While they started out as primitive pixels, it is now more lifelike than ever. The second version of John Madden Football, which arrived in 1990, was the first for consoles, running on the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis platforms.įor more than two decades, the graphics and gameplay have continued to improve. The first video game featuring the iconic football personality came out in 1988, primarily for computers running MS-DOS. And just like the game has evolved, so too have the Madden NFL covers. Since 1988, the franchise has sold billions of dollars worth of games.
For a lot of gamers, though, John Madden is the biggest icon in the industry, at least within the realm of sports games. When we talk about famous video game franchises, characters like Mario, Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Sonic the Hedgehog often come to mind.