I tend to get into arguments. I'm not entirely sure why, or how, but they seem to follow me wherever I go. Sometimes it's politics and sometimes it's music. I'll go on for hours about the merits of the Stones and the failings of Jim Morrison. And sometimes, in my lamer moments, I'm not at all above having a dust up about video games.

A buddy of mine was none too pleased about the column I wrote last week about what I feel is a stagnant Madden franchise. He said I was just another one of those NFL 2K5 acolytes, and I couldn't appreciate the game because of my own preconceptions. He even said that I have totally ignored the major leaps forward the Madden franchise has brought to the table.

That's tough but fair. I have, after all, enjoyed a few Madden games over the years. I played the ever living hell out of the 1999 edition. I've owned and/or rented almost every incarnation of the franchise. My experience goes all the way back to the Sega Genesis days where the players were all identical sprites running oddly about the field. I have, honestly, been a cautious fan for as long as there's been a Madden.

So I've decided to honor the franchise and its innovations with a quick countdown of what I feel are the best improvements over the years. As always, feel free to disagree.

1. John Madden Football - 11-on-11 Football

Right off the bat there was a struggle over the realism the game should employ. The original developer argued that 11-on-11 football would be too much for a video game to handle, but John Madden, in one of his prouder moments, demanded that all of the players be on the field or there would not be a game to produce.

It seems like a small note, but the effects were massively important. If folks out there reading this article have memories of the Atari or ColecoVision, they no doubt are familiar with the old five-on-five or six-on-six football of days gone by. This one decision undoubtedly set the table for the game of football we currently take for granted.

2. Madden 99 - Franchise Mode

I would be more than happy to argue that this is one of the biggest innovations in sports gaming. I don't know how it can be argued against. By giving us multiple seasons and GM-inspired powers, Madden furthered the experience of sitting at the helm of an NFL franchise.

This mode furthered the immersion factor of the series, and it exponentially increased the replay value of the game. After all, if you were to, let's say, pilot the Dallas Cowboys to a Super Bowl and win easily, what then? Before the franchise mode, you could only start again with the same players and the same league. Lame.

3. Madden 2005 - EA Sports Radio/Newspapers/Player Progress and Decline

A lot of people like to poke fun at the EA Sports Radio feature that was hosted by Tony Bruno. Was it that great? Not really. I mean, it got terribly repetitive and never felt completely organic and/or relative. But wasn't it interesting, at least for a minute or two? The same goes for the newspaper feature that gave users a better glimpse at the daily moves and storylines in their fictional NFL paradise. These innovations, while not entirely successful, were brave new additions that added needed change to an already stale franchise.

An even bigger and more significant change was the new system in which players, at the end of a season, either improved or declined as they grew older. This added a new wrinkle to the old equation -- not only did you get the chance to grow and direct a franchise, but you also had to take into account age and contracts. The game was growing more realistic, and we were all luckier for it.

4. Madden 2006 - QB Vision Cone

This is where it gets controversial. Obviously, the QB Vision Cone did not work. People hated it and cursed it at every available venue. I remember someone started a Web site just to list their grievances and color their spite for it.

But here's the thing, it was actually innovative. After all, quarterbacks do rely on their vision on the field. Some of them, Peyton Manning for instance, have spectacular field vision that allow them to make better and more accurate throws. In video games, this is often a problem in terms of replication because the play involves a god-like view of the action.

Again, there's no argument that the Vision Cone was a colossal failure, but there are a few of us out there who believe that, at its essence, it was the type of future-thinking EA Sports always needs to be focused on. No innovation has ever come from in-the-box thinking, but it's that type of philosophy we're currently witnessing, year after year, from the Madden franchise. Perhaps it's time for another Vision Cone, or some other off-the-wall, hit-or-miss addition.


Jared Sexton is a professor at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. He writes stories that have appeared in magazines and journals around the United States.