The Greatest Playstation Football Games

There was a time with the Madden football games were considered to be a failure. This was due to a lot of false starts, if you will, along with the limitations of home computers 2 decades ago that severely limited the vision of the game. Of course it has come a log way since it was released in 1988. There are been over 85 million copies sold world wide adding up to more than 3 billion dollars in revenue. The game now features real professional players, pro-style plays, and the graphics make use of every ounce of technology available. Theses are a small sampling of the many reasons that have made it one of if not the most played playstation football games.

It is no secret that Madden was not the original namesake for the game. The designers had reached out to a few other high profile players and even some other coaches, but none were able to participate due to other agreements or a simple lack of interest. Madden came on board and educated the designers, and ironically, it is the game and not his professional career as a coach and announcer that has brought him the most recognition.

The game has evolved over the years and adds new features to each new release. Franchise mode was added to the game in almost a decade after it's creation. This allowed players to do more than just control the players. They could actually manage the rosters by trading and drafting players for their virtual teams. This was already being done with some baseball games available at the time but was a first for any football offering. In 2003 multiple ways to play the game were introduced. Players could opt for a single, quick game or they could choose to play an entire season or even multiple seasons. It was as time time that online play, where players could match their skills against others using the internet, was introduced. This was initially available only on the playstation 2 console.

A new feature called the playmaker tool was included in the 2004 version. This was a feature that enhanced the realism of the game considerably. Players could now make changes to the direction of plays after they broke the huddle. Previously they were limited to 4 audibles, but now they could be more flexible and could send receivers on hot routes too. In 2005, the playmaker feature was added to the defensive side as well. This leveled the playing field between the offense and the defense and gave the defenders the ability to match audibles called by the offense. As with the 2004 release, the addition of the defensive playmaker tool did much for the realistic playing style of the game. Versions that have been released in the last years have contained other unique aspects of play like the trick stick, control of lead blockers on running play calls, and a weapons control used with superstar players. Even league play is now possible, giving up to 32 people the opportunity to play an entire season from a single console or through the internet.

Playstation football games have dominated for good reason and have become as much a simulation as they are a video game. Playstation 3 Madden football games have been super popular for over 20 years, and future development promise to make the simulation even more true to life.