Madden 25 Throwback Thursday Style

It's Throwback Thursday and I felt it was only right to pay homage to Madden 25 which was just released a few days ago. Now in order to do that and for the sake of contributing to the day where people blow up your news feeds with photos from when we were the ages where everything was flat out JUST MORE FUN........                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      I have annually "re-upped" on my Madden fix since 2001.  Some "Madden Heads" might take offense to that statement because from PC to Sega, Sega Saturn, Playstation, N64 fast forward until now? Madden has had some commitment issues and the systems  have no choice but to take it....lets not get off track but I must admit, the roots of my football gaming did not start with the Madden franchise..

                                                                     ...yea i said it...                                                                      My journey began from a far away land...a land where many "Sticky controllers"(I will explain) had to be replaced and losing to my older cousins became routine..This is a journey that's better described by Drakes hook "Started from the bottom now we here"....this is my story....True life: I'm A Football Gamer.

(  Oh, we called them "Sticky Controllers"  because we would eat a lot of candy when we were younger and playing immediately after seemed to be the bright idea instead of washing your hands before. Resulting in the buttons getting stuck therefore the purchase of a new one was shortly after warranted...that being said  my dad is a good guy. .. Now back to the story )                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            NFL sports talk football for Sega Genesis starring Joe Montana is where it began. Those 2.0 sports talk graphics and the camera zooms. I thought this game was amazing, although I don't recall actually ever winning in this one.....ever.."Yo......yo.."  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Next was Deion Sanders Prime Time   ..a little better graphics..I guess ..but this is around the time where I started to scratch the surface of my potential...Love the intro with the animated dude spiking it down followed the Rick Flair " Whoo!"..                                                                                                                                                                              From there I moved onto Playstation where I(My dad) purchased the Gameday  series, starting with 98 for a few years ......................            Some authentic NFL game footage in the intro.. Although about 85% of those hits shown would now result in a fine/ suspension in today's game smh.... but the progression is evident.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  My swagger really began to develop with this one. I was getting older and began at this time around 10 11 years old actually playing the sport, so my IQ and hand eye coordination had no choice but to level up. Gameday as well as Madden (which was also out at the time) were the first football games I recall to introduce injury and fatigue. Now these factors as we all know play a huge part in the outcome and strategy of your game play... Well if you played me on my home turf that just wasn't going down "Hold up I bout to change the settings right quick" 

                                                                                                                                                                    ...it made the game better in my opinion HA, especially with the over exaggerated "juke move" which was virtually unstoppable(if you had skills) without fatigue or injury on. And for those that played with them on COOL STORY BRO.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     Fast forward mix in a little NFL Blitz "yahda yahda" and the time had come. It felt like Christmas Day but it wasn't, maybe I was just riding the high off of a few packs of Sour Patch Kids but needless to say "Ish got real" in 2001... My first purchase (again my Dad) of Madden in 2001 as I transitioned to PS2.

14 years later look how far we have come. Now a days you can catch me on the XBox360. (gamertag available upon request)  As you already know by now, this relationship is still going strong. It's a sacred bond...a time of passage....a competitive game amongst a friend, family member, a sibling. ..a brotherhood.

All of those highs and lows I wouldn't trade for the world. Its made me into the gamer I am today, and to that Madden I say thank you,as I soon will continue after the tradition after I purchase this years edition....                                                                                                                                                                        I look forward to opening "a can of whoop a**" on my future opponents some of whom I will never meet in person. And I will take the losses with a wry smile on my face followed by our favorite phrase "Run It Back!"

Madden you will always have a special place in my heart thank you again, and thank you for reading my story.

And some love for the G.O.A.T on the front cover..