What will become of the Madden franchise?
John Madden
Given that old schooler gamers tend to broaden their classical tastes to music, sports and pop culture, many retro fans will likely remember the last player strike from the National Football League. It occurred in 1987 and was largely unsuccessful.
The Madden NFL Football franchise began one year later. EA Sports already had a Madden game in the works, having elicited advice from the former Oakland Raiders coach on creating the game. While talks began with John Madden as early as 1984, the logistics of the game, as well as the player strike, prompted a delay in release until 1988.
They used the Oakland Raiders playbook as inspiration for the in-game plays. Madden also insisted on a team that reflected the real NFL, right down to the number of players on the field. The original game called for much smaller teams, to make the game simpler to code.
Obviously, Madden’s ideas won out and one of the most successful sports franchises ever was born. Although it was originally released for the Apple II, it has since been ported to every major platform and has sold more than 85 million copies.
Now, in 2011, this historic franchise is facing troubles yet again and history is following the old adage and repeating itself. Following Madden’s retirement from the NFL announcer’s booth in 2009, EA went ahead with a 2010 version of the game anyway. EA owns exclusive NFL rights for gaming until 2012.
However, what will become of Madden if there is no NFL? With talks between NFL owners and players at a standstill and players locked out of camps, no one knows what is to become of the NFL season. EA officials fear that a work stoppage throughout the season…as the players are threatening…will kill better than half of the Madden 2012 revenue. Will the NFL kill two games this year? Read more about it here.
Tags: Apple II
This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 13th, 2011 at 08:00 and is filed under Old Games People. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.