Madden 13 broke a franchise record for first day sales, coming in at 900,000 copies being sold Aug. 28. This year marks the 26th anniversary of Madden video games. John Madden 1988 was the start to one of the most successful gaming franchises to this day. The first Madden was made for Microsoft Disk Operating System (MS-DOS) and Apple II. I don’t think anyone predicted this franchise’s success.
Madden includes many new features. Some of the new, amazing features 13 offers is the whole new infinity engine. The engine has gamers in AWE. The physics of the tackling makes you feel as if you were on the field, as you can feel the intensity of each hit through the vibrations of your controller.
This year Madden on Xbox 360 incorporated their Kinect sensor technology, which allows you to talk to your Kinect and alter plays called on the field. “O-line shift left,” “Johnson streak,” “deep pass,” “timeout,” and many other commands can be called using Kinect. What I did learn was some of the commands take some time to work, which is a challenge when the play clock is trickling down. If you’re a Madden veteran, I recommend just sticking to the controller.
The all-new Connected Careers have Madden fans questioning whether they should buy the game. To clear things up, Madden did NOT get rid of Franchise mode but has combined superstar mode and franchise mode together. It gives you the option to create a player, choose a present player, or choose a NFL legend, to progress with as your season goes on. Or you can choose to create a coach, use a present coach, or choose to be a legendary NFL coach, to start your traditional franchise. Unlike the other Maddens where you were more like the owner, now you’re more like a coach.
Another interesting feature added was the in-game commentating. Madden 12 featured Gus Johnson and Cris Collinsworth commentating. Their inaccurate breakdown of plays and sound bites were off at some points. This new Madden features the original commentators of the CBS network, Phil Simms and Jim Nantz. Johnson and Collinsworth were more entertaining to listen to, but they didn’t give as accurate of play breakdowns and player backgrounds as Simms and Nantz.
I highly recommend buying Madden 13, and every year the Madden franchise is becoming more realistic and achieving a better overall feel. Every year I am both impressed and satisfied. Madden is available on all basic platforms including Xbox 360($59.99), Playstation 3($59.99), and the Wii,($49.99), and for gamers on the go, Madden will be available on Sony’s portable PS Vita($39.99).