Software:John Madden Football (1990 video game)

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John Madden Football
Developer(s)Park Place Productions
Publisher(s)EA Sports
Designer(s)Troy Lyndon
Michael Knox
Scott Orr
Richard Hilleman
Jim Simmons
Composer(s)Rob Hubbard
SeriesMadden NFL
Platform(s)Genesis, Super NES, Amiga
ReleaseGenesis
  • NA: December 1990
  • EU: 1990
Super NES
  • NA: November 1991
Amiga
Genre(s)Sports (American football)
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

John Madden Football, released as John Madden American Football in Europe, is an American football video game released by Electronic Arts.[1] Loosely based on the 1988 video game of the same title, it was the first entry in what eventually became the yearly Madden NFL series on home consoles, initially released for the Sega Genesis in 1990. It is sometimes called Madden '90 or Madden '91 to distinguish it from subsequent entries in the series.[2][3]

A Super NES version was released in 1991, which incorporated content from the second Genesis installment released during the same year (John Madden Football '92), followed by a reworked Amiga version in 1992.[4]

Gameplay

The game includes various field conditions and audibles. The console versions use passwords for saves. It is played from above and behind the quarterback rather than from the side as most games of the time. As in the previous version, no actual NFL teams are included due to the lack of NFL or NFLPA licenses for authentic teams or player names.

In the 1990 Sega Genesis release, only a total of 16 teams are available. Each team was based unofficially on teams from the 1990 NFL season. The following generic teams are included, with colors based on the local NFL team: Buffalo, Miami, New England, Cincinnati, Houston, Pittsburgh, Denver, Kansas City, New York City (colors based on Giants), Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago , Minnesota, Atlanta, Los Angeles (colors based on Rams) and San Francisco . An All-Madden team is included as a bonus.

The SNES release features twenty-eight teams and the All-Madden team. Like in the Sega Genesis release, they are all generic, but each NFL city is represented and uses their respective colors (for instance, Cleveland’s team colors are orange and brown). New York and Los Angeles’ teams are again represented by the Giants’ and Rams’ colors, meaning each city is only represented once. To fill out the team roster, teams from “Oakland” and “New Jersey” were added, with the former wearing silver and black like the Raiders and the latter green and white like the Jets.

Development

Going into the project, Electronic Arts considered the title "the turning point" and "everything to us".[5] As the company was also working on Joe Montana Football for Sega, they contracted out Park Place Productions to develop Madden.[6] As opposed to EA's approach to the previous game, which emphasized realism, the new developers emphasized fun and arcade action.[5] Much of the development team was made up of former Cinemaware developers who previously had worked on TV Sports, a football game released the same year of the previous John Madden Football release, which, according to IGN, "stole some of EA's thunder"[6]

Reception

Electronic Arts had expected the Genesis version to sell around 75,000 units, but instead the title sold roughly 400,000 units.[7] It became a killer app for the Genesis, helping the console gain market share against the NES.[5][6]

Computer and Video Games reviewed the Mega Drive version John Madden American Football and gave it a 95% score, praising the realism and the sound.[8] Sega Power gave it a 92% score.[9]

At the 1990 Golden Joystick Awards, John Madden American Football for the Mega Drive won the award for best console game of the year (16-bit).[10]

In 2018, The Strong National Museum of Play inducted John Madden Football to its World Video Game Hall of Fame.[11]

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Penguin Gallup Charts: Amiga Power Top 100". Amiga Power (15 (July 1992)): 16. 25 June 1992. https://archive.org/details/Amiga_Power_Issue_15_1992-07_Future_Publishing_GB/page/n13/mode/1up. 
  2. ↑ Sports, Get Hyped (10 January 2019). "All Madden Games In Order Since 1988". https://gethypedsports.com/evolution-of-madden-since-1988/. 
  3. ↑ Porto, Richard Dal; Eberly, Eric; Tica, Donato; Madden, John (March 8, 1999). Madden NFL, 2000. Prima Games. ISBN 9780761522935. https://books.google.com/books?id=YP2yIgQ_cLgC&q=%22Madden+90%22++. 
  4. ↑ "John Madden Football review from Amiga Power 11 (Mar 1992) - Amiga Magazine Rack". http://amr.abime.net/review_454. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Hruby, Patrick (2010-08-05). "The Franchise". http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=100805/madden. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Fahs, Travis (2008-08-06). "IGN Presents the History of Madden". http://retro.ign.com/articles/896/896893p1.html. 
  7. ↑ Brady, James (7 August 2018). "Exploring the (weird) story of the very first 'John Madden Football' game". https://www.sbnation.com/2018/8/7/17599240/john-madden-football-apple-ii-genesis-original-story-trip-hawkins. 
  8. ↑ "Out-of-Print Archive • Mega Drive/Genesis reviews • John Madden's American Football". http://www.outofprintarchive.com/articles/reviews/MegaDrive/JohnMaddenFootball-CVG110-3.html. 
  9. ↑ "Readers top 10 – Mega Drive". Sega Power (18): 6. May 1991. https://retrocdn.net/index.php?title=File%3ASegaPower_UK_18.pdf&page=6. 
  10. ↑ "The Golden Joystick Awards '91". Computer and Video Games (EMAP) (115): 10. June 1991. https://archive.org/stream/Computer_Video_Games_Issue_115_1991-06_EMAP_Publishing_GB/Computer__Video_Games_Issue_115_1991-06_EMAP_Publishing_GB#page/n9/mode/1up. 
  11. ↑ "John Madden Football". The Strong. https://www.museumofplay.org/games/john-madden-football/. 

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

On February 13, 2025, Freyholtz stepped down as the site lead to move onto new projects, leaving operations to Tracy Poff, a veteran coder on the site, and Atari staff.[18]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
  18. ↑ "An update on MobyGames leadership". 2025-02-13. https://www.mobygames.com/forum/3/thread/269628/an-update-on-mobygames-leadership/#post-269628. 
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