Software:Madden NFL 98

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Short description: 1997 American football video game
Madden NFL 98
Developer(s)Tiburon Entertainment[1]
Tiertex Design Studios (SNES, Genesis)
Stormfront Studios (Windows)
Publisher(s)EA Sports (PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows)
THQ (SNES, Genesis)
SeriesMadden NFL
Platform(s)PlayStation, Sega Saturn, Windows, Super NES, Genesis
ReleasePlayStation, Sega Saturn
  • NA: August 26, 1997[2]
  • PAL: September, 1997
Genesis
Windows
Super NES
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Madden NFL 98 is a 1997 football video game. It was the last edition of the Madden series to be released for the Super NES, Genesis and Sega Saturn platforms, as well as the last Madden game to utilize 2D sprites for the players and referee, on 3D playing fields.

The game's development focused on improving the Madden series' artificial intelligence. This aspect earned the game critical acclaim, with some reviewers considering Madden NFL 98 a new landmark for A.I. in football video games.

The Green Bay Packers had the best team overall in the game with a 95. The worst team overall was the Baltimore Ravens with a score of 71. The Dallas Cowboys, the New England Patriots and the Green Bay Packers were a 3-way tie for the best offense with a perfect score of 100. There is also a 3-way tie for the best defense in the game between the San Francisco 49ers, the Seattle Seahawks and the Green Bay Packers with a score of 97. The San Diego Chargers had the best special teams in the game with a score of 96.

Publisher EA Sports licensed the Super NES and Genesis versions of the game to THQ, who published it for those platforms.[5]

The PlayStation version of the game is playable in the collectors edition of Madden NFL 2005 with updated rosters.

Gameplay

Madden NFL 98 introduced touch passing to the series, which allows players to control the speed of a pass by how hard they push the button.[6] Control can be switched to any football player at any time.[6]

The PC version of Madden NFL 98 allowed players to download the latest NFL rosters from EA's website, thereby keeping the game up-to-date.[7]

Development

In response to the longstanding criticism of the Madden series that its AI is too vulnerable, the development team made improving the AI their main emphasis with Madden NFL 98. The AI architects dubbed their new system "Liquid AI".[8] A version for the Panasonic M2 was in the works, but never released due to the system's cancellation.[9][10] A version for the Game.com was also planned, with Tiger Electronics as the developer, though Tiger producer Allen Richardson admitted that the game would be difficult to do on the Game.com due to the 16 megabit size of the cartridges.[11]

Reception

Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
AllGame4/5 (PS)[18]
4/5 (SNES)[19]
3.5/5 (GEN)[20]
EGM9.25/10 (PS, SAT)[12][13]
GameSpot8.8/10 (PS)[14]
8.1/10 (PC)[15]
Next Generation3/5 (PS)[16]
Sega Saturn Magazine92% (SAT)[17]

Madden NFL 98 was positively received, with the overwhelming majority of critics agreeing that the new "liquid AI" had eliminated the longstanding Madden NFL series problem of "money plays" that could be used to successfully run the ball in any situation, making the game more challenging and the final scores more comparable to those of real football games.[12][13][14][15][17][21] Kraig Kujawa of Electronic Gaming Monthly called it "the smartest football game I've played",[13] and Gary Cutlack of Sega Saturn Magazine said the new AI "Makes the game a lot harder, but a well earned victory is much more satisfying, don't you think?"[17] Next Generation dissented with the majority, contending that while the AI was improved from the previous installment of the series, they had managed to find some "money plays".[16] However, other aspects of the game were widely praised as well, particularly the lively audio commentary,[14][17][21][22] realistic animations,[13][14][15][21] and wide selection of options.[12][13][14][15][16][17][22] Several reviewers made particular mention of the new "fantasy draft" option.[12][13][22]

By far the largest source of criticism was the use of sprite-based rather than polygon-based players. While full polygonal football video games were unexplored territory (the first fully polygonal football game, NFL GameDay 98, was released the same month as Madden NFL 98, and GameSpot acknowledged that polygonal graphics are a much greater drain on processing power in football games than other genres, due to the large number of players[15]), most critics felt that the Madden series, as the leader in the football genre, should have advanced into it by this time.[12][16][17][21] Next Generation in particular felt that the Madden series had unequivocally been dethroned by its failure to beat NFL GameDay to fully polygonal graphics, concluding that "despite some problems, at least the gameplay is solid – a distinct improvement over last year. However, it's too little too late, and stacked against the jaw-dropping GameDay, good is no longer good enough."[16] GameSpot countered that "Although some might scoff at Madden 98 not using polygons like its chief competitor GameDay 98, these player sprites are well animated and detailed.", and pointed out several impressive graphical features accomplished with the sprites.[14] Arguing that the excellent gameplay and AI outweigh the graphical shortcomings, Kujawa deemed Madden NFL 98 "the best PlayStation football game", while his co-reviewer Dean Hager, like Next Generation, held that GameDay 98 had edged it out with its polygonal players.[12]

While most reviewers did not compare versions, GamePro noted that the Saturn version has greater pixelation than the PlayStation version and uses an antiquated "gliding sprites" method of animation.[22] Despite this, the Saturn's much smaller library of football games (Sega's only answer to Sony's NFL GameDay was the critically panned NFL '97) left critics with few reservations about declaring the Saturn version of Madden NFL '98 the best football game on the system.[13][17][22]

In the same issue in which they reviewed the Saturn version (and just a month after reviewing the PlayStation version), Electronic Gaming Monthly ranked the Saturn and PlayStation versions as the 19th best console video game of all time, saying that the AI was the best of any football game yet.[23] They also named Madden NFL 98 a runner-up for "Saturn Game of the Year" (behind Saturn Bomberman) and "Sports Game of the Year" (behind International Superstar Soccer 64) at their 1997 Editors' Choice Awards.[24]

Sales

Madden NFL 98 was outsold by Sony Computer Entertainment's NFL GameDay 98. Electronic Arts chief operating officer John Riccitiello argued that while this was an impressive achievement for Sony, it was not a major defeat for EA Sports: "Do I wish we had sold another 100,000 copies of Madden on PlayStation so we would have sold more in the quarter than [Sony] did? Sure. But I am happy that even though we were outspent seven or eight to one on television, we sold within 15% in units and 10% of dollars to Sony. And I'm virtually certain that if we'd have matched their spend, we'd have blown them out of the water."[25]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "E3 Showstoppers!". GamePro (IDG) (108): 39. September 1997. 
  2. ↑ "Game Informer News". Game Informer. 1998-02-19. http://www.gameinformer.com/news/aug97/082697b.html. Retrieved 2023-04-06. 
  3. ↑ "Electronic Arts Ships Madden NFL 98 for the PC; EA Sports Delivers the Ultimate PC Football Game for Head-to-Head Competition". October 22, 1997. Archived from the original on December 7, 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20151207192527/http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Electronic+Arts+Ships+Madden+NFL+98+for+the+PC%3b+EA+SPORTS+Delivers...-a019903943. Retrieved September 3, 2021. 
  4. ↑ "PR - 12/2/97 - THQ JUMPS INTO NINTENDO 64 SQUARED CIRCLE WITH RELEASE OF 'WCW VS. NWO: WORLD TOUR™'". 2004-04-16. http://www.thq.com/Corporate/PressReleases/press-27.asp. 
  5. ↑ "16-Bit Sports: Alive & Kicking?". GamePro (IDG) (106): 67. July 1997. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Air Hendrix (September 1997). "Madden NFL '98". GamePro (IDG) (108): 110. 
  7. ↑ Kaiafas, Tasos; Hsu, Dan (January 1998). "2 Ways to Play". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (102): 141. 
  8. ↑ "Madden NFL 98: An Early Look at the Latest Edition of the Longest-Running Football Game Series Ever". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (97): 110. August 1997. 
  9. ↑ "Cutting Edge - 3DO buoyant as M2 picks up speed". Edge (Future Publishing) (23): 6–7. September 1995. https://archive.org/details/Edge_UK_024/page/n5. 
  10. ↑ "News - E3 '96: 3DO? - M2 Dream List". 3DO Magazine (Paragon Publishing) (12): 4. July 1996. https://archive.org/details/3DO_Magazine_Issue_12_1996-07_Paragon_Publishing_GB/page/n3. 
  11. ↑ "Game.com: Will it Beat Game Boy?". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (31): 26–27. July 1997. https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_31/page/n26. 
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 "Team EGM Sports: Madden NFL 98". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (99): 192. October 1997. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 13.4 13.5 13.6 "Review Crew: Madden 98". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (100): 192. November 1997. http://egm.gamespot.com/egm.nsf/WebAllTeamEGMSportsReview/2ED05DFAD3944989882565250061B06D. Retrieved April 1, 2020. 
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 "Madden NFL 98 Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/madden-nfl-98-review/1900-2548189/. 
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 15.4 Poole, Stephen. "Madden NFL 98 Review". https://www.gamespot.com/reviews/madden-nfl-98-review/1900-2542412/. 
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 16.2 16.3 16.4 "Finals". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (35): 195. November 1997. 
  17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 17.4 17.5 17.6 Gutlack, Gary (November 1997). "Review: John Madden Football '98". Sega Saturn Magazine (Emap International Limited) (25): 76–77. 
  18. ↑ "Madden NFL 98 (Playstation) Review". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7885&tab=review. 
  19. ↑ "Madden NFL 98 (Super Nintendo) Review". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7425&tab=review. 
  20. ↑ "Madden NFL 98 (Sega Genesis) Review". http://www.allgame.com/game.php?id=7558&tab=review. 
  21. ↑ 21.0 21.1 21.2 21.3 Scary Larry (October 1997). "All Madden - All Day". GamePro (IDG) (109): 150. 
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 Scary Larry (November 1997). "Madden Wins the Toss". GamePro (IDG) (110): 158. 
  23. ↑ "100 Best Games of All Time". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (100): 147. November 1997.  Contrary to the title, the intro to the article (on page 100) explicitly states that the list covers console video games only, meaning PC games and arcade games were not eligible.
  24. ↑ "Editors' Choice Awards". Electronic Gaming Monthly (Ziff Davis) (104): 87–88. March 1998. 
  25. ↑ Campbell, Colin (May 1998). "Movers and Shakers". Next Generation (Imagine Media) (41): 31. 
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

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 lengthy 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]

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. 
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