It's a legacy that's been around almost as long as the game industry itself. A former coach for the Oakland Raiders teamed up with an up-and-coming game developer and, fifteen years later, turns it into a franchise that can simply not be denied. Madden NFL 07, the latest chapter in this series, hits store shelves late Monday night/Tuesday morning, and to mark the occasion (and prepare you for the onslaught of reviews), we've decided to take a look back at the great moments in Madden's history.

Now, mind you, the stories may not look positive (we talk about the Madden curse, a couple of speed bumps), but keep in mind that the ultimate goal here is to show the rough-and-tumble journey, how the lows converted into the highs. If you have your own personal favorite Madden moments, you know what to do. Hit up our forums and talk about your favorite touchdowns. Or the Madden quirks you remember the most.

And now, in no particular order, here are the Greatest Moments In Madden History...

The Early Start

Back in 1984, 3DO's Trip Hawkins was in charge of Electronic Arts, an up and coming computer software company. Now, at the time, the game industry was still in a slump over the 1983 video game crash, but Trip saw a future with computer software. He commissioned several sports greats to make appearances in sports games, including Larry Bird, Julius "Dr. J" Erving, Earl Weaver, and John Madden. Bird and Erving starred in a game called Dr. J and Larry Bird Go One On One, while Erving appeared in Earl Weaver Baseball. This was the beginning of the EA Sports line, although the brand would not become fully established until the mid-90's.

Madden and EA had an uneasy friendship at the time. Madden rejected the original idea of the game because it only had 7-man formations, not up to snuff with real football. The game was finally finished a few years later and shipped, but did not meet with great success.

This was just the beginning. It turns out that the game machine that would profit from the debut of John Madden Football would not be the Apple II, but rather the Sega Genesis. In 1991, the company worked with sports game designer Scott Orr and producer Richard Hilleman and released John Madden Football, one of their initial offerings for the system. It began to build a fan base from there. It was with the following year's addition, Madden NFL '93, that the series would really begin to pick up speed. And it hasn't stopped since.

The Setback and Return

Madden clearly became a big name for football by the mid-90's, and with the release of the Sony PlayStation console, EA Sports was ready to make the leap to 32-bit technology. However, the game it had in production, Madden NFL '96, seemed to hit a few snags in its development cycle. But then a big hammer came down that seemed to slam down on EA harder than it expected- Sony's up-and-coming football game, NFL Gameday.

At the time, Sony was trying to establish a killer launch line-up for its first game console, and it did become a tremendous hit and an industry leader. However, no one expected Gameday to be such a good game...especially EA. Due to the pressure caused by that game, EA canned the game for release, instead prompting to work on a release for the following year that would hopefully Sony's doors off...and it did.

Madden NFL '97 arrived for the PlayStation and Sega Saturn (as well as the 16-bit systems), and became a gigantic seller. It also put Sony in its place with the following year's NFL Gameday '97, which many felt had too many components taken from the previous year's version. But EA's big comeuppance against Gameday came in 2000, with the release of the Sony PlayStation 2.

The PS2 brought forth technology that would allow EA to bring the realism of football to new heights, which it did with Madden NFL 2001. Featuring solid gameplay, beautiful visuals, and a solid commentary with Madden and Pat Summerall, Madden was everything Gameday was not. NFL Gameday 2001 from Sony was rushed to market, and many could see the flaws right off the bat. The passing and timing were way off, the graphics couldn't match up to Madden 2001, and its extra features weren't nearly as well-stacked as EA's. The series has since faded into obscurity, leaving Madden as the clear football game of choice for the PS2. It only goes to show that you can have a great concept to start a great product, but it takes dedication to keep it.

It's also worth noting that EA had a small setback with Madden's debut on the Nintendo 64. In 1997, the company had a version of Madden set to go on the system, but, at the time, it didn't have the full rights to the NFL, as it had to get a new contract in place. So the game shipped...without official NFL teams. However, EA fixed this with the following year's release of Madden NFL '99, showing that it could produce a solid game of football for the system.

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