'Madden Football' marks 20 years with new offerings

By Reuters
Published: July 12, 2008 10:37 AM PDT

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With the John Madden Football video game franchise nearing its 20th anniversary, publisher Electronic Arts is pulling out all the stops to celebrate the occasion.

Most notable for the music industry is a tie-in between the game's soundtrack and the Rock Band video game. (EA serves as the game's distributor, which is actually published by MTV.)

Under the deal, Rock Band will feature music from the Madden 09 soundtrack in its weekly downloadable songs update, a handful at a time, over several weeks, with each song carrying the Madden brand. Additionally, each soundtrack song will be available for sale via iTunes as part of a special Madden playlist.

EA is also offering fans who preorder the game from Target an iTunes gift card worth 10 free downloads once they pick up the title.

A special 20th anniversary collector's edition of Madden 09 will include a version of the new NFL Head Coach game, which won't be available to gamers until three weeks after the Madden 09 launch. The collector's edition will also bundle the classic John Madden Football '93 game and exclusive video content that includes footage of cover athlete Brett Favre.

On August 12, EA will host Maddenpalooza, a one-day Madden 09 game tournament and concert featuring such bands from the soundtrack as Good Charlotte, Airbourne, and From First to Last.

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Add a Comment (Log in or register) 5 comments (Page 1 of 1)


by i_am_still_wade July 12, 2008 12:08 PM PDT: EA Sports is pulling out all the stops ... except innovation. NFL 2Kx was innovative and far better. So, EA used their money to crush the competition. Can't be having a better, cheaper, and more fun product on the market. The $60 roster updates and graphic updates are a honeypot, can't cut that off.

EA Sports ... you don't have a choice.; Reply to this comment View reply
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by The_Decider July 12, 2008 2:58 PM PDT: I miss Front Page Sports Football, that was the game in the late 90's. EA's predatory practice of exclusive license and name deals have all but killed off competition in sports games. The result of a lack of competition shows in the crap that EA peddles every year and overcharges for.; Reply to this comment


by Jjesse285 July 13, 2008 4:54 AM PDT: Maybe one day it will change, the cost of having fun just get more out of this world, but rember God have a way for us to con't to have fun in this world while those who still want to rob us.; Reply to this comment


by jedikevin20 July 13, 2008 4:55 AM PDT: Well atleast in the college scene there is a game that came out late last year that was pretty good. BCFX i think its called. It only has hbcu schools whuch uncannily were kicked out the ncaa game 2 years ago for no reason. But yeah, I got this game and cool thing is no rebuying of game each year. They just send out updates with new rosters and stuff. Not to include they have all the bands from each school in the game and the cheerleader chants. Thats something that really makes the game special in my book.; Reply to this comment