Madden NFL: Difference between revisions
Madden 19 and 20 are on PC, plus no Multi Platform every once in a while
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[[File:madden_6381.jpg|frame|[[
''The'' definitive football franchise. ''The'' game that brought video football into the 21st century.
'''''John Madden Football''''' is the namesake of announcing wunderkind John Madden, an [[American Football]] game that has, since 1988, been released annually, and always falls among the top sellers of gaming each year. It's praised for [[Shown Their Work|its realistic level of play]], to the point where the latest edition is frequently used to predict the outcome of big games up to and including the [[Super Bowl]].
Still, the franchise has some detractors (mainly because, by this point, they've run out of things to add, so the latest sequels are more like roster updates). The most notable incident happened in 2005, when it was announced that the Madden games would be the only football games allowed to use current NFL players and teams for (at least) the next few years. While many people blamed [[
Also of note is the [[Madden Curse]], which has felled some of the great football players of the last decade, and is famous enough to have its own page on this wiki.
{{tropelist|page=the Madden NFL series}}
* [[Announcer Chatter]]: Well it ''is'' named for one.
* [[Artifact Title]]: John Madden no longer appears on the cover, nor does he do the in-game commentary.
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** Since historically the NFL draft allowed only limited (and often impractical) means of evaluating potential draftees, the player could ask the AI for advice. Occasionally, the advice can result in a gem, but 99% of the time, the AI will recommend a punter or kicker. Even in the first round, and even if the team already has the best punter and kicker in the league. That said, this one's reportedly been getting better over time.
* [[Ascended Meme]]: Madden '12 includes an achievement called "Put Da Team On My Back" for scoring a 99 yard touchdown with Greg Jennings. Broken leg optional.
** Gus Johnson's commentary track also includes his (in)famous line "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nLqGDuLnVUw He's got
* [[Awesome but Impractical]]: Many plays in the playbook take too long to develop or rely on trickery that doesn't fool anyone (see: The Computer Is A Cheating Bastard), so they never get used.
* [[Bowdlerise]]: Madden's soundtrack usually consists of rap and heavy-rock songs, most of which usually contain a lot of profanity that cannot be used in an E-rated game. Thus, some songs get a lot of lyrics deleted, leaving a lot of awkward pauses, most notably in Madden 09's use of [[Hollywood Undead]]'s "Undead".
* [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]: A couple of ways:
** Madden Ultimate Team mode essentially turns team creation into a collectible card game, with all the pros and cons that entails.
** Several editions of the game allow the player to unlock various "tokens" (for various achievements) which - if used strategically and correctly - could virtually ensure victory for a player before the first snap. Most of these were rather routine (e.g., disabling a pass-receiver's abilities, giving the team a good spot on short-down situations, or holding teams to three downs per possession), but a few of the more inventive have included such things as "unlimited challenges for any reason" (which could be used in combination with another token that would allow favorable verdicts each time).
* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: The AI players will often react to things they shouldn't be able to see, meaning many plays which rely on that deception don't work in the game they way they should in real life. The player, at least, gets to see things from 20 or 30 feet above the action.
** [http://www.youtube.com/user/versuz2 This YouTuber] has several examples in which the AI cheats in Madden 2010 - to varying degrees (from "mind reading" AI to "magic trick" ball recovery).▼
** On the higher difficulty levels, the computer will have almost always have called a play that was specifically designed to counter whatever you just called.▼
** Players don't suffer many injuries in played games, but if you decide that there are a few games on the schedule that you don't want to bother with and let the computer simulate them, your roster will start to look like a hospital ward. It is possible to invert the trope, however, if you play out all your own team's games.▼
* [[Department of Redundancy Department]]: In the newspaper feature, there will occasionally be an article with the title of something like "Giants at 6-2" and the entire article will be a single sentence restating this information.
* [[God Modders]]: Extremely common in tournament play.
* [[Guide Dang It]]: Did you know you can audible on kickoffs? The manual writers sure didn't!
** The manual also doesn't say how to scramble anywhere, instead phrasing the ability as "toggle on/off WR icons". When put that way, [[Exactly What It Says on the Tin|it sounds like they just mean turn off the icons underneath your
** Manual? As deep and feature-rich as this game is, it provides nothing more than a quick-start guide. There's not even a manual in electronic format, at least as of ''Madden 08''.
* [[Hatedom]]: Fans of the Take Two line of football titles, which were forced out of the market when the NFL sold the exclusive license to EA.
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*** And now, ''NFL Blitz'' [[And the Fandom Rejoiced|is back.]] Complete with the violence. It's being made by EA this time around, so the [[Dueling Games]] problem that Blitz had in its previous incarnation won't hurt it.
** Forget players of other franchises, what about ''Madden'' players on the PC (and Mac)? There have been no PC editions since ''Madden 08''.
*** That is, until ''[[Madden NFL 19|Madden 19]]''. And the PC fandom [https://www.ign.com/articles/2018/10/12/the-modders-keeping-madden-08-alive hesitated to rejoice].
* [[Luck-Based Mission]]: The "Madden Moments" feature in various iterations challenge you to replicate some of the greatest feats in football history. Of course, the reason they were memorable in the first place is because they were so ridiculously improbable. One of the most infamous is Madden 2002's recreation of the Heidi Game from 1968, which was ''nearly impossible''. You control the Oakland Raiders, down 10 points ([[Did Not Do the Research|even though the real-life game was only a 3-point deficit]]) to the New York Jets - the team that would go on to win that year's Super Bowl - with only 1:05 left on the clock. In other words, you lose if your opponent has the ball. And the onside kick is impossible to aim, so your only chance is to force a fumble. [[Nintendo Hard]] doesn't even come close to describing it.
*** Also impossible was the final game in the Madden 2002 'Great Games' series, which featured the Atlanta Falcons' overtime win in the 1998 NFC Championship game against the Minnesota Vikings. You have to stop arguably the best kicker in history (Morten Andersen) from making a rather routine 38-yard field goal. Even lowering the AI's ability to kick field goals doesn't help. Arrrrrgh.
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* [[Male Gaze]]: Recent additions include TV-style bumpers for halftime and the quarter breaks. These include the traditional cheesecake shots of the cheerleaders, including the pan-up from the knees to the [[Brain Bleach|OH MY GOD]] [[Uncanny Valley|THEIR FACES!]]
* [[Mission Pack Sequel]]: The criticism that each new year is "just a roster update" essentially boils down to this. The developers actually do try to add new modes and gameplay features each year; how this criticism is received is inversely related to how well that year's new features were received.
* [[Multi Platform]]: Though the [[Wii]], handheld, [[PlayStation 2]], and mobile
* [[My Rules Are Not Your Rules]]: The AI can do things the player is prevented from doing. Most notably, they can audible in the Wildcat formation.
* [[Nerf]]: The Wildcat formation was nerfed in ''12'' by removing the easily-abusable option plays from it.
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** Most versions allow you to import rookies from the corresponding ''NCAA Football'' title.
** ''Madden 09'' let you import plays from that year's ''NFL Head Coach'' title.
* [[Product Placement]]: An enormous amount in recent installments. Culminating in "Patrick Chewing" being available as a draftable rookie. Patrick Ewing appears in Snickers commercials with that name, and Snickers is a major advertiser in the 2010 edition. Madden 11 took it even further by having product placement in their achievements.
* [[Rage Quit]]
* [[Revenue Enhancing Devices]]: Madden 2010 has begun selling things like One Time Stat Boosts and vintage uniforms that used to be free rewards for in-game success.
* [[Rubber Band AI]]: And how. [[Bill Simmons]] of ESPN coined the term "No F***ing Way game" for the times when the computer makes an unbelievable [[Miracle Rally]] while your own players become inept clods.
* [[Serious Business]]: Every year when the Madden ratings are released, expect at least one real NFL player to publicly gripe about their ratings. This was even mocked in old commercials. Sometimes it can get downright insulting. Take DeMarcus Ware, who showed up in ''Madden 08'' with a single-digit "Intelligence" rating on a 0-99 scale.
* [[Shout-Out]]: One of the sponsors you can get for your team is the "[[The Office|Michael Scarn Paper Company]]"<ref>Michael Scarn being Michael Scott's [[Marty Stu]] character.</ref>
** The "Midway Monster" Achievement in '09 is a reference to ''Mutant League Football''.
* [[Sports Game]]
* [[Take That]]: Some of the Achievements in Madden 10 and 11.
** The Madden 2010 Achievements mostly involve abusing a real player, and the titles of them are usually at the players expense. For example, the Achievement for forcing a fumble from former-stockboy Kurt Warner is "Go Bag Some Groceries."
** They also included a [[Take That]] to themselves in Madden 2011. In Madden 2010, if you scored an unbelievable amount of points, you would receive a message saying to stop scoring before you 'break' the game. The achievement unlocked for beating another team by at least 59 points in Madden 2011 is named "Did I Break It?" <ref>The choice of 59 points is itself a [[Take That]] - it was the largest margin of victory in the 2009 NFL Season: Patriots over Titans, Week 6.</ref>
** Another [[Take That]] is against the Pro Bowl, the NFL's utterly meaningless All-Star game. You get an achievement called "Thanks for coming" just for playing it.
▲* [[The Computer Is a Cheating Bastard]]: The AI players will often react to things they shouldn't be able to see, meaning many plays which rely on that deception don't work in the game they way they should in real life. The player, at least, gets to see things from 20 or 30 feet above the action.
▲** [http://www.youtube.com/user/versuz2 This YouTuber] has several examples in which the AI cheats in Madden 2010 - to varying degrees (from "mind reading" AI to "magic trick" ball recovery).
▲** On the higher difficulty levels, the computer will have almost always have called a play that was specifically designed to counter whatever you just called.
▲** Players don't suffer many injuries in played games, but if you decide that there are a few games on the schedule that you don't want to bother with and let the computer simulate them, your roster will start to look like a hospital ward. It is possible to invert the trope, however, if you play out all your own team's games.
* [[Unwinnable By Mistake]]: In Ultimate Team mode, if you play exceptionally poorly or quit a lot of games you can run out of players (who are limited to a certain # of games) and be unable to replace them with fresh ones. It is possible to [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|spend real money]] to get out of this situation.
* [[Up to Eleven]]: For years the highest player rating was 99, but in ''Madden 08'' they handed out a single 100 rating. This has not been repeated due to the general reaction from the fans.
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{{reflist}}
{{World Video Game Hall of Fame}}
[[Category:Sega Genesis]]
[[Category:IOS Games]]
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[[Category:Apple II]]
[[Category:Wii U]]
[[Category:Madden NFL]]▼
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:
[[Category:Electronic Arts]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 1980s]]
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