Michael Giberson
A game for fans is finding new fans for the game of football. A Washington Post story reports that the realism packed into EA Sports’ Madden NFL games has helped recruit a new wave of fans. I was going to make some observation about unintended consequences, but the article beat me to it:
No one could have expected that it would come to educate a generation of fans on football the way it has.
“I don’t want to say it was a surprise,” said Chris Erb, director of marketing for EA Sports. “When you have something that authentic you expect it will have success. But it was never an intended effect.”
Here is EA Sports’ own look back on the “15-Year Phenomenon” of Madden NFL Football, written up a few years ago.
(Personally, I play EA Sports’ FIFA 07 Soccer, but I appreciate a good news story, even when it is about American-style football.)