Playstation Football Games Have More Audibles

Once considered a failure due to slow development and limited technology for the majority of home users, Madden NFL has come a long way since its initial release in 1988. To date, the software title has sold better than 85 million copies that total will over 3 billion dollars in sales. Using the names of real players, real plays from professional play books, taking advantage of graphics capabilities and a real game feel are just a few of the reasons Madden football games have come to be one of the most popular playstation football games ever.

In fact Madden was not the first professional consulted for the game. There were players and even coaches that turned down the change at being the games name sake and guiding influence, however they all have prior obligations or simply were not interested. Fate came in to play and Madden, who is a super bowl winner and well known announcer, is probably most recognized through the game. The game has not remained static by any means. New things are added to each new version which is released every year. Almost 10 years after the game began a new mode called franchise mode was created. This allowed people to control the players if they chose to do so, but it also allowed for drafting, trades, and other functions of a general manager. It was the fist of its type for a football game.

In 2003 multiple ways to play the game were introduced. Players could opt for a single, quick game or they could choose to play an entire season or even multiple seasons. It was as time time that online play, where players could match their skills against others using the internet, was introduced. This was initially available only on the playstation 2 console. In the released version from 2004, online play was enhanced and a new addition called the playmaker tool was implemented. This feature gave the offense the ability to expand from only 4 audible options to the ability to change the direction of plays and assign hot routes at the line of scrimmage. This was a big step for the realism of the game.

The playmaker tool was made more robust in the next version released in 2005. In the previous release, this feature was only available for the offense, and that put players on defense at a decided disadvantage. With the addition of this feature on defense, the playing field become level again, and as with the 2004 version, game play become even more realistic. Later released added more new and exciting features such as the trick stick, the ability to control lead blockers for enhanced running plays, a new weapons control for superstar players, and league play. League play allowed for up to 32 people to play an entire season week by week on the internet. Newer versions are moving Madden to a true-to-life football simulation making it more than just a game.

Playstation football games have dominated for good reason and have become as much a simulation as they are a video game. Playstation 3 Madden football games have been super popular for over 20 years, and future development promise to make the simulation even more true to life.