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  • 8/6/2019 Mad About Madden

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    ITS MORE THANA GAME ITS

    A CULTURE.

    AND THE 2004VERSION IS

    THE BEST YET.

    TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 200360 LATE SPORTS

    MAD

    ABOUTMADDENPAGE 68

    MAD

    ABOUTMADDENPAGE 68

    EAGLES: WHAT WEVE DONE FOR THE DISABLEDPAGE 17 DAILY

    NEWS

    PHILADELPHIA

    THE PEOPLE PAPER

    TUESDAY, AUGUST 26, 200360

    WE TAKE ON

    A LEGEND OF

    THE GAME,

    AND TEST

    THE BIRDS

    AGAINST

    THEIR 2003

    SLATE

    PAGES 68-66

    Watch DAILY NEWS LIVEOn Comcast SportsNet Weekdays, 5-6:30 p.m.

    Sponsored by

    PHILS? DONT ASKPAGES 71-69

    SPORTS

    DAILY

    NEWS

    BIRDS PUNTER WILL BE JOHNSON OR JOHNSON: PAGE 64

    THE WHOLE WORLDS GONE...

    MADDEN

    THE WHOLE WORLDS GONE...

    MADDEN

  • 8/6/2019 Mad About Madden

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    Challengingbest in businessin hottestvideo gameBy DANIEL McQUADE

    For the Daily News

    THE EAGLES offense is get-ting ready to take the field

    after a touchback, trailing, 56-6,to the Falcons late in the secondquarter.

    The Eagles, announcer AlMichaels says, have an uphill

    battle here.Tell me about it.No, the 50-point deficit isnt a

    flashback to the end of the RayRhodes era.

    Its how far Im behind inMadden 2004, the 14th install-

    ment in perhaps the most popu-lar video game in the nation.

    Im playing David Seitchick, whos certainly the best Maddenplayer Ive ever seen, and might

    be the best in the world. He haswon seven of eight Madden tour-naments. He pocketed more than$20,000 playing Madden 2003.Shockingly, theres a guy inupstate New York who has beat-en Seitchick three times in fivegames.

    Hes better than me,Seitchick says.

    Great.

    The game isnt just a pastimefor Seitchick, an 18-year-old wholives in Margate, N.J. He gradu-ated from Northeast High Schoollast year. Seitchick, who is study-ing for his real estate license,takes a few hours out of each dayto play Madden. He has compet-ed in tournaments only sinceJanuary, when a top-ranked play-er whom he beat online invitedhim to a local tournament. He

    won that Jersey tournament andhas since traveled to

    Washington, Baltimore, Chicago,Las Vegas, Sacramento and even

    as far as Jamaica.He must pay his own way although hes been approached

    by sponsors, hes wary of signinga contract but usually ends up

    winning his airfare back in prizemoney. He has tons of trophies,including one taller than he is.

    From what [fellow players]told me, he is the best, says his

    beaming father, Bernie.I agree. I end up losing, 105-6.

    Michael Vick throws for eighttouchdowns and runs for anotherfour. My lone score is a Donovan

    McNabb pass to rookie tight endL.J. Smith, who came in whenChad Lewis was injured on theopening series. I fail on the two-point conversion. Seitchick out-

    gains me by 309 yards.Still, he says its not his widest

    victory margin ever.I beat two guys in a prelimi-

    nary round, back-to-back, 106-0and 103-0, he says. I wasntscored on for most of that tourna-ment.

    Somehow, that doesnt makeme feel better. But at least Iscored.

    The Madden series has beenpopular since the original JohnMadden Football on the Apple IIcomputer and Sega Genesis sys-tems. Everyone plays from

    youngsters in their bedrooms topro football players in their dormrooms at training camp. Thegame has sold more than 30 mil-lion copies since its inception.The newest edition was releasedon Aug. 12 for Playstation 2,XBox, GameCube, PC,Playstation and GameBoy

    Advance. Area stores quicklysold out almost every system.

    According toSlate magazine,over the last 2 years, only theGrand Theft Auto games soldmore copies than Madden. Over

    its lifetime, the Madden games

    have grossed more than $1 billionin revenues. Last year, the NFLmade more money from licensingMadden to EA Sports than fromany other licensed product,except for apparel.

    The games popularityreached a new level with theaddition of online play in Madden2001. Colleges hold schoolwidetournaments. People bet hun-dreds of dollars on players likeSeitchick at nationwide tourna-ments. EA Sports, the gamespublisher, will shell out a $50,000

    first prize in the Madden

    Challenge, which hits all NFLcities, plus Los Angeles. ThePhiladelphia stop is Sunday, Oct.5, at the Gallery.

    Expect a crowd.More than 45 people had a

    hand in creating the game,according to Madden producerJeremy Strauser. Almost 60 peo-ple tested it before it hit theshelves.

    Theres even a cover curse, asthe last three players to grace thecover of the game now have got-ten hurt. The latest is Falcons

    Daniel McQuade (right) is in over his head against David Seitchick, who has a handle on one of the m

    Its a Madden,Madden worldIts a Madden,Madden world

    McNabb pass to rookie tight endL.J. Smith, who came in whenChad Lewis was injured on theopening series. I fail on the two-point conversion. Seitchick out-gains me by 309 yards.

    Still, he says its not his widestvictory margin ever.

    I beat two guys in a prelimi-nary round, back-to-back, 106-0and 103-0, he says. I wasntscored on for most of that tourna-ment.

    Somehow, that doesnt make

    me feel better. But at least Iscored.

    The Madden series has beenpopular since the original JohnMadden Football on the Apple IIcomputer and Sega Genesis sys-tems. Everyone plays from

    youngsters in their bedrooms topro football players in their dormrooms at training camp. Thegame has sold more than 30 mil-lion copies since its inception.The newest edition was releasedon Aug. 12 for Playstation 2,XBox, GameCube, PC,Playstation and GameBoy

    Advance. Area stores quicklysold out almost every system.

    According toSlate magazine,over the last 2 years, only theGrand Theft Auto games soldmore copies than Madden. Overits lifetime, the Madden gameshave grossed more than $1 billionin revenues. Last year, the NFLmade more money from licensingMadden to EA Sports than fromany other licensed product,except for apparel.

    The games popularityreached a new level with theaddition of online play in Madden

    2001. Colleges hold schoolwidetournaments. People bet hun-dreds of dollars on players likeSeitchick at nationwide tourna-ments. EA Sports, the gamespublisher, will shell out a $50,000

    first prize in the MaddenChallenge, which hits all NFLcities, plus Los Angeles. ThePhiladelphia stop is Sunday, Oct.5, at the Gallery.

    Expect a crowd.More than 45 people had a

    hand in creating the game,

    according to Madden producerJeremy Strauser. Almost 60 peo-ple tested it before it hit theshelves.

    Theres even a cover curse, asthe last three players to grace thecover of the game now have got-ten hurt. The latest is Falconsquarterback Michael Vick, on the2004 cover, who broke his rightleg Aug. 16.

    NFL players are big fans of thegame. Eagles cornerback BobbyTaylor flew fellow players to hishouse recently for a Maddentournament. According to John

    Madden, most players say theirvideo-game counterpart is inferi-or in ability; except for EmmittSmith, who said he wasnt asgood as his character.

    Madden has said he often getsrecognized not as the announceror the former coach, but as the

    video-game guy.Madden isnt just a game, its a

    culture.So what makes Madden so

    popular, so addictive?Theres variety and authentic-

    ity. You can play with all the cur-rent NFL and NFL Europe teams

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    as well as classic teams. You cansuit up as the 1960, 1980 or 1990Eagles. The historic teams go back as early as the 1957 Lions.(Sorry, no 1925 PottsvilleMaroons.) There are create-a-player, minicamp and situationalmodes.

    There are more than 100,000

    lines of audio, 1,500 player por-

    traits and 400 modeled players in3D. There are even special cele- brations: Terrell Owens mightsign the ball with a Sharpie afterscoring an important touchdown.

    The newest installment of thegame possesses playmakercontrols that let a running backguide blockers or allow a receiverto change his route on the fly.

    A new franchise mode putsthe player in ultimate control ofthe team you set ticket, con-cession and parking prices, nego-

    tiate contracts and can evenmove your team and build a sta-dium. You can import a draftclass from NCAA Football 2004,a college game built on the samecode base as Madden. You caneven give out bobble-heads toboost sagging attendance.

    Madden and Michaelsannounce the games, withMelissa Stark as the sidelinereporter. The game featuresmore than 15 original songs,including tunes from Blink 182,Alien Ant Farm and the Roots.

    The only things missing areoptions to ban hoagies ordeprive old South Philly croon-ers of their parking spaces.

    The game keeps getting big-ger and bigger and deeper anddeeper each year, Strauser says.

    Strauser, a Philadelphianative who graduated fromBensalem High School, says thatMadden is a major consultant.The Madden team visits himabout seven times a year. Hisinput helps keep the game real-

    istic and true to the NFL.Still, that doesnt prevent

    someone like Seitchick frombeating up on me by 99 points.

    Well, thats like thePhiladelphia Eagles playing theBensalem Owls, Strauser says.My opinion is that its your

    ame, and ou can do with it

    what you want.Strategically, Seitchick, and

    other top Madden players, avoidrunning plays. On defense, theyuse creative blitzes that involveshifting players around on theline of scrimmage.

    Thats the thing Ive beentrying to work on! Seitchick yells as his linemen sack

    McNabb immediately after hesnaps the ball. Football sense inthis game will only get you sofar. Its a video game you haveto play it like one.

    So where is Madden headedfrom here? The original JohnMadden Football had a bug in which, if ou blocked the extra

    point, the computer still receivedcredit for a made PAT. Now, younot only can block an extra point,but also watch your players do adance after they do it.

    And, if you think the extrapoint actually went through theuprights and the refs blew thecall, you can throw the red flagand challenge.

    Youre going to see evenmore lifelike movement grassgetting kicked up when some- body runs and sweat on arms,Strauser says. Theres notgoing to be much difference between playing the game andwatching one on TV.