Considering the mind-blowing impression Madden 2001 one made on the PS2 when it came out, the idea of getting hyped for what Electronics Arts had up their sleeve for the impending releases of the Xbox 360 and PS3 was natural. And rarely has the gulf between a trailer and reality been so wide and filled with so many crushed souls. When the 'next gen' Madden trailer premiered during the NFL Draft, sports gamers across the globe could practically taste the human growth hormone. Madden's trailer featured dynamic lighting, futuristic injury systems, a ribald crowd atmosphere filled with thousands of flashing lights, incredible animation and a pulse-pounding last second drive led by Philadelphia Eagles QB Donovan McNabb that seemed too good to be true. It was. Madden NFL 06 promised to usher in a new era of American Football on consoles, and it failed spectacularly. Between a missing franchise mode, player customisation options, field goal nets, two minute warnings, proper out-of-bounds play stoppages, a superbly weird glitch that caused player's eyes to roll around the back of their heads - the game belongs in the dictionary next to the definition of the phrase "Buyer's Remorse". From this point forward it became 2K's NBA 2K series that got all the credit for debuting with top-of-the-line graphics, astounding players with its Xbox 360 debut, and simply blowing them away with their NBA 2k15 next-gen presentation. Meanwhile, Madden really hasn't quite recovered, constantly feeling clunky and behind the curve, even through well received titles. Even its Xbox One/PS4 debut seemed like a simple up-res of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions, likely an attempt to avoid the disaster that was Madden 06 - but at the cost of player's excitement.
