The Madden name is synonymous with football. Not only is John Madden a Hall of Fame football coach, he’s also a Hall of Fame broadcaster. Accolades aside, perhaps the most captivating thing about Madden is that it’s also one of the biggest names in video game history. Read on for our review of episode of “It’s in the Game: Madden NFL”.
EA and Madden’s Humble Beginnings
As most success stories go, Electronic Arts’ (EA) rise to prominence with its annual “Madden NFL” video game franchise didn’t come easy. The first episode of Prime Video’s “It’s In The Game”, entitled “Can A Computer Make You Cry?”, portrays just that. It tells the story of the game’s humble beginnings as a tabletop experience. Before becoming the premier power that it is, EA struggled with shipping the first console-based “Madden” title.
The pilot introduces Trip Hawkins, the founder of EA, and details his entrepreneurial spirit and business acumen. In the episode, EA’s struggles when it came to both conceptualizing the game and bringing the product to market come to light. We learn about problems John Madden himself had with the game in addition to some of EA’s internal conflicts, including Hawkins’ unwillingness to make console games. When he seemingly gets over that, the episode then talks about the difficulties of licensing with console giants Nintendo and Sega. So “can a computer make you cry?” The episode definitely shows that being possible.
“It’s In The Game”, but is this docuseries for football fans or gamers?
“It’s In The Game’s” documentary format does a fine job at telling these stories and tying them all back to the success “Madden” is now, but after finishing this first episode, it’s tough to figure out who this docuseries is actually for.
For the casual viewer, there’s quite bit of industry lingo. Launches, milestones, and bugs should be terms familiar to hardcore gamers, but it probably isn’t the coolest thing to have on to entertain guests with during Thanksgiving.
At the same time, it’s tough to know if football fans would find the show interesting. American football is the most watched sport in the country, but there are just so many pockets of them. You have people who just like college football. You have people who only care about their team. Last year brought in a whole bunch of fans because of Taylor Swift. Are these people going to care about a video game?
Finally, there are the gamers. While it’s unfair, EA has a spotty reputation amongst gaming enthusiasts. The episode goes over some underhanded business tactics the company underwent when it came to their deal with Sega and taking over development of the Joe Montana-branded football game. It’s interesting and captivating stuff, but it also comes off as a little questionable because it does nothing to paint EA in any sort of positive light, yet they signed off on it.
The Push Forward
It’s very possible the docuseries is another public push to sell more copies of “EA SPORTS Madden NFL ’25” because of how it transitions from telling its origin story to how the game is developed in the modern day. Marketing push or not, this will get some people invested. It’s just difficult to tell who the show is for, and it’s hard to say whether or not this question is answered in its remaining three episodes.
Editor’s Note: Danreb is a former Electronic Arts employee assigned to another product. The views in this review in no way reflect his former employer’s views.
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