The Tribune

By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS you’re reading this, the level of productivity for males between the ages of 15 and 45 across the globe has decreased dramatically.

If they’re in class...they’re not paying attention.

If they’re at work, they’re trying to figure out the easiest way to escape the office as early as possible with the least penalty.

If they’re like me...then they just skipped work altogether and retreated.

This is what Madden does.

The fact that the release of Madden NFL Football is not a global holiday will go down as one of this generation’s greatest tragedies.

Right up there with Dan Marino not having a legitimate running game in two decades, James Harden not getting a free shot at Ron Artest, Lisa Turtle not falling for Screech and people not understanding the final scene in the series finale of Seinfeld.

It’s a safe bet that the scene last night was the same at gaming and electronic stores around America: Lines stretched for blocks just outside the doors. Tents, blankets and cots strategically placed all to buy what used to be a video game, but has now turned into something more.

I won’t waste precious space explaining to you how important Madden Football has become. If you don’t know by now, it’s only so long that you’ll be able to masquerade as a functioning member of society before someone finds out that there’s something terribly wrong with you.

Between Madden tournaments, a reality show, the Madden Curse, and NFL players themselves negotiating player ratings with heavier scrutiny than they do their contracts, the game has developed a subculture of its own that’s become a way of life for some people.

I’m one of these people and I probably will be until I have grandchildren, I’ve come to accept this.

This year, Madden NFL 13 stripped away all the cheap thrills and concentrated on better gameplay.

Based on all accounts, the new physics engine developed by EA Sports is the flux compasitor that’ll take our beloved DeLorean of a franchise and turn it into a Time Machine.

Along with new adlibbing commentary by Jim Nantz and Phil Simms and a CBS presentation, everything about Madden 13 promises to make this year’s edition the closest we have come to the product that’s produced on NFL fields every Sunday.

It’s the competitive nature of the Madden subculture that drives the development improvements and has turned it into a global phenomenon.

I have to go through at least 72 hours of practice mode before I can actually play someone else.

If you sit in a room with people playing, you’ll realise it’s no longer a game for many people, it’s almost a full on contact sport where the stakes are high, whether it’s for money, trophies or just the satisfaction of knowing you found the one play somebody can’t stop and you get to rub their noses in it for an hour or so.

The year of the new physics engine promises to render all previous Madden cheapness obsolete and people who know how to play football will have a better advantage rather than people who know how to play Madden.

It’s August 28 and now it’s an arms race to see who gets it first and who gets to put in the most practice time to get better.

Let’s face it, life changes for us all today...well, until next August anyway.

Happy Madden Day one and all!