If you want to learn more about the behind-the-scenes path that’s led EA’s Madden series to the point it’s at with this year’s confusingly named Madden NFL 25, I’ve got good news for you. It’s In The Game: Madden NFL, a documetary about the series, is set to drop on Amazon Prime Video later this month.
Yep, forget about playing virtual American football as we enter the period of the real-world NFL season that’s either very nice, just kinda there, or the most depressing thing you’ve even been through – depending on whether your team’s 7-2, 5-4, or 2-7 – it’s time to watch something about virtual football.
The four-part docuseries is set to arrive on the streaming service on November 26, and it’s just gotten a nice trailer that offers a taste of what you can look forward to seeing. Basicially, it seems, a lot of people from the 90s going ‘what, a video game about a thing millions of people like, how can that possibly end up being a good idea?’, John Madden coming along to save things with his charm and name value, and then the gradual charge towards today’s entries.
“It’s one of the biggest video games of all time, a groundbreaking brand that became a worldwide phenomenon, spanning generations—but it almost never happened,” reads the blurb, “Now, 36 years after the first game’s release, EA Sports gives viewers unprecedented access to the makers of game that changed the game, and our culture too.”
I’ll be honest, I’m just hoping we get some fun chatter about stuff like how utterly unstoppable Madden 2004 Michael Vick was, and maybe a few refences to possibly the most infamous Madden play of all time, Greg Jennings putting the team on his back to somehow score a TD with a broken leg.
Like, come on EA, please tell us how an admittedly good Packers reciever ended up being able to overcome the laws of the universe to sneak past Darren Sharper, one of the most hardest hitting safeties in the league. Was it a glitch, can all Madden players still secretly do this if the mood strikes them, or does fate only unleash this kind of thing if it knows you’re immediately going to record you saying something funny over the replay before sticking it on YouTube for prosperity? Or was Madden 2010 Greg Jennings just a tank?
Anyway, this is a thing, and if you want more Madden, you can read my review of this year’s entry, Madden NFL 25.