MADDEN NFL 25 oh my
Well back in 1986 this xbox player was fixated with American Football, and the name John Madden was only a part of great NFL folklore. William ‘the Fridge’ Perry was a defensive lineman and Walter Payton skipped past everyone with a running style that only the great Barry Sanders later recreated.
Superbowl XX was on the 26th of January 1986, and it will be remembered not only because of the annihilation of the New England Patriots but this was the last time two NFL clubs had made their debut in a Superbowl in the same game.
It was also a point in the game when the United Kingdom became entranced with American football, with the U.K.’s channel 4 TV showing highlights of the game each week, and NFL Placekicker for the Atlanta Falcons Mick Luckhurst Co-Hosting the show with none other than Gary Imlach
That was a full 2 years before the first ever John Madden NFL game was published.
Modern gamers would have binned this one immediately, there was NO licensed players, stadia, or even season play. Nope this was the first incarnation and like the games of that time and age, they were AMAZING!
Yes the game was raw, yes the game was unlicensed, but like all other american sports games it was playable in the UK and look the Head Coach of the Famous Los Angeles Raiders John Madden had put his name on it, it must be good.
But the rest they say is History. But it has not been plain sailing for the license and throughout the 2000′s many sports stars had a fear of being the Cover player for the Game.
we turn to the much respected www.totalprosports.com to take us through the history of the madden Franchise and it is truly a walk along the path of History in the NFL:
1988:
Supposedly EA and John Madden first agreed to create a football game in 1984, but Madden was so insistent that the game be as realistic as possible that it took four years for the programmers to get it right. My theory? Madden insisted on giving all his feedback via telestrator and none of it made any sense.
In any case, the first edition of Madden, which was called John Madden Football, was released in 1988 for the Apple II, Commodore 64, and MS-DOS.
(For you youngsters reading this, those were old-timey computers.)
1990:
Same name as the original, but on a 16-bit gaming console. That made it possible to switch vantage points, so for the first time the player saw the field from above and behind the quarterback rather than from the sidelines. Horray for innovation!
1992:
New features for the third edition of the Madden franchise included instant replay, two-player cooperative play, and quarterback injuries that would result in ambulances coming out onto the field to take players away.
Talk about realism!
1993:
In John Madden Football ’93 you could taunt your opponents and play legendary teams, such as Madden’s 1976 Oakland Raiders. Of course, the ’76 Raiders weren’t really the ’76 Raiders. The game wasn’t licensed by the NFL yet, so the ’76 Raiders were just some hypothetical team from Oakland.
1994:
The fifth edition of Madden marked a huge turning point. EA finally got the rights to use official team names and logos, the game introduced “season mode” for the first time, and the actual title of the game switched to the format we know today.
1995:
The sixth edition of Madden also saw a major innovation: real player names. EA finally made a deal with the NFLPA, and genuine pro football simulation was here.
The licensing deal with the NFLPA also opened the door for another major milestone: for the first time ever, the cover of the game featured actual NFL players—though only in the background, behind Madden’s big head. They were LT Erik Williams of the Cowboys and DL Karl Wilson of the 49ers.
1996:
Madden NFL 96 wasn’t released until late November 1995, which is how they were able to get 1995 expansion teams Carolina and Jacksonville on the cover. This was the first edition of the game to feature “classic teams” for each franchise (except the two new ones).
1997:
Madden NFL 97 was the first edition of the game created for the 32-bit gaming era—i.e., the original PlayStation and SegaSaturn—and the improvements in graphics were dramatic. Also, you’ll note that, after a couple years of real NFL players taking up more and more space on the cover, for this game they took a step back and got demoted to faint black-and-white images. Obviously Madden put them in their place.
1998:
And then there were none: for Madden 98, players vanished from the cover and it was all Madden once again
1999:
For the 10th anniversary edition, EA introduced another major feature: franchise mode. Now you could be the quarterback, the running back, the cornerback, the coach, and the GM
2000:
Madden 2000 was the last edition to feature John Madden himself on the cover. (Moment of silence.) However, some versions of the cover—like the one for PlayStation—feature a faint, blurry Barry Sanders in the background.
2001:
Who was the first NFL player to appear on the cover all by himself? No, it wasn’t NFL and Super Bowl MVP Kurt Warner. It was Super Bowl-losing running back Eddie George of the Tennessee Titans, the sixth-best rusher in 1999-2000.
2002:
The 2002 cover featured Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper. He was hottest new QB in the league the year before, having thrown 33 TD passes and led Minnesota to an 11-5 record in just his second year in the league.
2003:
Marshall Faulk got snubbed for Eddie George in 2001, and he didn’t make the cover in 2002, right after he won the NFL MVP award. However, he did make the cover in 2003 after winning his second straight AP offensive player of the year award.
2004:
Michael Vick made the cover of Madden in 2004, back when he was just a really exciting football player and not a controversial dog-murderer.
2005:
Madden 2005 introduced the “create a fan” feature for the first time and featured Ray Lewis on the cover. Obviously.
2006:
It was a subtle change, but in 2005 EA decided to drop the first two digits of the year, meaning the game was called Madden NFL 06 instead of Madden NFL 2006.
As for the cover athlete, EA decided to stick with their tradition of putting the loser of the previous Super Bowl on the cover. That’s why you see Donovan McNabb here instead of Tom Brady.
2007:
For the cover of Madden 07, EA made their most sensible choice yet for cover athlete: Seahawks running back Shaun Alexander, reigning NFL MVP.
As for the game itself, it introduced a cool new feature: lead-blocker control.
2008:
EA tried going the “new hotshot QB” route again for Madden 08, just like they did for Madden 2002. Of course, that’s always a gamble, because if said new hotshot QB ends up flopping, people look back and say, “why the hell was that guy on the cover?”
Well, here we are in 2013. And where, exactly, is Vince Young? Oh, that’s right, he’s sitting in his living room cursing the name of Jeff Fisher.
2009:
The 20th anniversary edition of Madden produced the most bizarre cover.
On March 8, 2008, Favre officially announced his retirement. So EA decided to honor the legendary QB by putting him on the cover of Madden 09, which would have made him the first non-active NFL player to make the cover. However, that summer Brett had second thoughts, and by the beginning of August he’d made it official: comeback!
Problem was, the Packers were committed to some guy named Aaron Rodgers. So they parted ways with Mr. Packer himself…who then joined the New York Jets a week before Madden 09 came out…with Packer Favre on the cover. The only thing EA could do? Make alternate covers featuring Jet Favre available for download.
Nice going, Brett.
2010:
The cover of Madden NFL 10 was one of the more sensible ones EA ever put out. It simply featured the two biggest stars (or at least the two most marketable stars) of the previous year’s Super Bowl teams—Troy Polamalu of the Steelers and Larry Fitzgerald of the Cardinals.
2011:
In 2010, for the first time ever, the fans got to decide who would be on the cover of Madden. They were given the options of Minnesota DE Jared Allen, Indianapolis WR Reggie Wayne, and New Orleans QB Drew Brees, and they made the obvious choice.
2012:
Since the feedback from the first fan vote for the cover of Madden was so positive, EA decided to do it again for the 2012 edition of the game. However, this time they expanded the pool of possible players to 32 and made the whole thing a tournament in which fans voted on head-to-head matchups.
The result was that, somehow, Browns RB Peyton Hillis beat out Ray Rice, Matt Ryan, Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, and Michael Vick to make the cover of Madden 12.
I’d say something to the effect of, “this was an outrage” or “this was the worst Madden cover choice of all time,” but I won’t. Cleveland sports fans have it rough, so I’ll just let them have this.
2013:
Fans were once again allowed to determine the cover athlete for Madden 13 via 32-player tournament voting. This time they redeemed themselves by choosing Calvin Johnson. He followed up his 2011 campaign by leading the NFL in receiving yards again in 2012 and putting an end to the so-called “Madden curse.
2014:
For the 25th edition of Madden, EA changed to naming convention (to reflect the edition, not the year) and put 32 NFL legends up against 32 current players in the fan voting tournament. The result? Barry Sanders got some much-deserved love and will make his first solo appearance on the cover
Powered by EA SPORTS IGNITE, Madden NFL 25 ushers in the next generation of sports games delivering 10 times more detail than any game in the franchise’s 25 year history. Players think and anticipate in the trenches and across the field. Every step is calculated to showcase the most realistic player movement ever, and the emotion of Sunday is brought to life like never before with living sidelines, rich commentary, and thunderous crowds. Madden NFL 25 changes the game forever. See it. Feel it. Live it.
Features
See It
Next Generation Definition – With 10 times the visual detail, Madden NFL has never looked so real. See every nuance of a player’s face, equipment, and clothing as the line blurs between the players in the game and their real-life counterparts. Up to 4x the texture resolution breathes new life into stadiums, crowds, the field, and even the ball itself. Combined with high-fidelity animations that deliver the smoothest, most authentic looking player interactions ever, Madden NFL 25 delivers Next Definition visuals
Feel It
Brains & Brawn – All-new Player Sense unlocks the human element in Madden NFL. For the first time, players scan the field, anticipate situations before they happen, and maneuver with instincts and awareness. The ability to make up to 50x as many contextual decisions brings intelligent ball-carriers and defenders to life, as they sense obstacles and react on the fly. Ball-carriers leap over fallen players, blitzing linebackers slide past teammates on their way to the QB and so much more, combining the physical aspects of football with the mental.
Every Step Is Calculated – The all-new True Step player motion system calculates every step, delivering unprecedented control. Players now have the ability to foot-plant, cut, and shift momentum in an authentic way, unlocking the agility and explosiveness of the NFL athlete. IGNITE run-time physics calculates at twice the rate allowing for the most organic, user-driven outcomes in franchise history. Combined with the precision modifier’s vast combination of ball-carrier moves, Madden NFL has never felt this good.
War in the Trenches – Offensive and Defensive line play is at the heart of football, and now it’s the foundation of Madden NFL 25. Lineman are more than just physical, they are intelligent. Coupled with the ability to make 4x more decisions per second, 300 new blocking interactions create the most realistic running lanes for the ball-carrier and passing pockets for the QB. Offensive lineman will dynamically sort and shift assignments based on threats and angles, starting with intelligently identifying the center of the defense, the “Mike”, countering the over 3x new defensive line moves and the latest blitz packages. Authentic double-teams, blitz pick-ups, and line shifts showcase line units working together as one, highlighting the most physical and intense battles in the NFL. Welcome to the War in the Trenches.
Live It
Madden Living World – The NFL is so much more than just what happens between the lines. It’s the crowds, sidelines, and commentary that truly bring the emotion of Sunday to life. In Madden NFL 25, feel the anxiety of the crowd as you step up to the line on 4th and goal. Watch your teammates and coaches erupt with excitement as you blaze down the sideline for a game-changing score. Hear the most intelligent commentary in franchise history, as Simms and Nantz recall everything about your career- all your injuries, all your stats, all your accolades. Each stadium is a dynamic, living world filled with energy, emotion, and action. In Madden NFL 25, feel the pulse of every game, every score, every play.
The post Madden NFL 25 It all Kicks off on Friday appeared first on Xbox Players.