Posted September 9, 2011 by Chris Buffa
A legend is born…
During a 1984 meeting with Electronic Arts over the creation of John Madden Football, former NFL head coach and commentator, John Madden, famously changed gaming history when he insisted the company display eleven men per team to retain the sport’s realism. Either EA agreed to Madden’s terms, or he wouldn’t lend his name and likeness to the product.
Thankfully, EA shared his passion for the game.
“In the beginning, we had severe technical constraints, which is why I asked, among my hundreds of other questions to John, what he thought about initially going with ‘skeleton’, which is basically the same football game without all the down linemen,” said Trip Hawkins, founder of Electronic Arts. “On the one hand, I was relieved when he said he wanted the real thing, because I did too. However, that set our schedule back, and the first version of the game did not come out until four years later.”
Despite the delay, John Madden Football proved to be worth the wait and eventually spawned the million selling Madden NFL franchise, cementing Hawkins’ legacy as a sports video game pioneer, yet this is but one proud moment in football gaming, a collection of digital achievements that propelled one of the U.S.’s biggest sports into the virtual arena.
On that note, join us as we reflect on more than three decades of pigskin throwing fun.
Atari Football (Arcade, 1978)
Long before EA Sports created its Madden empire, Atari ruled the virtual gridiron with its tabletop football game. Originally designed for two players (Atari would later release a four-player edition in 1979), this successful arcade game displayed players as Xs and Os and featured black and white graphics.
While not the first game to use a trackball (that honor belongs to a Taito soccer game), Atari Football deserves credit for popularizing it, though the method of play- rapidly spinning the trackball as quickly as possible- resulted in sore hands and possibly blisters if used for too long.
On a side note, Atari Football was the first video game to feature 2D scrolling, without question one of the industry’s biggest achievements that helped pave the way for all sorts of titles, from the original Super Mario Bros. to Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1.
Realsports Football (Atari 2600, 1982)
Today’s NFL stars would probably love the rules (or lack thereof) in Atari’s console game. Unable to cram tons of data into its newest offering, the company eliminated penalties, fumbles and the ability to go out of bounds. In addition, games last just 15 minutes, there are no running backs (though the quarterback can scramble) or kick returns to speak of, and all touchdowns result in seven points.
Want to intercept the pass? Sure, but you can’t run with the ball. Instead, the virtual ref whistles the play dead, and you take over on offense at the spot of the pick.
Finally, Realsports Football can only display five players per team. It wasn't exactly the most accurate sports game on the market, but it still delivered plenty of enjoyment, proving to the world that sports games could work on a console.
Tecmo Bowl (Arcade, 1987)
Many old school video game fans have fond memories of Tecmo Bowl. The highly enjoyable arcade sports game was famous for its dual-screen cabinet and four-player support.
That said, the game made a much bigger impact in 1989 for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). Tecmo managed to deliver the quality arcade experience in the home, but with key additions (the most important being the NFL license), though players didn’t necessarily behave like their real life counterparts. Interceptions were common, as were long runs to the end zone.
That aside, the simple to grasp controls and limited playbook made it a favorite among hardcore and casual gamers.
John Madden Football (Apple II, 1988)
The Madden legacy began well before the head coach was involved, back when Trip Hawkins created a paper and dice based football game as a teenager using Strat-O-Matic’s (see link) now ancient designs.
Said Hawkins, “I have to give credit to my predecessor, Hal Richman of Strat-O-Matic,
whose card and dice sports simulations I play to this day. I played Strat as a kid and what I was trying to do with EA Sports was combine the authentic strategy and stats of Strat-O-Matic, including the annual player and team updates, with the visuals and action play of a TV broadcast.”
After founding Electronic Arts in 1982, Hawkins experimented with creating football video games for microcomputers. Then, in 1984, he turned his attention to John Madden, the Super Bowl winning head coach of the Oakland Raiders and colorful sports commentator; Hawkins and game producer Joe Ybarra traveled two days by train for the meeting, due to Madden’s fear of flying.
Upon meeting with Madden, it was clear Hawkins had found his man.
“I really like John,” said Hawkins, “because he is smart and funny and really knows football and management, two of my favorite topics. I played football in high school and part of college, and John is an archetypal coach: no-nonsense, blunt, crude and profane. I enjoy that kind of football personality, and he genuinely has a larger-than-life aura. He's a lot of fun to hang around, even with all the f-bombs.”
After hearing the pitch, Madden agreed to add his name and likeness to the product, so long as the developers displayed eleven players per team.
This halted the game’s development, simply because computers lacked the processing muscle to push that much data. As a result, the game took three years to finish, and was known within EA as “Trip’s folly”.
“They even sent the auditors over to me to say that since the game would never succeed, they were going to have to write off the advance payment to Madden as a total loss,” said Hawkins. “Everyone else gave up on the game, but I never did.”
Bethesda Softworks (the same company behind the Fallout and Elder Scrolls franchises) was hired to complete the game, but the relationship soured after Bethesda sued EA for failing to publish its own Gridiron football title.
Undaunted, EA eventually released John Madden Football in 1988 for the Apple II. It lacked the NFL license and Season mode, but the game was by far the most accurate football title ever conceived, thanks in part because of Madden’s involvement and Hawkins’ football IQ.
“From the beginning,” said Hawkins, “the game had well over 100 plays in it, but John never actually designed or drew a single one of them. Instead, he gave me a 1980 Oakland Raiders playbook, one of my treasured possessions, and explained to me how to use it to construct plays. Even the Raiders playbook did not have a single ‘complete’ play in it. It was truly a construction set. You had to choose a formation, blocking scheme, form of movement and action, and pass patterns as needed, and then you had your play - such as, Full Left Fake 32 Dive Y Post. He taught me key principles such as throwing play action to the receiver most likely to be abandoned by a man-to-man defender that bought the run fake, and to do the play action out of the same formation and motion of a successful running play that you had already established.”
Madden’s decision to give EA access to the playbook was smart. For whatever reason, though, he declined the offer to buy unlimited shares of EA stock at the time, which he called "the dumbest thing I ever did in my life."
Electronic Arts pulls a quarterback sneak (1988)
Classic gamers know of Electronic Arts’ success in the '90s, particularly on the Sega Genesis. Well, the Madden series may have never come to Sega’s machine had EA not reverse engineered the console.
At the time, Sega charged $8 to $10 for every cartridge produced for the system. Unwilling to pay this exorbitant amount of money on its games, EA essentially built its own Genesis dev kit, with Hawkins leading the charge.
“I made the decision in 1988 when I first learned that Tengen had decided to challenge Nintendo, and Sega's 16-bit MegaDrive would be released in Japan later in 1988,” said Hawkins. “Without any question, that was the most important decision and accomplishment in the history of the company. To prove my point, the company raised capital in 1983 at a $30M value, and in 1990 it was only worth $60M as a public company. But we began shipping Sega games later that year without having to pay anything to Sega, and with our profits rising rapidly, the company was worth $2 billion by 1992.”
This classic move gave EA free reign to bring its games to the platform, which Sega allowed, out of fear the publisher would share its newfound knowledge with other third parties. Thus, the Madden series arrived on Genesis and enjoyed several years of dominance.
Joe Montana Football (Genesis, 1991)
When Sega launched its 16-bit console, the Genesis, in the U.S., Sega of America president Michael Katz hoped to create a library of video games using celebrities.
Joe Montana, then quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, signed a $1.7 million contract to appear in the aptly titled Joe Montana Football. Despite featuring the Super Bowl winning QB, Sega was unable to secure the NFL license. As a result, the game lacked real teams (they were named after cities) and players, aside from its cover star.
The real issue, though, began with Mediagenic, the company hired to develop the game. After agreeing to have the title ready for a November 1989 release, and giving Sega status reports over a five-month period, development had barely begun, forcing the publisher to call an audible.
Interestingly enough, Sega turned to Electronic Arts. Trip Hawkins agreed to supply the Madden engine, while Park Place Productions (coincidentally the developer behind John Madden Football) finished the game. It finally hit shelves in January 1991, after the debut of EA’s John Madden Football, of course.
Sega would later rebound with Joe Montana II: Sports Talk Football, the first football video game to feature an ongoing play-by-play announcer’s voice.
John Madden Football ’93 (Genesis, Super Nintendo- 1993)
By now, EA had released two John Madden Football games on consoles. The '93 edition, though, is widely regarded as setting the bar for the series.
Like its prequels, this title didn’t have the NFL license. It did, however, include the no huddle offense, split play calling, the overturning of calls by the referees, the pre-game coin toss and player taunting - just a handful of rules and features that helped make Madden the number one football series.
Madden NFL ’94 (Super Nintendo- 1993, Genesis- 1994)
With this revolutionary sports game, football fans experienced multiple “firsts” that would help define the franchise.
Most importantly, it was the first Madden game to feature the NFL license, as well as the “EA Sports…It’s in the game” audio clip that cemented the brand.
In addition, it came with a full regular season mode, introduced the Flip and Bluff plays, the Play-call and Pass-catch modes, and flipped the screen during punts, kickoffs and fumbles/interceptions, instead of simply changing the point of view.
Madden skips a beat (PlayStation, 1996)These days, it’s hard to imagine a year without Madden NFL, but it happened in 1996, back when Electronic Arts was transitioning to Sony’s 32-bit console, the PlayStation. Although Madden NFL 96 debuted across multiple platforms, the PlayStation edition was scrapped because it failed to meet company standards.
One of the biggest rumors involves Sony’s now defunct football series, NFL GameDay. Apparently, EA panicked after seeing footage, prompting Madden NFL 96’s cancellation.
NFL Blitz (Arcade, 1997)
Undaunted by EA’s brand recognition, Midway sought a piece of the football pie and managed to steal a slice with NFL Blitz, an over the top arcade title inspired by the company’s immensely popular NBA Jam series.
Although the original featured the NFL license, the developers took liberties with the rules. Gamers had to go 30 yards for a first down, as opposed to ten, and were able to make spectacular (borderline impossible) plays on the fly, bombing the football in excess of 60 yards to receivers at will, which gave way to high scoring games. By comparison, the slower moving Madden was the grandpa of virtual sports.
Blitz’s biggest claim to fame, though, was its brutality. Players were able to leg and elbow drop downed opponents, while tackles were especially nasty. The NFL would later force Midway to tone down the violence in future sequels.
Although it enjoyed a healthy run in arcades and on consoles, the NFL Blitz brand was ultimately affected by EA’s exclusive deal with the NFL (we’ll get to that later), forcing Midway to re-brand its franchise as Blitz: The League.
The sequel, Blitz: The League II, features an Xbox 360 achievement/PlayStation 3 trophy titled “Pitbull Payback”, which tasks players with knocking out player Mike Mexico (a reference to real NFL quarterback Michael Vick’s former alias, Ron Mexico) during a prison football game, a jab associated with Vick’s incarceration for dog fighting.
NFL 2K Franchise (Dreamcast: 1999-2001, Multi-Platform: 2001-2004)
When Electronic Arts turned down the opportunity to bring its Madden franchise to the Dreamcast console, Sega took the proverbial ball and ran with it, partnering with Visual Concepts to create NFL 2K, a 1999 Dreamcast launch title praised for its incredible graphics, enjoyable play and smart commentary.
The follow-up, NFL 2K1, was not only superior to its predecessor technically, but also came with online play via the Dreamcast’s built-in modem. It is in fact the first online enabled console football game.
Throughout the course of its history, critics praised the NFL 2K series for innovation. Sega’s biggest play, though, was the controversial decision to partner with Take-Two Interactive and release ESPN NFL 2K5 for $19.99, as opposed to the more common $49.99 MSRP, which EA upheld with Madden NFL.
The gamble paid off, as the game managed to attract a large audience, thereby disrupting EA’s near stranglehold on the market.
EA strikes back (2004)
Sega’s success, however, was short-lived when EA signed an exclusive deal with the NFL in December 2004, prohibiting rivals from using the license. That, combined with a similar arrangement with ESPN, essentially killed Sega’s momentum and the NFL 2K franchise.
In 2008, EA managed to extend its NFL deal through the 2012 season.
Madden NFL 12 (Multiple Platforms- 2011)
EA’s newest Madden may not be as revolutionary as the games that have come before it, but the title does bring fans one-step closer to the full NFL experience.
This year’s effort adds new rule changes (kickoffs begin at the 35-yard line) as well as various tweaks, including individual quarterback throwing motions, player hot and cold streaks, player traits that change dynamically throughout the season, 100 new tackle animations and the ability to trade for future draft picks in Franchise mode.
The Xbox 360 version currently has a 79 percent review score on Metacritic.
Looking to punt…
With mounting pressure to innovate from both longtime fans and critics, it remains to be seen whether Electronic Arts will create a new playbook to breathe life into what appears to be a stale Madden franchise. [Sales remain high, however – Ed.]
Then again, despite the new age visuals, camera angles and feature packed online modes, football games, particularly the Madden series, still have one foot in the past.
“Many of the original plays that I designed back in the late 1980s,” Hawkins said, “remained in the new versions of [Madden] for several years, and indeed some of them are probably still there. Football is football.”
With that in mind, we’ll see you on the field.
Chris Buffa is the Editor-in-Chief of Modojo. You'll find him on his iPhone playing Tiny Wings, trying in vain to beat his sister's high score.
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