On Saturday August 28, EA Sports will release “Madden 25”, the latest edition to the classic video game franchise.
The game’s producers deviated from previous years by titling the game “Madden 25”. The name is to signify the game’s 25th year in production. Typically, Madden games are titled using a “Madden NFL [year]” format (this year’s game would have been called “Madden NFL 14”).
The game’s first release came in 1988 under the title “John Madden Football”. The name was eventually changed to “Madden NFL” in 1993, after EA acquired the rights to use real team logos, uniforms, and stadiums from the NFL, and permission from the NFL Players Association to use the player’s names, pictures, and likenesses. Since its creation, Madden has sold the second most copies of any sports video game in history, trailing only the “FIFA” franchise.
EA Founder Trip Hawkins originally developed the game, with the hopes of creating a video game that could simulate the Strat-O-Matic card games he loved so much. Hawkins, a colligate football player and student at Harvard University first approached hall-of-fame quarterback Joe Montana and asked him to put his name on the game. Montana declined because of a current deal with competitor Atari, and after another potential suitor fell through Hawkins finally settled on legendary coach John Madden.
“Madden NFL” has experienced nearly unparalleled success and acclaim during its quarter-century run. The game is beloved by NFL fans, players, and casual gamers alike. As a matter of fact, EA holds a tournament annually to see which NFL player is king of the football simulator. The “Madden Bowl” as it is known, is held during the week leading up to the super bowl, and has become very popular among the players. Past winners include Dwight Freeney, Alex Smith, Maurice Jones-Drew, and Drew Brees. Jones-Drew ironically is part of one Madden’s most notorious flubs. His name was mistakenly programmed in as “Maurice Drew-Jones” in “Madden NFL 07”
This year’s game will have plenty of special features, both new and familiar. EA developers have announced the addition of a new “run free” system for ball carriers. Players will now have upgraded capabilities when carrying the rock, including the ability to use spin, juke, and stiff-arm combos. The game is also entering its second year with EA’s redesigned physics engine. Originally unveiled last year for “Madden NFL 13” the “Infinity Engine” displays polished real-world style physics. The game has also carried over one of the more popular features from ‘Madden NFL 13”: “connected careers” mode. Now rebranded as “Connected Franchise”, players will have the choice of being either a coach who runs the team, or a player on that team (either real or self-created). “Connected Franchise” is a hybrid of two classic Madden game modes: “Franchise mode”, and “Superstar mode.”
One of the major differences between this year’s game and last year’s is the ability to import entire draft classes from EA’s “NCAA Football 14”. Importing draft classes was a feature offered on most Madden releases going back almost 10 years. However, last year developers did not include the feature, which led to some serious uproar in the Madden gaming community. In an effort to smooth things over with their fan base, Madden has reinstated the option for “Madden 25”.
Through connected franchise mode, “Madden 25” will also give players the option of playing as legendary NFL players and coaches such as Marshall Faulk, Michael Irvin, William ‘refrigerator’ Perry, Mike Ditka, and even John Madden himself.
For the first time since 2001, there will not be an opportunity for the well-documented “Madden curse” to rear its ugly head. Over the last 12 years, a whopping 10 of the athletes featured on the cover of Madden either suffered injuries, or experience poor statistical seasons. This year, in the spirit of the game’s 25th anniversary, the cover will feature Detroit Lions legend Barry Sanders. With that said, let me be the first to wish Mr. Sanders the best of health this upcoming football season, retired or not.
After many of the Madden faithful found themselves disappointed with last year’s “Madden NFL 13”, EA is looking to redeem themselves this year with “Madden 25”.
