Topic: Madden 07 Hits Five Million

[WindyMan]

EA estimates the game will be the biggest multiplatform title of 2006.

EA’S MADDEN NFL 07 HEADS INTO THE PLAYOFFS AS THE BEST-SELLING GAME OF 2006    

More Than Five Million Copies Sold at Retail in 2006    

REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – December 26, 2006 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced  that Madden NFL 07, the EA SPORTS™ best-selling football franchise with the exclusive  videogame license of the NFL and PLAYERS INC, has sold more than five million copies to  consumers on a total of ten game platforms. EA believes, based on its own internal data as well  as industry sources, that across all game platforms, Madden NFL 07 will finish as North  America’s most popular game of 2006.    

Since its launch in August, Madden NFL 07 has had a record-breaking season, with first week  retail sales of more than two million copies.    

In November, Madden NFL 07 launched on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment  system and the Nintendo Wii™. Innovative use of the Wii Remote created a whole new  experience and made Madden NFL 07 one of the most innovative and popular games on the  Wii. Madden NFL 07 is also one of the top titles on the Xbox 360 video game and  entertainment system. In the first week on that system, players unlocked more than 600,000  achievements and recorded more than two million hours of online game play on Xbox Live®.    

For 2006, through November, Madden NFL 07 retail sales are currently ranked in the top ten on  six platforms and is the top-selling game on the PlayStation®2 and Xbox®*. It is also one of  the top selling games for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and Wii*.    

“Madden NFL 07 is the must-have game for players to realize the full power of the new systems  like the Wii, PLAYSTATION3 and Xbox 360," said Todd Sitrin, VP of Marketing for the EA  SPORTS brand. “EA’s Tiburon Studio has once again set the bar for innovation and consumers  have responded. This has been an amazing holiday season for Madden NFL 07."    

Madden NFL Football has become a cultural phenomenon with the launch day coined  Maddenoliday, becoming a highly anticipated event and holiday for many avid fans. Not only  has the franchise become a cultural phenomenon, but Madden NFL 07 has also become the  must-have game for many athletes, including the NFL players. The 12th Annual EA SPORTS  Madden Bowl will be hosted in Miami, Florida on February 1, 2007 and will showcase NFL  players battling it out to earn the highly coveted title of Madden Bowl champion.    

Adding to the Madden Phenomenon is the Madden Challenge and Madden Nation, for the most  loyal of the Madden fans. The 2006 EA SPORTS Madden Challenge, the fifth annual and only  official EA Madden tournament, will crown the best player of Madden NFL 07 and award a  check for $100,000 on February 8 in Hawaii. Winners will come from 31 regional competitions.  And for the second year, ESPN and EA have teamed up for Madden Nation, a reality show  centered around Madden NFL 07. The eight-episode series pits the nation’s top 13 Madden  NFL 07 gamers along with real-life NFL player sponsors against each other in elimination-style  tournaments on a 12-city bus tour. The Madden Nation winner will also win a $100,000 prize.    

In its 17th year and with more than two billion in retail sales life to date, Madden NFL Football  continues to stand out as the most popular football videogame franchise of all time with a  combination of innovative new features and the most authentic football gameplay. Developed in  Orlando, FL by EA Tiburon, Madden NFL 07 is available PLAYSTATION 3, Nintendo Wii, Xbox  360™ , the PlayStation®2, the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft, Nintendo  GameCube™, Nintendo DS™, PC, PSP® (PlayStation®Portable) handheld entertainment  system and Game Boy® Advance. Madden NFL 07 is rated “E" (Everyone) by the ESRB.

[Chode2234]

How is the Wii version doing?  Personally I hope it does well so more sports games can find a home on the Wii.  I would love to see a NBA2k game.  I am also hoping for online next year...

[Kairon]

I'm guessing that in the NPD tracking period for November (which amounts to the first seven days of the Wii's U.S. life)... uh... I'm sure this is inaccurate since it also relies on several educated guesses from the NeoGaf forums... I'm guessing that in those seven days Wii's Madden '07 was the 6th best selling Wii game and moved about 45,000 copies, and that the PS3's version moved a little less.

Hopefully that number will have also received a December boost.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[IceCold]

I think next year, when the userbase is bigger, it'll be a better judge on how sports games sell on the Wii.. looking at information about the game, it sounds like EA did a really good job with laying the foundation, and next year there will be some tweaks and a graphics upgrade.