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20th Madden launches August 11th

by on01 August 2008

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Maddenpalooza to be held in Pasadena, California

Unless you have been living under a rock, you likely know by now that Electronic Arts is celebrating the release of Madden NFL 09, which is the 20th anniversary of the video game series (People outside the US might not. Ed.). The 20th anniversary makes the Madden series of football video games one of the most successful series of video games of all time.

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of Madden, EA is going to hold what they are calling a “Maddenpalooza” which will be held in Pasadena at the famed Rose Bowl. The event will offer games and music to be headlined by the band, Good Charlotte. It will be an opportunity for Madden fans to play and celebrate the new game. EA expects over 10,000 Madden fans to attend.

This year’s Madden NFL 09 will have legend, Brett Favre, on the cover of the game. As an added bonus to this year’s version you will be able to place him on any team in the game without having to wait until September 4th to find out which team he will be playing for.

This year’s Madden NFL 09 will be available only for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, and Nintendo DS. A specialized version of Madden NFL 09 will be released for the Nintendo Wii called Madden NFL 09 All-Play. Also, a special edition-themed Madden 09 version of the Sony PSP will be released, as well.

A Spanish version of Madden NFL 09 will be released for the PlayStation 3 called Madden NFL 09 en Espanol. In a departure from the long running tradition, Madden NFL 09 will not be making its way to the PC this year; this is the first time in many years where Madden is not available for any PC platform.

A special edition version of Madden NFL 09 will be released, as well, for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The special edition is called the “Madden NFL 09: 20th Anniversary Special Collector’s Edition” and it will feature NFL Head Coach 09 and bonus video content in addition to the Madden NFL 09 game. The special edition version will retail for a MSRP of $99.

Madden has been the gold standard in football video games for years and they are looking to raise the bar again this year. More features and a more realistic look will be two areas where this version will again take the top prize. The lack of a PC version of Madden this year has to hurt the PC faithful who have been playing the PC version of Madden for years.

According to Peter Moore, the PC version was cut primarily due to not having the time to deliver it on the PC platform as well as all of the others; and poor sales when compared to other platforms were also cited as an issue.

Last modified on 01 August 2008
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