TITLE
‘We’re Totally F–ked’: Inside The Making of ‘Madden NFL 06’
AUTHOR
Matt Paprocki
PUBLICATION
Rolling Stone
YEAR
2018
ARTICLE TYPE
Article
FROM THE ARTICLE
With competition from NFL 2K killed off thanks to an exclusivity deal with the NFL, EA Sports’ Madden series was ready to enter a new HD era on a new next-gen console – the Xbox 360. Longtime Madden development studio Tiburon began work on Madden NFL 06 with plenty of big ideas meant to push the series forward on the new console. Instead, the studio produced one of the lowest rated entries in franchise history.[…]
Unfortunately, in the transition from PlayStation 2 to Xbox 360, Madden 06’s development struggled to keep up with the changes. A tidal wave of new employees obliterated the studio’s culture. Tiburon rewrote Madden’s code from scratch. With more hardware power, Tiburon sought overambitious scope. Dev kits began to overheat from the strain leading to a “graveyard” of dead hardware. Members slept at their desk to reach E3 deadlines. Executives released trailers unintended for the public, causing Penny Arcade to coin the term “bullshot.”
All of this led to a well-rendered if critically hampered edition of the series by the time of Madden 06’s release in November of 2005.
COMPANIES MENTIONED
EA Sports
EA Tiburon
Electronic Arts
GAMES MENTIONED
Madden NFL 06
PEOPLE MENTIONED
Ian Cummings
Michael Gourlay
Jason Lee-Steere
Rod Moye
Jeremy Strauser
PLATFORMS MENTIONED
Xbox 360