The football series has sold 250 million games over more than 30 years.
John Earl Madden, legendary NFL player and coach, He died unexpectedly at his home on Tuesday morning at the age of 85., so reported the organization itself. John Madden’s impact and legacy transcended the football fields, as a consultant and key piece in the conception of the Madden NFL video game franchise, which to date has more than 250 million games sold throughout its 33 years of existence.
The idea of creating a realistic American football video game was born from the mind of Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts., who in the mid-80s, sought out John Madden for advice and endorsement of the project, which was originally intended to recreate American football in a 7 versus 7 player mode, but ended up growing to 11 Vs. 11 by Madden’s explicit requirement. The coach did not view the shortened version of the sport as real football.
We always wanted it to look like what you see on television. That was one of my goals.John madden“The appetite for authenticity turned a one-year project into a four-year one,” explained Hawkins as part of the Netflix documentary series High Scores. “I remember when we started the game, we always wanted it to look like what you see on TV. That was one of my goals.”declared John Madden. And the technical responsibility for executing said project fell on the American developer Joe Ybarra. The first Madden installment debuted on the Apple II computer in 1988But it wasn’t until 1990, with the SEGA Genesis version, that the game finally became remotely realistic.
“Everyone was happy and sighed in relief when [el juego] It was ready and he was finally able to debut. The fact that it was successful caught some by surprise, but not Trip [Hawkins]”Don Traeger, co-founder of Electronic Arts, stated in an interview.
The saga has had its high and low points, as well as multiple competitors, among which NFL 2K stands out for Dreamcast, which at some point put Madden’s reign in question, not only in terms of sales, but also quality. However, Madden now holds exclusive rights with the NFL, which allow it to be the only simulation series, at least until 2025.
The Madden NFL saga has become a cultural phenomenon in the United States, where year after year, it is the best-selling game of August, concentrating a lot of attention, both for its playable novelties, and for the athlete chosen to appear on the cover. In fact, there is an urban legend that being a cover player is accompanied by a curse that condemns the performance of the chosen one for the subsequent season.
Madden NFL’s latest installment, Madden NFL 22, went on sale last August and, as is tradition, was one of the best-selling games of the summer in America.
More about: Madden NFL 22.