Mesa Legend - News - Sports and video games collide at MCC

Sports and video games collide at MCC

Josh Flores
Mesa Legend

When one thinks football video games, the first video game that comes to mind is MADDEN NFL.

The game’s success continues to grow every year with new features and realistic graphics that make it feel life-like.

Recently a MADDEN NFL ’07 tournament was held Sept. 22, and was put on by the Black Student Union (BSU) in the Kiva Room of The Kirk Center.

The event was put on to raise money for the organization. Dominique Warren, a BSU member, stated “a Madden tournament would be a good idea (to raise money) because it is a very popular game”.

Desmond Davis, also a BSU member, said, “We thought, well everyone likes to play Madden, so why not capitalize on things everyone likes to do”.

Registration for the ournament was $20, with the winner receiving a hefty reward.
Rules for the tournament consisted of: 3 minute quarters, setting on All-Madden level (the hardest difficulty), no memory cards or codes were allowed, no side coaching, no 21 point rule (meaning anyone losing by twenty-one points must forfeit), and the championship round consisted of 5 minute quarters.

With about 20 people entering a twenty dollar tournament, it is clear Madden has definitely made its way into the mainstream, but a long time ago, it was a struggling game trying to make it.

The first console version released was for the Sega Genesis in 1990 with a Super Nintendo version available a year later. The series was granted full NFL licensing and became known as Madden NFL with 1993’s edition.

Each year the Madden NFL series is given updates that are generally small, sometimes a new feature or two, and a slight updating of the graphics.

The game is s sold for the same $50 price as the previous years’ title (now $60 on the new X-box 360 console).

According to Randy Nez, an MCC student, “ (Madden NFL) ’07 has a few more options than ’06. You can control your blockers to gain as many yards as possible, so it gives you more of an advantage.

The one advantage that the game doesn’t give is to those who grace the cover, which is known as “The Madden Curse.”

Before 2000, all of the Madden NFL game box covers prominently featured John Madden only.

This curse started when Barry Sanders appeared on the cover of Madden NFL 2000, and due to injuries was forced to retire that year.

Eddie George graced the cover in 2001 and had a non-productive year as well as Marshall Faulk for 2003’s version and Ray Lewis in 2005.

Players who also graced the cover have had season-shortening injuries such as Donovan McNabb in 2006 and Shaun Alexander for this year’s version.

Falcon’s quarterback Michael Vick suffered a season ending injury in 2004 when he graced the cover.

After a wildly succesful franchise, it was rumored this year that the 2007 version of Madden would be the last.

So the question becomes where does football video gaming go next year?