The Many Fun Features of "Madden" Games Quiz

Answer:

- The Hit Stick was a defensive feature introduced in 2004 in "Madden NFL 2005". This allowed players to hit the controller's right stick to deliver powrful tackles. It gave defensive players a fun way to shift the momentum of a game by forcing (sometimes game changing) fumbles. This feature was inspired by the aggressive style of play of legendary linebacker Ray Lewis, who was featured as the game's cover athlete that year to celebrate defensive play.

- The Yard was a game feature introduced in "Madden NFL 21" that was released in 2020. This brought a casual, neighborhood backyard feel to the series. A player chose this mode from the main menu, customized an avatar, picked a location, and began playing fun backyard ball. This feature was inspired by informal play so the field is smaller and the teams are smaller (6 on 6 drills for instance).

- Longshot was a cinematic story feature introduced in "Madden NFL 18" that came out in 2017. It was an interactive sports story about an underdog player from Texas named Devin who gets a chance to get to the NFL. Players would help Devin make decisions (there were multiple endings to the story), would do mini-games and would perform Quick Time Events. The mode creator from EA said he was inspired by cinematic sports films and wanted to bring that emotional feel into a video game.

- Face of the Franchise was a narrative career feature introduced in "Madden NFL 20" that was released in 2019. It allowed players to live out the journey of a rising football superstar. A player selected the tile on the main menu and created their unique quarterback avatar. They then play high school and college and head toward the NFL draft. Once they are on a team, they must play to prove they were worthy of the selection. This was inspired by the success of the Longshot mode introduced in earlier games.

- QB Vision was a highly debated passing feature introduced in "Madden NFL 06" that came out in 2005. It projected a literal spotlight across the field to represent where the quarterback was looking to potentially pass the ball. The idea was to add realistic difficulty to the game, forcing players to manually guide the quarterback's eyes toward a receiver using the controller. However, it had many naysayers as it added complexity and almost punished inexperienced quarterbacks.

- The Infinity Engine Physics was a groundbreaking gameplay feature introduced in "Madden NFL 13" which was released in 2012. The engine was driven by EA developers with doctorates in physics. This capability actually calculated a player's real weight, height, and speed in real time for each tackle. This completely eliminated pre-programmed tackling animations and ensured that no two hits or collisions on the field ever looked or felt exactly the same.

- GameFlow was a feature introduced in "Madden NFL 11" (released in 2010) that was designed to make the video game much easier and quicker to play. Its main benefit was that it did away with the traditional, overwhelming menu of hundreds of confusing plays and instead automatically suggested a single, smart play based on the exact situation in the game. A player turned this on in Settings and then during gameplay, a single suggested play would automatically pop up on the screen along the bottom, allowing the player to take the suggestion or override it.

- Super Sim was a convenient, time-saving gameplay feature introduced in "Madden NFL 08" that was released in 2007. It allowed a player to also act like a coach instead of being relagated to playing arcade style football. The player could let the computer simulate the gameplay while still choosing specific play-calling styles and game speeds. They could jump to the next play, jump to the end of the game, play offense only, or just kick back and watch the action.

- Madden Ultimate Team (affectionately known as MUT) was a free downloadable feature introduced in "Madden NFL 10" (released in 2009). Its main benefit was combining the strategic world of fantasy football with the fun of collecting physical sports trading cards, allowing players to open digital card packs to build a dream roster from scratch. A player downloaded this feature and was given a starter pack from which to build a team. After winning games and coins, the player could literally build his or her dream team.

- Superstar X-Factor abilities was a feature introduced in "Madden NFL 20" (released in 2019) that gave the league's top elite athletes special, superpower skills whenever they "got in the zone" by making big plays. These X-Factor abilities give them features and boosts that differentiate them from regular players. A player manually activates a maximum of three X-Factors on offense, three on defense, and one on special teams. For instance, a pass rusher with Unstoppable Force can shed blocks significantly faster to get quick sacks.

- Whereas the Madden curse itself is said to be real (it's a curse for those chosen to be on the cover that the next year their health or career takes a bad turn) there is no meter in the games tracking it.
- While "Madden" games features massive musical soundtracks, players cannot produce or customize a halftime show.
- Though Gatorade is heavily featured as an on-field sponsor, there is no interactive game requiring a gamer to hydrate the players.
- Since the real National Football League has incredibly strict rules against fans storming the field and tearing down goal posts due to safety and structural concerns, this would not be a feature in the games.
- In the game, the player sitting on the couch is the one throwing the pass, so they only need to see through the eyes of the quarterback to find an open target. Tight ends are the ones running the routes to catch the ball, so having a visual cone for them wouldn't help a pass.