By Kim J. Harmon

The most venerable franchise in sports gaming history returned to XBox and Playstation consoles this week when Madden ’08 launched on Tuesday morning.

And with new features like an owner mode, gang tackles, laterals, improved defensive artificial intelligence and branching animations – “It’s In The Game!” – this new iteration of the Madden franchise could prove to be the best yet as it becomes more accustomed to the XBox 360 and Playstation 3 and no doubt bids farewell to the Playstation 2.

More than 20 years ago, EA Sports had the idea of creating a football program for the PC and decided to tap into the brain of John Madden, former Oakland Raiders coach and, then, the most popular broadcaster on television.

It has been widely believed that there was no bigger expert on the inner workings of football than Madden and EA Sports was anxious to create a game that was as deep as Madden’s knowledge of the sport.

There was a problem, though, since EA Sports envisioned 7v7 game.

“If it’s not 11 on 11, it’s not real football,” Madden said at the time. “I will not put my name on it if it’s not real.”

It was more of a challenge for EA Sports, but the programmers went back to the drawing board to work that out and to stress the individual player ratings that Madden insisted upon and which have become a standard for almost every sports video game produced today.

And it’s a work in progress. As well as tracking and updating player ratings each and every year, programmers have to stay on top of rule changes, innovations and new technology.

John Madden Football debuted in 1989 on the Apple II. From there, the game move on the next generation Apple computers and PCs, the Commodore 64, Sega Genesis, Super Nintendo, Amiga, 3DO, Playstation, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, Playstation 2, XBox, GameCube, Game Boy, XBox, XBox 360, Playstation 3 and Wii.

Madden ’94 on Sega was the game that pushed the franchise into a whole new world as motion capture took the series to the next level.

Programmers used to draw every single line of animation, but that ended when players were brought in to the studios, fitted with a lycra suit (that’s now, but back in the 1990s it was reflective balls velcroed onto a player’s clothes) with dozens of reflective markers and then run through the various motions seen in football while a dozen or more infrared cameras recorded everything. From there, it is essentially easy for programs to flesh out the player models.

In 1994, NFL players like Jamal Anderson and Johnnie Morton were brought in to perform motion capture moves.

In 1997, the franchise took another huge leap forward when programmers were able to introduce polygons in 1997 to Nintendo 64 to make the player models seem much more real. Not so long ago, inverse kinetics and motion blending was created so now not only do players appear lifelike they act lifelike as they blink their eyes, turn their heads to follow the play, and sweat.

Keeping on top of the technology is one thing. The game can look good, but it has to play good, too, and that comes from almost unparallel depth in the game modes like Franchise, which puts a gamer into the seat of the coach and general manager, playing each game week to week but also managing the salary cap through trades, free agent pickups and the draft.

The playbooks keep expanding, audibles become more intricate and the flexibility of the on the field play forces gamers to be alert (referees will, once or twice a game, make an incorrect call or provide a poor spot and it’s up to the gamer to challenge the play and try and overturn the call).

Author Arthur C. Clarke once wrote, “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” With all of the advancements Madden football has made in the past 19 years, it is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Madden ‘08: First Look

Madden ‘08 is it. There is no other it.

Example #1 – The choice of which player gets to be on the cover is a monumental deal and serves almost as the Most Valuable Player award (and the choice comes with its own curse, too). Vince Young of the Tennessee Titans was granted the cover after LaDanian Tomlinson of the San Diego Chargers turned it down.

Example #2 – One retail outlet held launch parties (Monday Night Maddeness) at more than 3,000 locations around the country. There were tailgates, football challenges and a Madden ’07 tournament leading up to the midnight release of the game.

This new iteration of the franchise will include a new front office mode and gameplay tweaks like gang tackles (and the ability of players to “shed” tackles), laterals, an ungraded fatigue system (scramble around too much and your QB will be busted for a few plays … temperature and weather will have an effect, too), improved defensive artificial intelligence (and improved A.I. across the board), and new branching animations (specifically affecting receivers who, in the past, would have run out of bounds after catching a ball at the sidelines but who will, now, cut upfield).

Returning to the game will be the ability of the gamer to become any one of the 11 players on a specific offensive play ... most especially the lead blocker on a running play for an O-lineman protecting the QB on a pass play.

Come on, isn’t there a certain thrill to being the guy who breaks open a hole for the running back or being the guy who stops cold a blitzing linebacker?

How the Madden franchise can possibly get any better than this is a question for some months down the road, but developers have shown the ability to keep improving their product.

So, enjoy this version and then look out for ’09.

NCAA Football ‘08

Let’s face it – some people prefer college football to professional football.

In many respects, NCAA Football ’08 is very similar to it’s older brother. But there are many, many more teams (Division I-A and Division I-AA) and differing modes that bring out the real flavor of collegiate football.

Nothing much has changed from ’07 except for a slightly improved Campus Legend mode and a slightly tweaked Dynasty mode as well as some different arcade-style games. Spring drills return, changed only slightly.

Gameplay remains solid and crisp, but true gamers may sense a bit more of an “arcade” field to it than Madden. Thanks to the influence of Boise State and it’s almost miraculous win in the Fiesta Bowl last year, this ’08 version has some new trick plays … like the Statue of Liberty.

On defense, blocking field goals and punts – usually impossible – is now a little bit easier. Players have the ability to adjust their defensive alignments prior to the snap and instruct linebackers to shoot around the O-line to try and contain a scrambling QB.

One of the cool new features are snapshots, which can be taken of any in-game replay and saved to your memory card.

The commentary from Lee Corso, Kirk Herbstreit and Brad Nessler – while a little bit repetitive – is as solid as ever.

If pro football is not your game and Saturday tailgating is more your speed, then NCAA Football ’08 is the right game for you.