It's Not Madden, It's Americana

Madden 12. Ugh.

I've been keeping an eye on the labor situation between the NFL owners and players. In a word? Dumb. On both sides. Players union decertifying. Owners wanting more out of the richest league in the world. Then... on top of that? Electronic Arts football game. The game has stunk for a while. I recently saw a video of the half time presentation of 2k's game from half a decade ago and was reminded that Madden is still a ways off from even that.

What has gotten my attention is a little trailer that EA put out for Madden 12. Yeah, the game will still stink. But what it captures is a little bit of why football is so popular an what developers always miss. It's inclusion in the game is important. Will it make the gameplay better? No. Will it make the game experience better? Yes.



American Football is not the beautiful game. But it involves the best athletes in the world that sometimes get maimed and even killed. While I dislike anyone using war term references in sports... football is the sport that almost warrants them. In a way it frightens the rest of the world. In a progressive world it is out of place. A relic. In a way, it is in danger of slipping away.

I'm not defending it or promoting it. It is what it is. I'll leave this with a quote from my grandmother: "I'll never understand why they wear all that armor."

There's a connection to make in there somewhere.

It's taken a few folks from the EA FIFA franchise to realize what makes the NFL unique and their take is evident in the promo. I donno. It just stuck a chord.

**Note: when the Seahawks take the field; the "Earn Everything" sign behind them.

**Note: the lady riding the bronco out on the field. Snowy entrance Pittsburgh. The lack of the souless Redskins. Doubly note: a poor boy from Arkansas cut once and plays on a perennial looser in Cleveland getting voted on to the cover of the finished game product.

With all the glamor and so called glitz that we see on the TV networks... how does that happen?

It's not the game I'm interested in. It's something else I just can't put my finger on.

And, man... don't even get me started on if US Soccer could pull some of these future NFL stars and get them on the pitch. We would rule the world.