Welcome to a new feature on EASPORTS.com, the Community Column. Garnered from some of the most notable writers on the fan site front, the Community Column will feature musings on games, offer updated online strategies, or just discuss what it is like to be a lover of EA SPORTS™ games.
Shaun Alexander takes the hand-off from Matt Hasselbeck and starts up the field trying to find a hole in the line. Following his fullback who has just pancaked a blitzing linebacker, he sees one open up. Spinning out of an attempted tackle, he breaks free into the secondary -- nothing but green grass and a few scrawny secondary men stand in his way. He heads toward the sideline and then up the field. Downfield about twenty yards, Roy Williams takes off in a full sprint towards the burly running back. Alexander cuts back inside to escape a corner and then heads straight towards the charging Williams. They both put their shoulders down and come together resulting in a huge thud. Twenty yards after the play began, it is over. The Seahawks have the ball at the ten-yard line. It's first and goal to go.
The clock is ticking, only fifty-five seconds to go. The Seahawks get to the line quickly but instead of spiking, they run a play. The diehard Seahawk’s fan at home is on the edge of his seat. Hasselbeck sends Rice in motion from left to right. Forty-five seconds left. A crash of thunder erupts outside of the fan's home. The power flashes once and then goes out. The fan screams bloody murder - words that you wouldn't let a ten-year-old hear are flying. He wouldn't get to see the next play and he wouldn't get to see that game's box score in the papers the next morning. The game will never be recorded in time. The power went out and his computer shut down. The fan lost his great game... he’ll just have to play again.
Sometimes only a power outage, strict parent, or jealous significant other can stop crazed gamers from getting their fill of Madden NFL 2005. It's addicting. Whether on a console connected to a 59" TV, or on a laptop while on a cross-country bus trip, football is just a click away at any hour of the day.
The above play-by-play was of Shaun Alexander running the ball through the Cowboys line and into their secondary. The written description could easily represent a real play in an actual game. The ability to create real life situations in a game is not that difficult — it’s the ability to create those situations with a sense of graphical and environmental accuracy that makes twenty-first century gaming special. Seeing an animated, yet realistic, version of Shaun Alexander plow into Roy Williams and watching as they pick themselves up off the ground, or hearing the thousands of people in the crowds stand up and cheer. It's nice to see the snow fall from the sky, and footprints in the snow. Uniforms get dirty and the field starts to corrode away. Graphics aren't everything, but when you can hear the sounds of football on a Tuesday afternoon and watch it while sitting in front of your computer, it is special.
Seeing and feeling are everything. To believe you are watching or playing football you have to be able to see the players make their cuts, pump their arms, and pick themselves up off of the ground. You have to see the grass and the elements, the crowd and the stadium, the players and their physiques. To believe you are participating in a football game you have to feel the emotion, stress, and atmosphere. You need to be able to hear the crowd cheer and groan, you need to hear the pads and helmets crash together. Combine all of these elements, put it in on a disk, add a little competition and you have the ultimate video game.
-Tyler Menssen
Madden Planet
Community Column Archive
Giving Thanks to Madden- Marcus Stephenson
