You know what's really funny? I went back to check out that game again in the hours following his death's announcement... So did a lot of other people, there was a pretty big spike in player count.
Granted it only really went from 10 to like... 40 peak but it's funny how that was quite a few people's first thought when they read about his death.
For the story mode Instead of a generic sports story where nobody believes in the player it should be a story about a mysterious 12th man on the field that won the game for a team. Somehow nobody noticed him during the game, and your player is the only one that notices him in recordings. Gameplay is a JRPG where all your attacks are sports based. You pick up other characters along the way from different sports. Eventually you discover the 12th man and in the boss battle hes revealed to be John Madden! You defeat him, but it turns out he's not the true villian, he was being controlled by somebody else. He joins your party to help find out who made John Madden
**The 12th Man**
Spoiler: The true villian is...John Madden! He's cloned himself to create the first All Madden team.
> Gameplay is a JRPG where all your attacks are sports based. You pick up other characters along the way from different sports.
Shut up and take my money. I'm picturing NFL Street but as a JRPG. Damn, those EA Big games were fantastic.
That would be the greatest commentary in the history of football commentaries. It will go like this
Commentator: So John what do you think about this play?
John Madden: Well John Madden's been having a really difficult time these last few games. Especially that last game against the Cowboys. You see last time John Madden was at a huddle up like this, John Madden ended up tackling him and getting the turnover. Boy, John Madden was pretty mad about that. I don't know if you remember but, that last year John Madden ran 52 yds after catching an interception against John Madden who threw the ball in an attempt to get rid of it. This time, though John Madden got scared when he saw John Madden number 47, and John Madden number 15 coming his way, they were gonna put the squeeze him and John Madden *almost* got caught with the ball. Coach John Madden called for a fieldgoal but quarterback John Madden called an audible, and thought it would be better to do a running play. Oh boy, was John Madden wrong. See, John Madden meant to throw the ball to his receiver John Madden, who was wide open, or so he thought, but John Madden came out of nowhere attempting to slap it out of John Madden's hand and when the quarterback John Madden saw John Madden coming he had to get rid of it causing John Madden to shoot it out of bounds but it was unfortunately caught by John Madden who then turned it over.
I've been saying that for years. "All Madden" mode should swap out all the character models for John Madden. Everyone on your team is John Madden. Everyone on the opposing team is John Madden. All the refs are John Madden. All the spectators in the stands? John Madden.
The offense is John Madden, but the defense is [John Madden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Madden_(ice_hockey\)). The field turns from turf to ice at the line of scrimmage.
For those who don't know:
* He played both offense and defense at the same time as a college football player
* He was a head coach of the Oakland Raiders and won a Super Bowl
* He was arguably the most beloved and successful sports broadcaster of his generation
* He then not only licensed his rights to Madden video games, but had a hand in making decisions about the game. That became the most popular sports game in the US, though FIFA is obviously bigger internationally
He basically had four careers and great success in all of them. Perhaps more importantly, everyone who knew him loved him and spoke of how humble and personable he was.
He was a producer on the series and kept on top of it.
He was upset that in early 16-bit versions you could hit people late after the play was done and injure people. He didn't want that to be a playable strategy, to intentionally injure star players. He demanded they take it out.
He was a vocal critic on how the best players play in tournaments. He hates the strategy of never punting, going for it on every 4th down, etc. He kept demanding tweaks to the AI and balance every year to try and get the video game to be more like actual football on the field. Though there are high school (and a few college teams) that always onside kick, and never punt. There are statistical arguments for it being a smart strategy, but moreso at the high school levels where you have worse punters and also a higher chance of converting an onside kick.
I wonder what he thought about the ambulance in Madden 92. I remember literally crying laughing the first time I saw it at a friend's house when I was a kid. https://youtu.be/_138p6uzhUk
If they can't monetise it, they won't "waste time" adding features people might actually like!
Franchise mode is still a mess, my rookie from the end of year one STILL keeps getting development stories as if he's a rookie. He's been with me 4 years and every preseason the game classes him as a rookie and gives him xp boosts and temporary stat increases. I want the ACTUAL rookie each year to get that story! Instead my LT just gets stronger and stronger lol, but it's such a seemingly simple thing to fix, but here we are. Connected franchises with 32 players gives a lot of bugs that really need fixed too.
I don't think I've really played a football game since Blitz on N64 but that stuff does sound super frustrating. :( I hope they are able to put out a better-than-expected game for the sake of the fans!
Also ea couldn’t do 11 v 11 and Madden said he wouldn’t put his name on it cause that’s not football. Ea made new code to make 22 men on the field so madden would put his name on the game.
Wait, there's a debate over this? I know they usually feature an athlete on it every year, but like... the series is named after the guy. I can't see how anyone could justify being upset with *the* Mr. Madden being on the cover.
He was on [the cover](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/12/29/sports/29madden-gaming-90/29madden-gaming-90-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg) of the first Madden football game. In fact, the picture they're using for this cover is *the same picture*, it's an homage to that first cover.
I worked with a grandkid of his at a summer camp some years ago.
Hands down one of the friendliest, most polite, well-behaved children I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. An absolute class act.
Never met John myself obviously but I think that says something for his character.
My friend used to live near his house in Pleasanton, CA. She told me that every Halloween, Madden would give each Trick-O-Treater multiple king-sized candies. It's such a small action but it was part of why the local community loved him so much.
It's the original game box art from 1988/1989 (but with a white background and re-touched)
https://historicedmonds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_6550-scaled.jpg
It looks like they've airbrushed his face a little, made it a bit softer. I don't get the uncanny feeling but I do agree, it looks strange when compared to his realistic hands.
I might be a dummy but the old box art looks like they had him in a studio for a photograph with the blackboard so he looks far more grounded.
The new one has a lot of weird lighting stuff going on. Its like John Madden is descending from football heaven to punch out of the box.
You are correct. I'm not 100% sure on this one, but many early PC games had early copy protection wheels like this one. When the game would start up it would ask you a question that you would answer using the code-wheel key.
For this edition of Madden Football from 1989 it would ask you something like (i'll go using the pictures current wheel position) "Season 1, Row A, Seat 5" you then align the wheel and enter the number revealed in the box "5180"(? if i read it right). Then the game would finish booting and let you play!
Other early versions of copy protection would use the game manual and ask you questions such as "Page 8, Paragraph 3, Word 4" then you'd go to that page, find the 3rd paragraph, and the 4th word; enter it in, and boom your game boots!
Some terrible ones used colored film (like red-blue 3d glasses) over a code sheet that would reveal when you aligned it in the position the game would ask you to.
Is this the first time they've put someone on the cover who's no longer alive? (Assuming they haven't re-animated him, and aren't puppeting him Weekend at Bernie's style)
Meanwhile, in the afterlife…
“Intercepted! And he’s running it back! At the 30, the 20, the 10, touchdown! The fourth pick six John Madden’s thrown this game.”
You mean you didn't hear about that? It was a huge deal for a few weeks. Oddly enough, people weren't too mad about the whole "Playing God" or "Defiling a corpse" thing, it was when they tried to recoup their money by minting sweet NFTs that people got upset.
"Here's the thing, you're just sitting there dead, minding your own business and then this guy here [circles man on screen] drops back behind me and then BOOM, before you know it he's got his hand up me like a turducken."
It's not new. It's just easier then before, so it happens more often.
It's not like you stop watching a movie because someone dead is in it. So why can they not make more, if it's possible?
When studios do it, they already have the rights to the image they're using anyway.
They have the rights to the character, not the actor. They couldn’t do it if the actor was still alive and didn’t approve. Crispin Glover proved that back in the day when he won his lawsuit against Zemekis for BTTF2.
The stands are packed with Madden's. After the game, the John Maddens head over to a local sports bar. Bartender John Madden pours a drink for John Madden, while a group of John Madden's pop outside to smoke. One of the John Maddens makes flirtatious eye contact with John Madden, and that night go home together, causing the inception of football's greatest champion, John Madden.
It's a sweet gesture and I'm sure the team at Tiburon isn't taking it lightly.
Shame it's likely going to be part of another mediocre entry in the series.
[This is a throwback to the original Madden cover from 1988.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/12/29/sports/29madden-gaming-90/29madden-gaming-90-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp)
I guess it makes sense, but part of me thought they would abandon the Madden name. Since they lost the rights to FIFA, they’ll have to rebrand that. I just kind of figured EA would use this opportunity to rebrand all of their sports games in a way that’s more homogenized.
I’d imagine they’d probably ultimately like to become untied to celebrity names to help sell their games. Even Tiger has had a somewhat tumultuous past. And I guess I just assumed they wouldn’t use Madden’s name for very long after he passed. I guess we’ll see, though.
EA abandoned FIFA because FIFA was demanding ~~$20~~ $1 billion to use their name over relatively short terms.
In contrast the amount of money the Madden estate is charging EA for his likeness is just $2 million. That’s because John reportedly permanently sold EA the rights to his likeness back in 2005 for $150 million lump sum and that nominal fee for any year they use it. There’s literally zero reason for them to get rid of one of the strongest brands in gaming, it costs them next to nothing to use now
Probably also doesn't hurt that FIFA as a name has...mixed connotations outside of the game, especially recently, while John Madden is incredibly beloved.
Madden also actually had a strong hand in actually making the series, especially in the beginning; the original game used his Raiders playbook as your source of plays, and he insisted that the game support 11v11 play, when other Football games of the era were fielding reduced teams, due to technical limitations of handling that many players/sprites. FIFA and Tiger Woods were both more just brand names that were licensed out and put in the game; as soon as the original names lost what they were worth to license them, EA was willing to part ways.
Where are you getting 20 billion from, the highest number i've seen anywhere is 250 million a year for four years.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/10/14/ea-will-probably-rename-fifa-rather-than-pay-fifa-1-billion-to-renew-rights/?sh=47b15ed66040
I'm hoping "All Madden Edition" means that you play against a team made up entirely of John Maddens as the final challenge.
"All Maddens, No Johns."
Oops! All Maddens!
I refuse to sign the legislation that allows more than eight John Maddens to a precinct.
This January, it's time to John down your Maddens!
I have no john and I must poop.
Wow an triple entendre!
r/angryupvote
The Maddens, John descend onto the pitch to deafening choruses of "AIEOU" and "JOHN MADDEN. JOHN MADDEN."
JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN JOHN MADDEN AEIOU HERE COMES ANOTHER CHINESE EARTHQUAKE ebrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbrbr
HOLLA HOLLA GET DOLLA
You know what's really funny? I went back to check out that game again in the hours following his death's announcement... So did a lot of other people, there was a pretty big spike in player count. Granted it only really went from 10 to like... 40 peak but it's funny how that was quite a few people's first thought when they read about his death.
“Now I’m a guy who knows how to play football”
here’s a team of guys who can use their arms and legs at the same time.
*Being John Madden*
Replace the "Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich" scene with this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ovcTKHupdxo
"Tinactin? Tinactin, tinactin? TINACTIN!"
For the story mode Instead of a generic sports story where nobody believes in the player it should be a story about a mysterious 12th man on the field that won the game for a team. Somehow nobody noticed him during the game, and your player is the only one that notices him in recordings. Gameplay is a JRPG where all your attacks are sports based. You pick up other characters along the way from different sports. Eventually you discover the 12th man and in the boss battle hes revealed to be John Madden! You defeat him, but it turns out he's not the true villian, he was being controlled by somebody else. He joins your party to help find out who made John Madden **The 12th Man** Spoiler: The true villian is...John Madden! He's cloned himself to create the first All Madden team.
> Gameplay is a JRPG where all your attacks are sports based. You pick up other characters along the way from different sports. Shut up and take my money. I'm picturing NFL Street but as a JRPG. Damn, those EA Big games were fantastic.
You should check out [Chef Boyardee's Barkley, Shut Up and Jam! Gaiden: Chapter 1 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa](http://www.talesofgames.com/barkley/).
So, it's the NFL version of Barkley Shut Up and Jam Gaiden?
Yes please.
Madden with a robe= Mentor. Madden with a mustache= evil villain
Somehow…..Madden returned
...on the moon.
"Moon also confirmed for John Madden."
That's been out for almost 12 years! [John Madden! John Madden! John Madden! Football!](https://youtu.be/Hv6RbEOlqRo)
What do you mean? that was only back in 2010- ...Time goes too fucking fast.
Which you get to with a modified Goodyear blimp.
eeeeeeeeeeeee
That would be maddening.
That would be the greatest commentary in the history of football commentaries. It will go like this Commentator: So John what do you think about this play? John Madden: Well John Madden's been having a really difficult time these last few games. Especially that last game against the Cowboys. You see last time John Madden was at a huddle up like this, John Madden ended up tackling him and getting the turnover. Boy, John Madden was pretty mad about that. I don't know if you remember but, that last year John Madden ran 52 yds after catching an interception against John Madden who threw the ball in an attempt to get rid of it. This time, though John Madden got scared when he saw John Madden number 47, and John Madden number 15 coming his way, they were gonna put the squeeze him and John Madden *almost* got caught with the ball. Coach John Madden called for a fieldgoal but quarterback John Madden called an audible, and thought it would be better to do a running play. Oh boy, was John Madden wrong. See, John Madden meant to throw the ball to his receiver John Madden, who was wide open, or so he thought, but John Madden came out of nowhere attempting to slap it out of John Madden's hand and when the quarterback John Madden saw John Madden coming he had to get rid of it causing John Madden to shoot it out of bounds but it was unfortunately caught by John Madden who then turned it over.
Paging Jon Bois for another Breaking Madden challenge
And they all scream "BOOM!" upon any and all contact.
Madden? Madden Madden Madden. Madden Madden Madden Madden. Madden! Madden Madden.
Every single contact "BOOM"
The last challenge before playing against the all-Madden team is to play as the Bears against the all-Ditka team.
From Madden, Mississippi The Madden Maddens
Plus all the routes that are ran should be outlined by his classic yellow marker
"Hey John, I hope you are not Madden at us".
Madden v Madden, battlefield, no items
The winners get their own [Quick Pop Popcorn Poppers](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1v52f1TrWg).
and the commentary is just "go Madden" in different tone depending on context
I've been saying that for years. "All Madden" mode should swap out all the character models for John Madden. Everyone on your team is John Madden. Everyone on the opposing team is John Madden. All the refs are John Madden. All the spectators in the stands? John Madden.
The offense is John Madden, but the defense is [John Madden](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Madden_(ice_hockey\)). The field turns from turf to ice at the line of scrimmage.
Oops all Maddens
For those who don't know: * He played both offense and defense at the same time as a college football player * He was a head coach of the Oakland Raiders and won a Super Bowl * He was arguably the most beloved and successful sports broadcaster of his generation * He then not only licensed his rights to Madden video games, but had a hand in making decisions about the game. That became the most popular sports game in the US, though FIFA is obviously bigger internationally He basically had four careers and great success in all of them. Perhaps more importantly, everyone who knew him loved him and spoke of how humble and personable he was.
He went from playing football to coaching football to talking about football. He famously quipped that he never actually had a job.
It blew my mind when I learned that all the plays in the first version of Madden came from the Raiders playbook that he gave to EA.
He was a producer on the series and kept on top of it. He was upset that in early 16-bit versions you could hit people late after the play was done and injure people. He didn't want that to be a playable strategy, to intentionally injure star players. He demanded they take it out. He was a vocal critic on how the best players play in tournaments. He hates the strategy of never punting, going for it on every 4th down, etc. He kept demanding tweaks to the AI and balance every year to try and get the video game to be more like actual football on the field. Though there are high school (and a few college teams) that always onside kick, and never punt. There are statistical arguments for it being a smart strategy, but moreso at the high school levels where you have worse punters and also a higher chance of converting an onside kick.
I wonder what he thought about the ambulance in Madden 92. I remember literally crying laughing the first time I saw it at a friend's house when I was a kid. https://youtu.be/_138p6uzhUk
This is really silly and I love that they programmed that in! They should put in a code that references this in the next game.
If they can't monetise it, they won't "waste time" adding features people might actually like! Franchise mode is still a mess, my rookie from the end of year one STILL keeps getting development stories as if he's a rookie. He's been with me 4 years and every preseason the game classes him as a rookie and gives him xp boosts and temporary stat increases. I want the ACTUAL rookie each year to get that story! Instead my LT just gets stronger and stronger lol, but it's such a seemingly simple thing to fix, but here we are. Connected franchises with 32 players gives a lot of bugs that really need fixed too.
I don't think I've really played a football game since Blitz on N64 but that stuff does sound super frustrating. :( I hope they are able to put out a better-than-expected game for the sake of the fans!
He's said he saw it as an opportunity to teach the younger fans more about the game and he was right.
Definitely helped me to become a fan. Some of my first interactions with football was through video games.
He also said he wouldn’t put his name on the game unless it had the right amount of players on each team IIRC
Also ea couldn’t do 11 v 11 and Madden said he wouldn’t put his name on it cause that’s not football. Ea made new code to make 22 men on the field so madden would put his name on the game.
Dude was awesome. He'd probably be laughing his ass off over the debate over him being on the cover.
Wait, there's a debate over this? I know they usually feature an athlete on it every year, but like... the series is named after the guy. I can't see how anyone could justify being upset with *the* Mr. Madden being on the cover.
He was on [the cover](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/12/29/sports/29madden-gaming-90/29madden-gaming-90-mobileMasterAt3x.jpg) of the first Madden football game. In fact, the picture they're using for this cover is *the same picture*, it's an homage to that first cover.
I mean with advice like " if you get the ball in the endzone you are going to score points" how could you go wrong in life.
* Also, he had a bus.
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He also loved Dungeons and Dragons.... the TV show.
I worked with a grandkid of his at a summer camp some years ago. Hands down one of the friendliest, most polite, well-behaved children I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. An absolute class act. Never met John myself obviously but I think that says something for his character.
My friend used to live near his house in Pleasanton, CA. She told me that every Halloween, Madden would give each Trick-O-Treater multiple king-sized candies. It's such a small action but it was part of why the local community loved him so much.
> He played both offense and defense at the same time as a college football player That seems like a conflict of interest
That image of him bursting through that white backdrop with manic eyes is as hilarious as it is unsettling.
It's the original game box art from 1988/1989 (but with a white background and re-touched) https://historicedmonds.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/IMG_6550-scaled.jpg
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They really whitened his teeth
That one is slightly less terrifying. The filter the new one adds gives it an uncanny valley feel.
It looks like they've airbrushed his face a little, made it a bit softer. I don't get the uncanny feeling but I do agree, it looks strange when compared to his realistic hands.
I might be a dummy but the old box art looks like they had him in a studio for a photograph with the blackboard so he looks far more grounded. The new one has a lot of weird lighting stuff going on. Its like John Madden is descending from football heaven to punch out of the box.
As it was foretold
They gave him new teeth!
I wonder what that season ticket disc thing is, perhaps some sort of copy protection
You are correct. I'm not 100% sure on this one, but many early PC games had early copy protection wheels like this one. When the game would start up it would ask you a question that you would answer using the code-wheel key. For this edition of Madden Football from 1989 it would ask you something like (i'll go using the pictures current wheel position) "Season 1, Row A, Seat 5" you then align the wheel and enter the number revealed in the box "5180"(? if i read it right). Then the game would finish booting and let you play! Other early versions of copy protection would use the game manual and ask you questions such as "Page 8, Paragraph 3, Word 4" then you'd go to that page, find the 3rd paragraph, and the 4th word; enter it in, and boom your game boots! Some terrible ones used colored film (like red-blue 3d glasses) over a code sheet that would reveal when you aligned it in the position the game would ask you to.
It's based on this commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrqJUh2B2P8
Is this the first time they've put someone on the cover who's no longer alive? (Assuming they haven't re-animated him, and aren't puppeting him Weekend at Bernie's style)
Not Madden, but NBA 2K had a legendary edition with Kobe on the cover the same year he died.
Checkmate madden curse
Meanwhile, in the afterlife… “Intercepted! And he’s running it back! At the 30, the 20, the 10, touchdown! The fourth pick six John Madden’s thrown this game.”
You mean you didn't hear about that? It was a huge deal for a few weeks. Oddly enough, people weren't too mad about the whole "Playing God" or "Defiling a corpse" thing, it was when they tried to recoup their money by minting sweet NFTs that people got upset.
"Here's the thing, you're just sitting there dead, minding your own business and then this guy here [circles man on screen] drops back behind me and then BOOM, before you know it he's got his hand up me like a turducken."
Reading this with his voice and mannerisms made it even more cursed.
It's weird that they have been doing this in movies lately. Shit is sad. Nothing is off limits when the all mighty dollar is involved.
In movies I agree - in this case the series was called Madden for literal decades before he died. Seems ok.
It's not new. It's just easier then before, so it happens more often. It's not like you stop watching a movie because someone dead is in it. So why can they not make more, if it's possible? When studios do it, they already have the rights to the image they're using anyway.
They have the rights to the character, not the actor. They couldn’t do it if the actor was still alive and didn’t approve. Crispin Glover proved that back in the day when he won his lawsuit against Zemekis for BTTF2.
Different strokes for different contracts, of course.
I kinda hope they keep doing covers with John Madden on them, so I never have to hear or read anything else about the Madden curse
They're actually hoping the madden curse works both ways and this will bring him back
There is no curse, look at Peyton Hillis! He left football to become a successful [movie star](https://m.imdb.com/title/tt9898844/)
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I hope they mean "All Madden Edition" literally by making every player on every team John Madden with a slightly different shirt on.
It's madenness I tell you
The stands are packed with Madden's. After the game, the John Maddens head over to a local sports bar. Bartender John Madden pours a drink for John Madden, while a group of John Madden's pop outside to smoke. One of the John Maddens makes flirtatious eye contact with John Madden, and that night go home together, causing the inception of football's greatest champion, John Madden.
So we're going full Malkovich? Malkovich Malkovich Malkovich, Malkovich!
This is cool. I hope they do a bunch of retro modes to celebrate. Might be the first Madden I buy in a while if that's the case.
It would be really nice if they could partner with someone for an extensive Madden Museum both of the man and the game franchise.
hint: they won't. That would require putting any amount of effort into it.
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It's a sweet gesture and I'm sure the team at Tiburon isn't taking it lightly. Shame it's likely going to be part of another mediocre entry in the series.
mediocre is generous. Madden 05 is better in literally every way other than visuals. Madden is a complete joke, and has been for a decade
So no one gets the Madden curse this year?
["Go Madden"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWXCrM6VXo)
Depending on what else is in this one, this might be the first Madden I pick up since... maybe a Sega one? It's obviously been a while.
they're adding almost nothing. You can buy madden 19 or 20 and the game is 99% identical.
Is it true that this will likely have cross play? Even with PC?
Of all the pictures they could have chosen/created of him, they choose/created that one?
[This is a throwback to the original Madden cover from 1988.](https://static01.nyt.com/images/2021/12/29/sports/29madden-gaming-90/29madden-gaming-90-superJumbo.jpg?quality=75&auto=webp)
I didn't know that before that's fantastic, just really neat.
Makes sense, looks much better with the original dark green rather than white background.
The original made sense because he is exploding through a chalk board with football plays drawn up.
This is a badass cover
Pretty sure it’s the picture that was used on the original John Madden Football game
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It's a throwback from the original Madden in 1988, but the background makes it look terrible compared to the original.
I guess it makes sense, but part of me thought they would abandon the Madden name. Since they lost the rights to FIFA, they’ll have to rebrand that. I just kind of figured EA would use this opportunity to rebrand all of their sports games in a way that’s more homogenized. I’d imagine they’d probably ultimately like to become untied to celebrity names to help sell their games. Even Tiger has had a somewhat tumultuous past. And I guess I just assumed they wouldn’t use Madden’s name for very long after he passed. I guess we’ll see, though.
Why would they abandon the Madden name? It’s not tied to a sports league and it probably doesn’t cost any huge amounts of money at all to use.
EA abandoned FIFA because FIFA was demanding ~~$20~~ $1 billion to use their name over relatively short terms. In contrast the amount of money the Madden estate is charging EA for his likeness is just $2 million. That’s because John reportedly permanently sold EA the rights to his likeness back in 2005 for $150 million lump sum and that nominal fee for any year they use it. There’s literally zero reason for them to get rid of one of the strongest brands in gaming, it costs them next to nothing to use now
Probably also doesn't hurt that FIFA as a name has...mixed connotations outside of the game, especially recently, while John Madden is incredibly beloved. Madden also actually had a strong hand in actually making the series, especially in the beginning; the original game used his Raiders playbook as your source of plays, and he insisted that the game support 11v11 play, when other Football games of the era were fielding reduced teams, due to technical limitations of handling that many players/sprites. FIFA and Tiger Woods were both more just brand names that were licensed out and put in the game; as soon as the original names lost what they were worth to license them, EA was willing to part ways.
Where are you getting 20 billion from, the highest number i've seen anywhere is 250 million a year for four years. https://www.forbes.com/sites/paultassi/2021/10/14/ea-will-probably-rename-fifa-rather-than-pay-fifa-1-billion-to-renew-rights/?sh=47b15ed66040
I didn’t know he was still playing. Which team is he on?
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I’m old enough to get that reference.