Is The Madden Brand Fading?

Is Madden still a thing? Honestly, is it still a thing?



The Madden brand just doesn’t seem to have the power it used to have, when it was the best-selling game for 2-3 months out of the year every year during the sixth generation. During the PS2 games, it was expected that Madden would sell at least 2 million---and then would scrape up a few more millions with the XBox and (sometimes) the Gamecube.



Then something odd happened. The sales started dropping during the seventh generation.



The XBox 360 became the dominant system for Madden, yet it was averaging just half of what Madden was selling in the PS2 days. Its best-selling Madden edition, Madden 2010, was outsold by the 2006 edition by 2 million copies----and that wasn’t even the best-selling installment. And now that we’ve reached the newest generation, the best-selling Madden in this era is the 2015 edition---which barely passed 1.5 million.

So why is the Madden brand fading? It’s a mix of reputation and the overall decline in sports simulation sales. EA and Madden doesn’t have the positive vibes that it carried in the early 2000s, and by destroying the competition the effort level to enhance the franchise diminished completely. After the NFL 2K5/Madden 2005 incident (still an unforgivable act to this day, forget you EA Games), Madden 2006 began the quality downward spiral that went egregiously out of control with the XBox 360 games. And guess what, reputation goes far in the gaming industry; no matter how successful you were before the streak will end if you unleash bad product. Mortal Kombat suffered from this for about a decade post SNES/Genesis period.

The games aren’t as good anymore, and it took a couple years before gamers realized this and decided to spend their hard-earned money elsewhere. The last final blow the NFL 2K series delivered was that awesome price tag of $20 on the 2K5 edition. Ever since that year, the $50-$60 just looked much more expensive to give to a Madden game that monopolized its way to being your only option. EA never tried to lower its price, and now it’s being outsold by the NBA 2K series even though the NFL grosses about 5 billion more than the NBA.

But sports simulations just don’t sell as well as they used to, with just the FIFA series remaining a major success. The number of sim franchises has diminished severely, and the ones that have stuck around have been stagnant in the past few years because of declining quality and/or declining interest. MLB the Show peaked at the PS2 days and has yet to sell a million copies worldwide. NHL from EA also peaked in the PS2 days and the latest installment just sold 400,000 more than an N64 version of the hockey franchise. The NCAA games thanks to legal issues are non-existent.

It has become harder to justify buying the same game every year. Even Call of Duty at least changes up its story and ways of playing each year resulting in consistently outselling the competition in November (even though this franchise has also been seeing a decline). Then there’s the increasing popularity of the more entertaining, more engaging, and more rewarding fantasy football, which makes Madden look like child’s play. Fantasy sports is not just child’s play, it can also become a career. Fantasy football is a $70 billion dollar business---while Madden 2015 made somewhere over $345 million—which is a far cry from the $405 million they earned in 2005.

So how can Madden ever go back to the dominant sales days in an era where games are making more than ever? The solution is simple: convince gamers that the Madden brand is refreshed and will be worth your money. Madden should be more connected with the NFL stats and should adjust the gameplay accordingly. If you want to truly create the realest experience, you need to find a way for player and team stats to update alongside the gameplay of the consumer throughout the season. EA needs to creep closer and closer to fantasy football within the gaming experience as humanely possible.

The biggest hurdle however is taking on the legend that surrounds NFL 2K5. What made 2K5 such a gem was the presentation and the easy-to-pick-up gameplay. Madden is a pure chore to churn through when trying to survive franchise mode. It needs to loosen the realism and look more like your simpler Blitz/2K games. Too much realism and simulating hinders the experience—video gaming is an escape pure and simple. Gran Turismo might be the most realistic racer in the planet, but it survives because it’s still an easy game to handle. Madden stopped being simple a long time ago, and needs to return to this. It needs a good balance, something the 2K franchise was amazing at.

However, there is a chance that ultimately, the sports simulation franchise just might be a thing of the past. It has to be more than mere coincidence that nearly every sports sim franchise has slipped in sales (FIFA also falls in this category, although 5 million sold on the PS4 is nothing to laugh at). The sales bleeding in Madden might never stop---even if the games finally start improving. A reboot might be necessary, some time off might be required. Skipping a year or two couldn’t hurt EA anything---they still have the rights and still have their fantasy football league to rely on. But staying the course is not the answer, EA has lost too much money. A reboot, drastic change, or massive overhaul is required to return to PS2 Madden sales.

Bottom Line: Madden is not a thing. The lackluster sales and depleting interest is evidence of this. It still makes good money, especially because of lack of competition, but its power grip on the gaming industry is slipping rapidly. Similar to the JRPG genre, it could be a fading trend that not even Kevin Hart can save. Ghosts of NFL 2K5 remain hovering on the games, and believe or not its incredible gameplay and $20 price tag hit EA deeper than we could have ever anticipated. With sports being bigger than ever, Madden should be pulling in Call of Duty numbers. Instead, it’s being outsold by the likes of Just Dance 2015 and Monster Hunter. A change is needed, otherwise who knows how much longer the brand will be around.

 All Data Thanks to VGChartz

P.S. I really miss the NFL 2K series....as well as NFL Blitz....

Stepping out of the FIFA Shadows

NBA Jam, now slightly forgotten by the new generation of gamers, was a massive, massive hit back in the 90s. It was an arcade gem that was easy to learn, easy to play, easy to get addicted to. It would make its way into the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo, while at the same time catapulted the NBA into new popularity heights nationwide. NBA Jam turned most of these players into household names and the league experienced a nice growth of youngsters that started getting involved with the NBA season. Even teams like the Charlotte Hornets, whom was rarely ever a threat in the playoffs, were extremely popular with kids and teenagers as their logo colors became a fashion statement.

Now I bring up NBA Jam because there is a league that could benefit from such a popularity spike through the power of video games. Major League Soccer has been attempting to inch its way into the territory of the Big Four (NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL) for the past several years, with its popularity remaining a bit stagnant and still not quite getting the required love of ESPN and Fox Sports. With the superior European leagues suddenly getting a boost because of the World Cup, MLS’ growth amongst soccer enthusiasts has improved but only slightly. But if there’s a way to entice a new generation of fans, the gaming industry can definitely be a starting point:



EA and MLS needs to make an exclusive game together.



Yes, MLS is on the wildly-popular FIFA franchise that has quietly emerged into the new Madden. But it has to sit on the shadows of an entourage of superior leagues with superior teams and superior players. It needs to separate itself from the pack and become its own entity. It needs to develop a brand all on its own. It needs to become an accessible, easy-to-play, arcade-gaming soccer franchise with all the big names from MLS. Not saying this will save the league, but any type of positive exposure would definitely help.

Soccer games believe it or not have always been wildly successful, even if few companies actually bother to make them. From FIFA (100 million sold) to Pro Evolution Soccer (81 million sold)  to the Mario Strikers franchise (4 million sold between two games and minimal marketing---wait, where is the 3DS version!!?!??) soccer does well considering it’s the most popular sport in the world and the one that has the attention of the most countries. Now how many of these countries know a lot about Major League Soccer? I assure you the answer is very, very little. But the NBA also used to suffer from this before the 90s when the Dream Team/NBA Jam tag team made the league an international brand. Now in the global scale, the NBA is bigger than even the NFL.

In order for MLS to grow, it needs to slowly but surely distance itself from Europe and become a more confident brand. This means less connections to the more popular leagues, from television exposure to the game industry. EA would win by becoming the exclusive shareholder of the MLS brand garnishing it the extra sales from a March soccer video game release (Before the MLS season starts) and then later in September with the FIFA annual release.

The sports gaming industry has seen better days, as even Madden has taken a few steps back in its success scale. But I firmly believe that if MLS finds a way to remove itself from the FIFA lineup and become its own gaming franchise we can see plenty of success coming from EA and the league itself. Think about it, there is very little competition in March in terms of video games; coming out with an arcade-like soccer game in the middle of spring break would be perfect to collect a new young crowd.

MLS 15 won't solve all the league's problems, but with some effort it could open the door to new opportunities.

How a New York Yankee Strategy can make the XBox One a Sports Gaming Powerhouse

The XBox One hasn’t quite received the welcome that Microsoft was anticipating. Even after backtracking on its DRM issue that became a PR disaster of epic proportions the gamers have not quite warmed up to it like they have the PS4. While it is closing in on the WiiU it seems to have lost a lot of ground against Sony, just like what happened to the 360 in the last three years of its lifecycle.


It is trailing the PS4 by around 13% market share, and as soon as both systems release in Japan expect that trailing to increase dramatically. After all, the XBox and XBox 360 together has sold only 2 million, which is less than even 1995’s Sega Saturn. There is no hope in Japan for Microsoft, and its grip on Europe is weakening as Sony is owning the European market since its release.



The desperation has gotten so bad, Microsoft sunk to purchasing PS3s off of gamers towards their XBox Ones. It looks quite bad.

So Microsoft as a big company might have to pull a New York Yankee move and throw money at a solution in order to have any sort of a shot at avoiding being silver or bronze in yet another race. The XBox branch has yet to win any market since 2001, which is something the competitors can claim and acknowledge. It is time for a huge, huge move.

Guess what Gaming World: the licensing behind FIFA and the NFL expires in 2014. The NCAA football license still exists. MLB has an open audition for its license after Take-Two bailed out.



Microsoft, this is definitely, and wholeheartedly your shot at gaining some major traction. The sports market is up in the air and can definitely be conquered.



Look at this potential scenario: with EA causing trillions of problems with the Madden franchise (a well-known fact for years now) the NFL might look at other potential suitors. Enter Microsoft with already its nice friendly deal with the NFL involving special exclusive features within the XBox One. Microsoft throws in a heavy amount that EA can’t match and an amount that the NFL could not possibly say “no” to. Now only the XBox One and future installments can publish NFL video games in a legal monopolizing way.

The NFL is the most successful league in the United States, and is accompanied by the most popular sport in the nation. The NCAA license is also out of EA’s hands since EA didn’t want to deal with the current player-student-athlete controversy that is gaining more hostility in recent years. What is to stop Microsoft from getting the ability to make BCS video games and even potentially linking them with the NFL games? That would be more legal monopolizing that could potentially make good money.

With Microsoft owning these licenses, they can pick and choose which lucky company gets to develop the game and make good money for themselves, while Microsoft racks the rest of the profits through their publishing. Imagine with the XBox Live bringing the world of Fantasy Football to the next level. Imagine being able to link these games with ESPN online and really go more in-depth with the gameplay and the actual NFL season.

10 years ago with football gaming at its peak, between NFL 2K5 and Madden 2005 over 11 million copies were sold. And the NFL is far far bigger now than it was back in the early 2000s. Being the only hardware with the NFL license can guarantee you potentially at least 300 million a year if granted they manage to sell 5 million copies a year and consistently maintain its quality. And I assure you Take-Two Interactive, the folks behind the wildly-successful NBA 2K series, would get a phone call the second Microsoft buys the license.

And I have not even gotten to the FIFA license yet. The FIFA license goes out in 2014, even though there is a tougher chance of snatching that from EA since this franchise is actually very successful. Nonetheless, money talks and if Microsoft really wanted to strangle the European market, they would seek after the most popular sport in the world and make it a Microsoft exclusive. Can you imagine FIFA 15 being an XBox One exclusive? And your only other soccer choice being potentially MLS/Random Non-Popular League Soccer for the PS4 and Mario Strikers 3 for the WiiU? That would definitely draw in some new sales for the third Green Machine.

Lastly, we have the MLB license out in the open and The Show for the Playstation systems being your final major option. Although you can’t strangle the license like you can the NFL and FIFA license, this is still an opportunity to transform the XBox One into the ultimate sports gaming machine.

One of the best-selling franchises in all of gaming is Madden (nearly 100 million). One of the best-selling arcade games in history is NBA Jam. Soccer video games have sold over 180 million copies over the years (Surprisingly, the low-key Pro Evolution Soccer has 80 million copies sold). There is a Japan-only baseball franchise by Konami that by itself has sold 20 million copies. Sports are just as popular, inclusive, and accessible as ever, and the sales can definitely follow that type of success. Look at what sports video games have accomplished over the years. Arguably the Dreamcast remained alive as long as it did because of its stellar, stellar sports titles.

Microsoft is lagging a bit behind Sony but 2014 is the year of opportunity now that the sports-based licenses are dropping like flies. Microsoft has the money and the resources needed to make a major move in the sports gaming market. If they want any chance to compete in the non-USA markets just as heavily as in the United States, they need their soccer (England, Europe), they need their baseball (Japan, United States, Central/South American market), and most importantly they need to wring football away from EA (United States, small group in Europe) to become your only option to play NFL game.

The XBox One needs a good niche to draw in a new crowd that is outside the United States. Shooters and Western RPG/Actioners won’t do the trick alone. Sports games however…we might be on to something………

The Fleeting Support of the WiiU

Nintendo, are you panicking yet?



Because I think now it’s about time.



EA has announced that they are not making any games for the Nintendo WiiU as of now. Literally, none. No Madden, no more Dead Space, no Mass Effect, no FIFA, no Battlefield, no Fuse, and potentially no more Need for Speed or Burnout. Not even NBA Live---okay, that was a joke. That being said EA has not made many good games in the past half-decade, but the issue isn’t that they aren’t making games for Nintendo’s latest machine. The issue is that the second- largest third-party gaming company has dropped support of Nintendo.



Nintendo, you need to pay attention. Right now.


The only company that makes more money off gaming revenue is you and Activision Blizzard...and your profits have been steadily declining because of the WiiU. Right before E3 strikes you have already lost support of one of the big industry changers in the gaming world—and the WiiU isn’t even a year old. Yes, EA's leaving Nintendo may or may not have something to do with Origins, but money talks and if the previous Madden had sold 2-3 million copies on the WiiU last year, then Origins would have been a non-issue.

Now, E3 is your one last final opportunity to show the industry that the WiiU honestly has a shot. While the 3DS had its rough start, it never had companies simply walk out and not believe in the machine.

If your very unique product wants to have a shot, it needs to convince the others that putting forth the extra effort will pay off. The 3D effects of the 3DS require a heftier budget (and more creativity) from third-party companies, but with the recent surging sales and quality of games it becomes an under-the-bridge issue when a sequel to an obscure Gamecube game continually is the best-selling game in the world (Did anyone expect 2 million in sales off of Luigi’s Mansion 2?). EA, despite the gamepad being a perfect device for a football game like Madden, didn’t see the point in having to make games differently. It is a business over art choice, and one that can be justified because motion-control gaming is simply a thing of the past.


Nintendo’s arrogance, ridiculous patience, and inability to reach out to potential suitors is starting to churn out weaker profits and fleeting support. EA is the first to go (for good or bad intentions in mind, who knows), what makes you think they won’t be the last? This E3 is starting to become more important for Nintendo. It has those three days to steal the show and try to gain any sort of momentum towards the extremely vital 2013 Holiday Season. Otherwise, it may have to face a new name:


The Dreamcast 2.


P.S. EA is a very dick company, so this news also isn't a surprise.