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Another year, another installment of gaming’s number one professional football franchise. But this time, it's heading for the Wii!

The Madden series has been with us since 1989, if you can believe that. It’s seen three US presidents, two wars in the Persian Gulf, seventeen Super Bowls, and five Summer Olympics. It is easily the most recognized sports franchise in gaming and perhaps the most recognized franchise overall. It has graced almost every gaming system known to man; from the ill-fated 3DO to the yet to be released PS3 and Wii and shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. One imagines that even when Coach Madden leaves us for that great locker room in the sky, the video game that bears his name and likeness will continue unabated year in and year out.



Last year the gaming community held its collective breath as we waited for Madden 06 to be released, wondering if the newly (at the time) placed stranglehold on the NFL license would cause the company to rest on its laurels and release a sub-par game simply because it was now the only show in town. Fortunately that didn’t happen and last year’s Madden was one of the best (on most systems anyway – the Xbox 360’s first Madden didn’t really stack up against the other systems’) thus far. Can EA top itself again this time around?



New features are what keep gamers coming back year after year and it amazes me how EA manages to find something new to put in to their football franchise every time. This year they’ve got a lot to work with, since they’re developing for both current and next-gen systems. Your Madden experience will likely vary considerably depending upon which machine you use to play the game.