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The Video Game Canon: Madden NFL Football (Series)
Dig deeper into the Video Game Canon with an examination into the validity (or lack thereof) of the Madden Cover Curse. Here’s a teaser…
A gambler will tell you that they believe Lady Luck will reward them for respecting a streak, and a professional football player will tell you that he doesn’t believe in the Madden Curse. The former is a wishful thinker, and the latter is a liar.
The sports world is filled with superstitions. As a Little Leaguer growing up, I could show you what a “rally cap” was and explain the importance of never touching the baselines. I understood completely why retired Detroit Tigers manager Jim Leyland refused to change his underwear during a 12-game winning streak in 2011. I’ve even got strong opinions on what you say to a pitcher in the middle of a perfect game. The answer is you don’t say anything, because talking to him at all is bad luck.
For decades, the Sports Illustrated Cover Jinx served as a well-known precursor to the Madden Curse. Those who believe in the Jinx are convinced that any player who appears on the cover of Sports Illustrated will experience some form of terrible luck, even though a handful of high-profile hits have obscured the long list of players who avoided the Jinx over the years. If the sheer number of cover subjects doesn’t dissuade you (more than 3,000 issues have been produced since the magazine’s launch in 1954), the illustrious career of Michael Jordan should. The basketball great has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated a record 50 times, and he’s had the kind of career that other athletes dream about… not counting his detour through Minor League Baseball and Space Jam.
But what of the Madden Curse? Although you’ll find a few executives at Electronic Arts who enjoy hyping up the current year’s game with talk of the Curse, most of them like to downplay it. In 2008, the then-President of EA Sports, Peter Moore, said, “I guess when you look back there’s a grain of truth to the Madden Curse.” At the time, he wasn’t wrong. Five of the last six offensive players on the cover succumbed to some horrible calamity. The publishing giant even considered producing a movie based on the Madden Curse in 2010, though that project seems to have fallen off the radar in the years since.
And that’s probably because the Madden Curse is as mythical as a wild turducken.
Visit VideoGameCanon.com to continue reading this article and to explore the complete Top 1000.
Posted in 3DS, DS, Features, Mobile, PC, PS2, PS3, PS4, PSP, Retro, Top Story, Video Game Canon, Vita, Wii, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Madden NFL 11, Madden NFL 12, Madden NFL 13, Madden NFL 15, Madden NFL 16, Madden NFL 17, Madden NFL 25
EA is giving Xbox Live Gold subscribers free access to all EA Access titles until June 22
Earlier this year, Microsoft and EA opened up the EA Access “Vault” to all Xbox Live Gold subscribers for a week of binge gaming. With this year’s E3 Expo set to kick off any minute now, they’re doing it again.
If you’re an Xbox Live Gold subscriber, you’ll have free to all 21 games in the EA Access “Vault” from now until Wednesday, June 22. That includes EA Sports titles such as EA Sports UFC, FIFA 16, FIFA 15, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 16, Madden NFL 25, Madden NFL 14, NBA Live 16, NBA Live 15, NHL 16, NHL 15, and Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, as well as Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Titanfall, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, Need For Speed Rivals, and Peggle 2. A pair of Xbox 360 games, Dead Space and Plants vs Zombies, will also be available through the “Vault” thanks to the Xbox One’s backwards compatibility options.
Xbox One interested in subscribing to the EA Access service can do so for $4.99 per month, or $29.99 for a full year. A paid subscription to EA Access also includes “Play First” rental access to several of EA’s biggest upcoming games (including Battlefield 1, FIFA 17, Madden NFL 17, and Mass Effect: Andromeda) before they’re released to the public.
Posted in News, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 4, Battlefield Hardline, Dragon Age: Inquisition, E3 2016, EA Sports UFC, FIFA 14, FIFA 15, FIFA 16, Madden NFL 15, Madden NFL 16, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 15, NBA Live 16, Need For Speed Rivals, NHL 15, NHL 16, Peggle 2, Plants vs Zombies, Plants vs Zombies: Garden Warfare, Rory McIlroy PGA Tour, TitanFall
Xbox Live Gold members will receive free access to EA Access this week
Electronic Arts is opening the doors to their EA Access all-you-can-play subscription service on the Xbox One this week with a free trial for all Xbox Live Gold members.
Beginning today, Xbox Live Gold members will be able to download and play all 14 games currently available through the EA Access “Vault.” The offer expires January 24 and features a mix of new and old titles including Battlefield Hardline, Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, TitanFall, Plants Vs. Zombies: Garden Warfare, Need For Speed Rivals, Peggle 2, EA Sports UFC, FIFA 15, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, and NBA Live 15. To access the EA Access free trial, you’ll need to download the EA Access Hub app from the Dashboard.
If you’d rather skip all this free trial stuff and go straight to a subscription, EA offers access to EA Access for $4.99 per month, or $29.99 for a full year.
Titles selected for EA Access Vault will be “permanently” available to play
If you read the fine print behind Electronic Arts’ new EA Access subscription service, you’d come away with the idea that it operates in a similar manner to Sony’s PlayStation Plus plan. Just as Sony rotates out the games that are part of its “Instant Game Collection,” EA gave every indication that games in “The Vault” would change with the seasons.
According to Peter Moore, EA’s Chief Operating Officer, the publisher actually plans to make every game in The Vault a permanent part of EA Access.
Speaking to CVG, Moore said, “I think one of the key things is that once a game goes into the Vault it stays there, it’s not going to be taken out, that’s a commitment we’ve made.” This commitment will go a long way towards helping EA Access reach its potential as a “Netflix for games,” a comparison that many have made since the service was announced. Moore also stated that the number of AAA titles that will be offered through EA Access will be “substantial,” though he said there’s no timetable on when (or even if) EA’s future releases will become part of The Vault.
EA will begin offering EA Access subscriptions on the Xbox One for $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year later this Summer. Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, and Peggle 2 will make up the first wave of titles available to download through The Vault.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, Peggle 2
EA Access offers subscription service for EA games on Xbox One
You’re already signed up for Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus. Now, get ready to open up your wallet for EA Access.
EA Access is a subscription service that will offer access to some of Electronic Art’s previously released titles as digital downloads. Currently, the service is exclusive to the Xbox One and will be available for $4.99 per month or $29.99 per year.
So what do you get for your money? First and foremost, you get access to “The Vault,” a revolving selection of EA titles that can be downloaded from Xbox Live. During this Summer’s EA Access beta period, The Vault will contain Battlefield 4, FIFA 14, Madden NFL 25, and Peggle 2. According to the fine print, EA Access subscribers will lose all access to their EA Access games if the subscription lapses and once a game is removed from The Vault, it is no longer playable by EA Access subscribers.
In addition to titles in The Vault, EA Access members will be able to download demo versions of upcoming EA titles five days before the general public. These “Play First” titles include Madden NFL 15, NHL 15, FIFA 15, NBA Live 15, and Dragon Age: Inquisition. Finally, subscribers will receive 10% off all EA digital content in the Xbox Live Games Store. That includes all full game downloads and add-on content.
If you’re interested in signing up for EA Access, head over to EA.com/eaaccess now.
Posted in News, Xbox One
Tagged Battlefield 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, FIFA 14, FIFA 15, Madden NFL 15, Madden NFL 25, NBA Live 15, NHL 15, Peggle 2
CoD: Ghosts is the best-selling game of the month for the third straight month
The results are in and, according to The NPD Group, Call of Duty: Ghosts is once again the best-selling game of the preceding four weeks. After reigning supreme during November and December, the military shooter has emerged victorious against a particularly weak January release slate.
In fact, the only other new release in this month’s top ten is the “Definitive Edition” of Tomb Raider, which, along with sales of the “Game of the Year Edition” on the PS3/Xbox 360, helped Lara Croft’s latest adventure take the #10 spot.
Post-Christmas gift cards likely played a role in determining January’s biggest moneymakers as many of 2013’s biggest games staked out the remaining eight spots. NBA 2K14, lead by a strong performance on the PS4, landed at #2 and Battlefield 4, despite its continued online woes, was the #3 best-selling game of the month. And what about the next-generation consoles? Well, the NPD revealed that the PS4 is currently the #1 next-generation console in the US with the Xbox One close behind.
A complete look at last month’s top ten best-selling games can be found after the break. (more…)
Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, PS4, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360, Xbox One
Tagged Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag, Battlefield 4, Call of Duty: Ghosts, FIFA 14, Grand Theft Auto V, Lego Marvel Super Heroes, Madden NFL 25, Minecraft, NBA 2K14, NPD, Tomb Raider
Breaking Madden: One man’s amazing destruction of the (digital) Super Bowl
I don’t know anything about sports, which is why I’ve never visited SB Nation… until today, that is. Jon Bois does an amazing job of breaking Madden NFL 25 in his amazing article, The Breaking Madden Super Bowl: The Machine Is Bleeding to Death. While the writing is superb, it’s the GIFs of him humiliating the game that really make it.
Whether you’re a football fan, a player of the Madden series, or… OK, really, if you’re just a fan of video games in general, you will appreciate this gem. Get ready to laugh until it hurts.
Madden NFL 25 Super Bowl XLVIII simulation comes up short as Seattle Seahawks win
Sometimes the Madden Super Bowl prediction is scarily accurate. Other times… it’s not.
Super Bowl XLVIII ended just moments ago and not one of Madden NFL 25‘s predictions came true. The game didn’t go into overtime. Peyton Manning didn’t throw three touchdowns (and he definitely wasn’t the MVP). There was no snow. And the Denver Broncos did not win their first Super Bowl since 1998. Instead, the Seattle Seahawks crushed their opponents 43 to 8.
In the real game, Russell Wilson threw a pair of touchdowns (one to Doug Baldwin and one to Jermaine Kearse). Marshawn Lynch added a rushing touchdown and Seattle’s special teams added two more (one pick six from Malcolm Smith and a kickoff return from Percy Harvin). In case you were curious, Smith also took home MVP honors as well.
With the loss, the Madden NFL Super Bowl simulation drops to 8-3 over the last 11 years. The last failed prediction was in 2011 when the Packers defeated the Steelers in Super Bowl XLV.
Better luck next year, EA.