Madden NFL is a popular video game sports-simulation series run by EA Sports. It first hit the shelves in 1988 under the name of ‘John Madden Football’; designed specifically for the Apple Series II of computers before later reaching the Sega Genesis and Nintendo SNES consoles. John Madden was an NFL head coach who, on a whim, retired to become a television colour commentator. He excelled in the role and, soon after, was approached by EA executives with a proposition. The execs hoped for Madden’s endorsement of a game that promised to be both an educational tool and sophisticated football simulation. EA envisioned Madden to be the face of the franchise, driving sales and legitimising a groundbreaking product. He accepted, and the gamification of the sport had truly begun.
Madden NFL, titled as such in 1993 having acquired the rights to NFL team names and player likeness, has sold more than 250 million copies since its inception. It strives to be an authentic, challenging player experience that explores the complexities of American Football with glitzy graphics and an unhinged attention to detail. Madden captures the brutal physicality of the NFL via slick, fluid gameplay enjoyable for both beginners and experienced fans of the sport.
One of the more popular elements of the game is ‘Franchise mode’. Whether you want to play as an individual player, a head coach or even an owner - Franchise gives you the chance to guide a key figure throughout their NFL career, turning your favourite team into the NFL’s next dynasty. You can even choose to relocate your team with London, Mexico City, Toronto and Dublin all options as you fully internationalise the NFL.
For many years, the so-called ‘Madden Curse’ was inescapable. While receiving the call to grace the cover of a video game should be an honour for any player, it quickly became a worrying one, as the list of Madden’s victims grew each year. The ‘curse’ saw the season a player appeared on the Madden Cover typically end badly - either due to injury or poor performance. The tale began with Madden’s first athlete cover star, Garrison Hearst: once destined to reach the Pro Football Hall of Fame. His cover season, amid Madden 1999, saw him break his ankle in a playoff game. The break was so bad that Hearst’s career lagged for two full NFL seasons before reaching its endgame a few years later. For the electric Michael Vick - who played quarterback in the NFL as if it was Madden on ‘rookie’ difficulty - his curse was the most immediate of the bunch. Just 24 hours after Madden 2004 was released in stores, Vick broke his fibula and missed the majority of the Atlanta Falcons’ season. Of the 22 players who have appeared on the Madden cover, 16 have had troubling seasons following their fateful cover shoot. Of late, however, the likes of Tom Brady, Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson have thwarted the curse by winning Super Bowls and MVPs while starring on the game’s cover.
The king of the gaming gridiron has appeared on over 33 platforms since launching in 1988 and the improvement in graphics over the years has been notable. Tom Brady entered the gaming world as a boxy, near-anonymous depiction of a 4th-string NFL quarterback with a 57 rating. In his final season, however, Brady can be seen as a near life-like depiction of the seven-time Super Bowl champion, with a 97 rating. Whether the eventual next step for Madden is virtual reality, revamped modes or even battle royale - we can’t wait to see what’s in store for the years ahead.
