My Memories Of Madden

This week saw interesting phenomenon come to my attention, something called "the Madden Generation." While there maybe generations labeled X,Y, and whatevah, there is also a cross generation of people who have played video games throughout their entire lives. Not just any video game either. Of course I am talking about EA Sports' version of football headlined by the Hall Of Fame coach John Madden. The most recent addition to the franchise is entitled NFL Madden 07, and was released earlier this week to much hooplah.

Jesus, even I still have my Madden 91 for Sega Genesis laying around. If you play nothing but sports video games like me, you likely have one of the versions of it laying around too. I sound like an old fart that complains about walking to school uphill both ways (in the snow) when I say that I go so far back with Madden that I can claim that we didn't play from left to right, we played from top to bottom and bottom to top! And we liked it! You kids today with your left-thumbstick! We had a D-Pad, and just one of them mind you! And we were happy. You kids get to decide play patterns, control the pass, juke moves, oh, new to this year's model you get to be an offensive lineman? We were lucky if we could even control the wide receiver!

What's funny is that inevitably one of you reading this a Tecmo Bowl guy and totally doesn't get what I'm talking about. But you do remember sitting in front of the tv for hours after school with your one buddy playin vids. You had the Atari 2600 or Intellivison, then you got either your Colecovision or waited till Nintendo, the premier system of it's dayto play. You graduated from that to your Sega Genesis, where Madden really took off. From there you started college and was ready for the Playstation, all the while your faithful EA Sports released a new version of your favorite football game every year. Now, you're out of college, worn out your PS2, X-Box, and moved on to the 360. Guess what? The 07 is there for ya, and BOOM! You my friend are a member of the "Madden Generation."

Well now-a-days, these games have gotten outta hand. Music has played a key role in recent versions of the game. It is a sign of prestige for some acts to have their song appear on the popular game, and in recent years the lineup of well known stars has increased tremendously. 2005's version boasted "American Idiot" by Green Day, which later on went to win the Grammy. Coincidence? This year's model is no exception to the trend. Included on the soundtrack to NFL Madden 07 are such artists such well known artists as Audioslave, Keane, and Wolfmother.

But what about the game itself? Looks cool, right? Well, reviews have been mixed at best. Most reviews have said that the game seems to be the same as last year. If there is anything I hate more about a game that comes out yearly is that they didn't make enough improvements. Some have said it might even be a step back because it is harder to operate the receivers. Oh well. At least I can live easier knowing that a new model is only a year away. I'm just sayin'

Here are a couple of tunes available on the Madden soundtrack.

For your consideration:
Wolfmother - Woman Mp3
Keane - Is It Any Wonder? Mp3