Madden Franchise

One of the most dominating sports games ever in gaming history is the John Madden series two decades it has crushed other football games. NFL Fever, NFL GameDay, NFL Blitz, and Quarterback Club all have fallen to the all mighty Madden; Joe Montana’s football gave Madden run for its money in the early 90’s then fell. John dominated real football in the 70’s and now owns the virtual football scene.

This gaming giant has something new every year. The graphics are ahead of its time. Madden 2000 or Madden64 is one of the first 3d football games. In the 2000’s the innovative “folks” of EA sports just made it a habit of new tools every year. 2006 they added QB vision with this feature, a cone of spotlight emits from the quarterback during passing plays, simulating his field of vision. The better the quarterback the bigger the cone. In ‘07 Lead Blocker Controls which allow users to control blockers during running plays and added the “truck stick” for anyone with the ball the dodge or elude defenders. 2008 Madden weapons were added to allow superstar players to be noticed at what there excel at. Madden 2009 they added the Madden IQ that change and adapt to you and your skill level.

In 2001 it was the first Madden without John on the cover. That lead to the “Madden Curse”. Eddie George, Daunte Culpepper, Marshal Faulk, Michael Vick, Ray Lewis, Donovan McNabb, Shaun Alexander, and latest Vince Young is now hurt this season. No one knows if it’s the curse or people think about it and it happens maybe Brett Favre will break the curse.
The Madden franchise will live long after John passes. It’s in the top ten grossing game franchise of all time.