The Madden Mistake

        The year is 2003 and football fans all across the globe are eagerly awaiting the launch of the newest installment in the Madden NFL series. This year's edition features newly minted NFL superstar Michael Vick on the cover, along with a new feature, the highly touted 'Owner Mode.'

The year is 2013 and football fans all across the globe are eagerly awaiting the launch of the newest installment in the Madden NFL series. This year's edition features legendary NFL running back Barry Sanders on the cover, along with a new feature, the highly touted 'Owner Mode.'

Yes, unfortunately the largest sports game developer in the world has gotten so lazy that they are passing off features that were implemented 10 years ago as 'new.' So what happened? What events occurred that led EA Sports, the once acclaimed game studio known for churning out solid if not stellar sports sims, to turn into a shameless self promoting parody of its former self?





Remember this? This was the very first next-gen trailer for Madden 06. This CGI riddled video had all of us salivating for our beloved Madden franchise making the seemingly seamless transition from the current-gen consoles to the sparkling new Xbox 360/PS3 consoles. What high hopes we all had! And why shouldn't we? EA Sports hadn't done anything particularly egregious to us (save for a few minor roster mishaps) we had no reason to believe that we wouldn't be receiving the same treatment for years to come. And then Madden 2006 launched alongside the Xbox 360. But it wasn't the Madden of old. It was a bare bones, barren, hollowed out core of the Madden franchise we used to know and love. We were told that it was rushed out in order to be a launch title and that the next installment would be the real deal, so to speak.

What we were promised. Such high hopes.

That wasn't true, however. It was just the beginning of EA Sports herking and jerking their loyal fanbase around for 7 more years and counting; feeding us the same old PR bullshit year after year, whilst stripping out features only to re-impliment them the next year (ie: Fantasy Draft) and promoting it as an earth-shattering new feature.

I urge you to fire up your PS2's, your Gamecube's and your Xbox's. Pop in Madden 03/04/05/06 and play it. See the little things that those games have, that these current generation games don't. These games have, for lack of a better word, a "soul" to them. Compared to these soulless current generation disasters that parade around as "football simulations." EA Sports has completely lost sight of what their consumers desire from their product; focused solely on maximizing all of the profit that they can squeeze out while putting in the least amount of effort that they can thanks to the cushy exclusivity deal they have with the NFL. And why wouldn't they? They continue to sell Madden by the millions every single year based on brand recognition alone.

What we actually received.

And I know this argument isn't anything new. It gets debated each and every hour on various sports gaming message boards around the web. This isn't a call to arms either. Gamers have been trying to get EA to change their direction since the launch of 06. I just find it incredibly pathetic to watch EA Sports shell out this football simulation mockery each and every year; and to watch it get gobbled up by the consumer regardless of the quality.

That being said, I fully expect Madden 25 to sell by the millions just as it's predecessors have. And I fully expect it to be a glitchy, barely passable video game. Hell, I might even purchase it this year after skipping out on '13. But nothing will change. And next-generation we will continue to fall victim to the same trap. See ya then.


                                                                  Jordan Says