EA steps up its game with latest Madden offering

Football fans are lining up for the big game -- the big computer game.

Madden '06 goes on sale today. It's the 16th edition of Electronic Arts' National Football League software. Despite its stiff $49.95 price tag, Madden is one of the most popular computer games in America. Last year's version sold over 6 million copies. Many of those copies are bought by faithful players who buy each new edition to get the latest player rosters, as well as the newest upgrades to the game.

Getting the new Madden has become an annual ritual for fans, and many computer game retailers planned to open their doors at midnight tonight to accommodate them. Even Florida Governor Jeb Bush joined in the pregame hype. Though EA is based in Redwood City, Calif., it builds Madden in its Tiburon studio outside of Orlando, Fla. Bush visited the studio yesterday and took time to play the new game. ''He definitely scored a couple of times on me," said Madden '06 producer Phil Frazier.

This year's Madden offers a raft of new game features, including the ability to design your own player and follow him throughout his career. But some industry specialists think the upgrades won't be coming as quickly in future years. That's because the game maker signed a five-year deal with the NFL, making EA the only game company that can sell NFL-branded software.

The deal came after a rival game maker, Take 2 Games, scored a hit last year with NFL 2K5. Despite being priced 60 percent cheaper than Madden '05 at $20, NFL 2K5 was hailed by many critics as the equal of Madden '05, and sold 4 million copies. But EA's exclusive lock on the NFL franchise has now eliminated this threat to its huge Madden revenue stream. Michael Pachter, game industry analyst for Wedbush Morgan Securities in Los Angeles, said the exclusive deal also eliminates EA's incentive to keep improving their product.

''I am confident that they won't be able to innovate in the way they have in the past," said Pachter. ''In the absence of competition it's harder to innovate."

EA won't rest on its laurels, said producer Frazier, who insisted that the game will continue to feature new and improved features year after year. ''We're always still looking for that next big thing in game play," said Frazier.

This year's version of Madden will offer new controls to let the player more precisely guide the quarterback's passes. Up to now, said Frazier, ''our passing game, to be honest, really hasn't been authentic." But in the new edition the player will be able to adjust his aim, and even glance at different receivers to confuse the defense. A ''vision cone" will light up on screen to help the player spot the most likely passing targets.

The game will also include ''NFL Superstar," a mode in which the player can create an athlete from scratch, get him drafted by an NFL team and follow his career as he tries to make it in the league. ''It's a completely new stand-alone mode that allows you to live the life of an NFL player," said Frazier.

EA is bringing out versions of Madden for almost every popular gaming platform. Today's release includes versions for the Microsoft Corp. Xbox, Sony Playstation 2, and Nintendo's Game Boy Advance, GameCube and DS handheld game machines. A version for Microsoft Windows desktop computers running Microsoft's Windows operating system will come out next week. And on Sept. 20, EA will offer Madden '06 for Sony's new PSP handheld computer.

And EA will get another chance to profit from Madden later this year. That's when Microsoft will release its new Xbox 360 game console. EA will release a version for this platform too, with extra features designed to take advantage of the Xbox 360's computing power, which will be much greater that that of today's videogame consoles.

Pachter said that Madden '06 will perform well for EA, but that the NFL blundered by giving EA an exclusive license. That's because other major game makers will be reluctant to reenter the football gaming market, even when the exclusive deal expires. EA will have a five-year head start by then, and the cost of competing against the company will be difficult to justify, said Pachter. ''The odds are, nobody's going to want to screw around with it," he said. ''So EA has a de facto exclusive in perpetuity."

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at bray@globe.com.