| 05 August 2010
ESPN has a great article in its E-Ticket/Outside the Lines series featuring the Madden series. It breaks down the history of the game, from how Madden got involved, to its current state. It adds a few things that weren't mentioned in G4's documentary, produced several years ago, including Joe Montana's influence.
It captures how a game that was a coinflip has become a national franchise, to the point that the little things seen on Sundays can be traced to the video game.
Does the pressure of being a franchise game get to the producers and makers? Seems like it, if you read the story:
Ian Cummings is the creative director for "Madden." If there's something amiss in the way the game plays, it's ultimately his fault. Mike Young is in charge of art. If the style of Pittsburgh's digital helmet numbers looks wrong, he's probably to blame. Cummings played his first game of "Madden" on the Apple II. Young grew up in St. Louis before the Rams arrived; as a child, "Madden" was his NFL. In a large corner office adorned with a University of Tennessee flag, the two work side by side, in part to better communicate, in part to commiserate, as in the following exchange:
Cummings: "Updating player gear is such a pain. Like a guy changing from a single wristband to a double. It never stops."
Young: "We have people that just catalog this stuff every week. A player will start wearing team-colored gloves. A team will put a special logo on the 20-yard line for Week 8. Another team won't wear a special patch. And if we don't have that, it ruins the game for some people."
Cummings: "'Madden' might have the hardest community to please. It's painful. It ruins weekends. I've been out to dinner with my wife, and I check my phone [for online fan feedback]. It's all, 'You suck; you're terrible; give up the NFL license.'"
