There was a time with the Madden football games were considered to be a failure. This was due to a lot of false starts, if you will, along with the limitations of home computers 2 decades ago that severely limited the vision of the game. Of course it has come a log way since it was released in 1988. There are been over 85 million copies sold world wide adding up to more than 3 billion dollars in revenue. The game now features real professional players, pro-style plays, and the graphics make use of every ounce of technology available. Theses are a small sampling of the many reasons that have made it one of if not the most played playstation football games.
It is no secret that Madden was not the original namesake for the game. The designers had reached out to a few other high profile players and even some other coaches, but none were able to participate due to other agreements or a simple lack of interest. Madden came on board and educated the designers, and ironically, it is the game and not his professional career as a coach and announcer that has brought him the most recognition. The game has not remained static by any means. New things are added to each new version which is released every year. Almost 10 years after the game began a new mode called franchise mode was created. This allowed people to control the players if they chose to do so, but it also allowed for drafting, trades, and other functions of a general manager. It was the fist of its type for a football game.
In 2003 multiple ways to play the game were introduced. Players could opt for a single, quick game or they could choose to play an entire season or even multiple seasons. It was as time time that online play, where players could match their skills against others using the internet, was introduced. This was initially available only on the playstation 2 console.
A new feature called the playmaker tool was included in the 2004 version. This was a feature that enhanced the realism of the game considerably. Players could now make changes to the direction of plays after they broke the huddle. Previously they were limited to 4 audibles, but now they could be more flexible and could send receivers on hot routes too.
When the 2005 version was released, the playmaker tool was implemented for the defense. This was an important addition since in the previous versions the offense could make changes that were difficult for the defense to adjust to. Now, the defense could use the joystick to make adjustments just as the offense could. This made the game more fair on both sides of the ball and once again enhanced it's realism.
The trick stick, lead blocker controls, a new weapons control, and even a feature called league play, which allowed up to 32 players to compete through the web over the course of an entire season, each arrived in subsequent versions of the game. The most recent versions shift the focus in an attempt to be more than just a game. The vision for Madden is now to be a more true to life simulation.
Playstation football games have dominated for good reason and have become as much a simulation as they are a video game. Playstation 3 Madden football games have been super popular for over 20 years, and future development promise to make the simulation even more true to life.
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