Madden NFL 12 to Educate Players About Brain Trauma

[Tom Goldman]

Madden NFL 12 to Educate Players About Brain Trauma

Some of the new features coming to Madden NFL 12 are focused on educating players about the seriousness of head injuries.

With each release, the Madden NFL 12 [http://www.amazon.com/Madden-NFL-11-Xbox-360/dp/B002I0JB6E/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1302127526&sr=8-1], one of those features isn't aimed at making the game more fun to play, but will leave gamers better educated about the pitfalls of smashing one's helmet-laden skull into another helmet-laden skull or other object.

Concussions in football have become a huge concern from down to the pee-wee leagues all the way up to the NFL. To reflect this, EA is working on accurately dealing with concussions in Madden 12, showing how they occur on the field.

John Madden himself told the New York Times: "Concussions are such a big thing, it has to be a big thing in the video game." Madden says that he wants there to be a "strong message" in Madden so kids will realize that concussions are serious business. He hopes Madden will be able to teach proper tackling techniques so they don't think football players are invincible.

Madden 12 executive producer Phil Frazier added: "I wouldn't say this is a full public-service announcement, but it's a means to educate." Previous versions of Madden allowed players that sustained a concussion to keep playing. Madden 12 will remove those players from the rest of the game's entirety, while commentators will say something along the lines of: "Because of the seriousness of concussions, 'x' player will not be returning to the game."

The change is incredibly responsible considering that it has no bearing on Madden's fun factor at all. In fact, emphasizing invincible players and big hits would probably make the game more enjoyable as a spectacle (see NFL Blitz [http://www.amazon.com/NFL-Blitz-Playstation/dp/B000021Y5Q/ref=sr_1_3?s=videogames&ie=UTF8&qid=1302129002&sr=1-3]). The only downside is that most players will probably just turn concussions off, but it's the effort that counts.

Source: NYT [http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/03/sports/football/03madden.html]


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[Verlander]

It's about time that they used their ridiculously high exposure to add some kind of example setting.

Good for them. I'm still not going to buy it though, my copy of '06 works just fine, thank you

 

[putowtin]

Madden NFL 12 to Educate Players About Brain Trauma;

by giving players brain trauma by looking at the game screen??
Honestly I'm not picking on anyone who's ever experienced severe head trauma, but by introducing a feature in a video game where you lose your MVP will just make gamers reload

 

[Trucken]

"Adrian Peterson is out for the game with a concussion." There goes my gameplan. Balls!

This is good. This could teach young players about the dangers of helmet-to-helmet hits.

 

[mireko]

They know their audience.

Too obvious, sorry.

 

[Cyclone of Mystery]

Is this some ridiculous feature they only created to shove onto the back of the box? It certainly sounds like it...

You shouldn't need a videogame to tell you that concussions are bad. Common sense should see to that.

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

He hopes Madden will be able to teach proper tackling techniques so they don't think football players are invincible.

About fucking time. Players today don't know to tackle. They want the "kill shot". Kids today need to learn how to wrap up and not lead with their fucking helmet. That is how a lot of concussions happen.

 

[XT inc]

Are they also going to be teaching businesses how to not to run franchises off peoples code without paying them for it? ( If that case proves true lol)

 

[beema]

I'm not sure how much good it will do, considering anyone who buys Madden 12 already has significant brain trauma.

 

[Ljs1121]

I think this is a pretty good thing. While definitely not needed, it will teach kids (who I assume is the primary audience) that football players are more than tanks who can carry a ball down a field.

I personally won't get the game, but it'll be a nice touch.

 

[Freechoice]

Ironically, it teaches players about brain trauma while simultaneously inflicting it upon them!

Hi-yo!

 

[BX3]

This is a nice feature, honestly. But why did they make an announcement about it and so far away from the release date? When I play Madden, the characters rarely if ever got injuries and I'm a hit stick abuser. The change is interesting, but pretty unimportant.