawks running back
Shaun Alexander will be on the cover of the
2007 version of the title. [
2] In the 2005 regular season, Alexander rushed for an NFL-high 1,880 yards and setting an NFL record for touchdowns in a season with 28. He also led the Seahawks to a berth in
Super Bowl XL, earned an invitation to the NFL
Pro Bowl (which he did not play in, due to a sprained right foot), and was named NFL MVP.
The 2006 regular season has not started yet, but it is possible that Alexander's numbers will suffer after Seattle lost star left guard
Steve Hutchinson to the
Minnesota Vikings, as well as being on the team that lost the previous years
Super Bowl. Every year since
2000, the team that lost the
Super Bowl has failed to make the
playoffs in the following year.
| Year of Release | Madden Title | Cover Athlete | Potential Curse |
|---|
| 1999 | 2000(1) | Barry Sanders | Abruptly retired during training camp in 1999. |
| 1999 | 2000(2) | Dorsey Levens | Cut by the Packers in 2001 and finished his career as a journeyman player. |
| 2000 | 2001 | Eddie George | Key fumble vs. Ravens in playoffs; team lost in Divisional Playoff after losing Super Bowl XXXIV |
| 2001 | 2002 | Daunte Culpepper | Missed 5 games in 2001; team missed playoffs after losing NFC Championship in 2000 |
| 2002 | 2003 | Marshall Faulk | Least productive season as a Ram up to that point; team missed playoffs after losing Super Bowl XXXVI |
| 2003 | 2004 | Michael Vick | Missed 11 games after breaking leg in 2003 preseason; team missed playoffs after losing Divisional Playoff in 2002 |
| 2004 | 2005 | Ray Lewis | Critically seen as an off year; team missed playoffs after losing Wild Card Playoff in 2003 |
| 2005 | 2006 | Donovan McNabb | Missed 7 games in 2005; team missed playoffs after losing Super Bowl XXXIX |
| 2006 | 2007 | Shaun Alexander | - |
(1) - Barry Sanders was featured in the background along with John Madden in most versions of
Madden 2000.
(2) - Dorsey Levens was featured, by himself, in a less common version of
Madden 2000.
 |
John Madden appeared on the cover of the game until 2000. |
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 most next-gen consoles). 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. The new added features, however, are key to the
Madden attraction as they take another step into bringing the player into the game. Since fall 2005, EA has significantly lowered the retail price of the game when faced with stiff competition from
ESPN NFL 2K which retailed for $19.99 and as of February 2006, it sold at most U.S. retailers for the same price.
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.
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.)
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 of 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 -
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,
TBNote: 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 - 2000)
*
Referee: (
Xbox 360)
Ed Hochuli (2006 - present)
*
NFL Blitz*
NFL Street*
NFL 2K*
Madden NFL 06*
Official Madden NFL 2007 website*
Official EA Sports website*
Official EA Tiburon website*
Madden NFL Series at
MobyGames
