Prime Video Is Releasing A Docuseries On The History Of Madden And It Looks Pretty Fucking Good
Yeah yeahhhhh, I know that Madden's the been the same game forever, EA ditched the creativity that made the game an institution for Ultimate Team's delicious micropurchases, and all the other talking points that have become as tired as the game. But this documentary is a Must Watch to those of us that remember when a new Madden release was more than a roster update, but instead an introduction to the next 6+ months of your life. Granted, I'm also a psycho that has his first Madden in a shadowbox and will occasionally buy a physical copy if one of my favorite players is on the cover.
Yet the point remains that this docuseries is not only an important one for the fans of sports or gaming but of America. Because that's the type of weight Madden holds...or at least used to hold before the NFL made it the exclusive game of the league.
I vividly remember school buzzing the years they added the gallop button, the Truck Stick, and the vision cone (before everyone agreed to stop using the vision cone). I remember the fights that would break out over whether Michael Vick could be used in the franchise mode with your buddies. I remember the joy followed by devastation a fanbase would experience when one of their superstars would make the cover of the game followed by the Madden Curse haunting their season. There is also so much that I don't know or remember outside of the stories of how John Madden was adamant that anything with his name had to be realistic, from the numbers of players on the field to the way the plays were called, and so much more.
So I will be watching this doc on Thanksgiving weekend as John Maddne would've wanted and hope it is honest about the bumpy early days, the glorious rise to the top of the industry, and the fall from grace (at least in its fans' eyes) once they killed the 2K series along with all other competitors as the lone holder of the NFL license. If they gloss over the bad, I'll be bummed, that won't be the first time a Madden release had me feeling that way.
Obligatory shout out to the GOAT.
Along with this incredible tweet that snuck under the radar a few weeks ago.
Also while I am here, I gotta shout out this Prime Video series called Game 7 that does a deep dive on five different legendary Game 7s. It completely slipped under my radar since I never really hear about Prime's new releases (I only heard about this Madden series today from a buddy) and it came out when the MLB playoffs were really cooking. But I watched the 1994 Rangers and 2016 Cubs episodes this week, which were both 10/10 in my humble opinion.