‘Madden’ moves the line forward

Maddenoliday, the marketing gimmick cooked up last summer by Electronic Arts to spark interest in the annual reintroduction of its popular Madden NFL video game, this year featured a Monday night performance in New York’s Times Square by Ozzy Osbourne, a New Year’s Eve-style “Madden NFL 08” so-called box drop, and former Giants running back Tiki Barber ringing up the first sale just after midnight inside a Big Apple Toys R Us.

The marketing mojo mustered by EA, the NFL and their corporate partners worked its magic on 14-year-old Matthew McKibben. By 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, the New York teenager had hitched a ride with a friend to pick up a copy at a nearby shopping center in Queens. Then it was back to Little Neck for several hours of console time. The real-world Jets fan who, like many gamers, prefers the talent-laden Chargers in Maddenworld, came away impressed.

“You can tell the difference now when LaDainian Tomlinson or Reggie Bush is running, because it just feels right,” McKibben said. And if the offense begins to get predictable, he added, the game’s improved artificial intelligence is quicker to respond on defense.

EA is betting that millions more gamers will be saying the same thing about the latest version of the 18-year-old NFL video game series that had set some fans to grumbling about game action that failed to take advantage of the considerable digital power encased in such consoles as the Microsoft Xbox, Sony PlayStation and Nintendo Wii.

The newest version unveiled Tuesday features icons that display specific “player weapons” that gamers can use to determine how to best position their teams for success. The technology used to create graphics and deliver them to the video screen also have been improved, EA said, and the program incorporates live feeds -- including game scores and late-breaking news -- from ESPN and the NFL Network.

Judging by some early reviews, gamers seem to be turning at least one thumb up.

EA Sports “finally got it right,” according to a review by Yahoo’s video game staff. “Players move how you want them to move, teams mimic their real-life tendencies, the view from the gridiron is gorgeous, and playing with friends is simply addicting.”

EA has turned the game that is named after the former NFL coach and current NBC football analyst into “a chess match with shoulder pads,” according to online gaming magazine GameDaily. “After two disappointing efforts the last two seasons -- disappointing by the high standard that EA’s football franchise set for itself over the years -- “Madden NFL 08” redeems the franchise as one of the best-playing football games in recent memory.”

A review filed Tuesday afternoon on Amazon.com -- where the new version was the No. 1-selling new video game (and one slightly used game already was on sale) -- a fan stated that “this is what we SHOULD have gotten 2 years ago.”

Over the years, Redwood City-based EA has sold about 60 million copies of the game with a retail value of about $1.5 billion. The company, which recently reported fiscal first-quarter revenue down 4% to $395 million, is banking on the newest version to drive sales to hard-core fans, many of whom are older than the game itself, but also draw younger gamers who have shelves full of competing video games.

Most video game sales peak during the Christmas holiday season, but many Madden acolytes won’t wait around for that other jolly guy to deliver the goods.

Last year, about 2 million of the 7.4 million “Madden NFL 07” sales came within a week of the Maddenoliday celebration.

“Me, I don’t see the allure,” said Tina Jackson, a Costa Mesa resident who stopped at a nearby Best Buy store Tuesday afternoon to pick up the game for her 24-year-old son, Taihair. “It’s a gift that I’ve always gotten him every year since he was really little. He really enjoys it.”

EA enjoys a tremendous advantage in the video game arena thanks to an exclusive licensing deal with NFL and the NFL Players Assn. Madden has competitors, but EA is the only manufacturer able to use names and images of players -- a deal it has augmented with live updates made available by the NFL Network and ESPN.

Ryan Ferwerda, one of the EA producers charged with keeping the game fresh, said the emphasis in “Madden NFL 08” has been on the game’s “feel.”

“When you’re Reggie Bush, you actually feel like you’re Reggie Bush,” said Ferwerda, who joined EA in 1999 as a 17-year-old product tester. “You’ve got his incredible breakaway speed, and the face and uniform are scanned, so they’re perfect. Every year it’s our goal -- to get to the point where there’s no difference from what you’ll see on Sunday.”

EA’s more recent Madden NFL versions prompted grumbling from some hard-core gamers. Jason Peters, a 29-year-old Best Buy employee who bought the game at midnight and played through until 4:30 a.m. Tuesday, described the 2006 version as “one of the worst ever.” But the Madden fan said that “everything -- the looks, the frame rate, the tackling -- is great now. You can see the wind [rippling] the players’ jerseys and even see the sweat marks.”

Though David Paulo, a 26-year-old Irvine resident, is “a bit old for the midnight buying thing,” he stopped at Best Buy in Costa Mesa after work Tuesday to pick up a new game for his PlayStation 2 console.

“To me, Madden means it’s real, like you’re part of the football game,” said Paulo, who has purchased every “Madden NFL” edition since 1993.

Ayan “The Fool” Tariq, a 16-year-old Boston resident, won the $100,000 grand prize in the 2006 Madden Challenge that pitted some of the world’s best sports game players against each other in a tournament that culminated in a final round played in Hawaii.

Tariq, who received an advance copy of the new version, likes the wide-open offensive plays and the gang tackling on defense.

And even though he won last year’s challenge using the 07 version, he still has a warm spot in his heart for the look and feel of “Madden NFL 05.”

“I was the best of any player at that game,” Tariq said. “Just ask anyone.”

greg.johnson@latimes.com

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The competition

The popular Madden NFL football game remained on top of the retail sales list during 2006. The video game segment, which includes games, hardware and accessories, generated about $12.5 billion in revenue, up from $10.5 billion in 2005. A look at the top 10:

Title

Publisher

1. Madden NFL 07*…Electronic Arts

2. Cars…THQ

3. Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy…LucasArts

4. NCAA Football 07…Electronic Arts

5. New Super Mario Brothers…Nintendo

6. Need for Speed: Most Wanted…Electronic Arts

7. Gears of War**…Microsoft

8. Call Of Duty 3…Activision

9. Lego Star Wars…Eidos

10. Fight Night Round 3…Electronic Arts

*Includes Hall of Fame Edition; **Includes Collectors Edition.

Source: The NPD Group