Madden NFL '08 New York Launch: Times Square Transformed

Microsoft and EA spent a whole lotta money last night to promote Madden NFL ’08 to all of Times Square. The game—you may have heard of it—enjoyed a midnight release at the Times Square Toys R Us and should be in your local store right now. While I personally won’t be celebrating “Maddenoliday” (I prefer the other kind of football, which you may have noticed), I did stay up until the ungodly hour of midnight snagging pics and interviewing football greats, getting their take on the latest installment of EA’s money printing license.

Ozzy performed on top of the Hard Rock Café, cursing a blue streak and mumbling and bumbling around the stage.

Oddly enough, there was not a PS3 logo to be found last night. Microsoft’s coffers strike again.

Aside from the boisterous announcer during the Madden challenge (the winner took home $1,000 for his troubles), the Madden launch went about as well as you’d expect. Plenty of pomp and circumstance, including a “box drop,” sorta like the New Year’s ball drop… only with a Madden NFL ’08 box.

Of the pro footballers, Eric Dickerson seemed the most enthusiastic about the game’s launch. A fan of the Xbox 360 and PSP, Dickerson was raving about the hours upon hours he’ll spend at a time playing the game. While he called it embarrassing, I took a certain amount of pride in knowing that superrich, famous athletes also play video games for hours on end.

So yeah, the new Madden’s out. The guys playing the game called it more arcadey than last year’s, so take that for what it’s worth.

Madden NFL ’08 [EA]