“The Madden NFL franchise has such a rich tradition and history, and there’s no better way to celebrate our 25th Anniversary than by having one of the best players of all-time on the cover,” said Anthony Stevenson, senior director of marketing for EA Sports. “Barry Sanders has long been a fan favorite, so we’re proud to have him as the face of Madden NFL 25.”

EA Sports has also released the first two of several “playbooks” that will detail the improvements and changes made over last year’s Madden game. So far, the publisher has announced a new “precision modifier,” 30 new “moves,” and a new “force impact system.”

Madden NFL 25 will be released on August 27 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. EA has not mentioned whether the game will be coming to the PlayStation 4 or the next-generation Microsoft console, and a mention of a Wii U version of the game was conspicuously absent from EA’s announcement.

A rough-looking teaser trailer for the game was released alongside the cover announcement:

Last night, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers by a final score of 34 to 31. In the annual simulation that’s used to predict every big game since 2004, Madden said that the Ravens would win 27-24.

Ok, so the score’s not perfectly accurate. But the spread is. Madden said that a Justin Tucker field goal would be the difference in the game, and when it was all over on Sunday evening, that’s exactly what separated the two teams.

Not only that, but Madden predicted that the Ravens’ Ed Reed would intercept Niners’ QB Colin Kaepernick. Madden didn’t quite get the timing right (they said it would be in the final minutes), but they were right in that Ed Reed would snag a pick.

The Madden simulation also correctly predicted that Joe Flacco would win MVP honors. Madden’s stat line gave Flacco 260 passing yards on 19 of 27 passing (70%) and two touchdowns. In reality, Flacco racked up 287 yards on 22 of 33 passing (67%) and three touchdowns.

Pretty damn close.

Madden NFL’s Super Bowl predictions have now been right 8 out of the last 10 years. The only two predictions they’ve ever missed were the Super Bowls won by Wild Card teams (Packers in 2011 and Giants in 2008).

Speaking of Madden, we just learned that Madden 25 would be coming out on August 27th.

“There’s no better way to celebrate and mark the culmination of 25 years of innovation than by naming this year’s game Madden NFL 25,” said Cam Weber, general manager of American football for EA Sports. “This year’s game will push the boundaries with gameplay and feature innovations that will lay a very strong foundation for the next 25 years of this storied franchise.”

Madden NFL 25 will be released for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 consoles. No word yet on whether the game will make an appearance on Microsoft’s and Sony’s next-generation consoles, which are rumored to launch this fall.

The cover athlete for the game will be determined using a voting tournament. 32 “all-time NFL greats” will be pitted against one another for a spot on the game’s cover. The bracket will be unveiled on ESPN’s SportsNation TV program on March 11, the day that the voting begins.

“This is the third consecutive year EA Sports and ESPN have collaborated on the Madden NFL cover vote in its current iteration,” said Raphael Poplock, vice president of games and partnerships for ESPN. “Each year has brought record-setting results as NFL fans come out in droves to support their favorite players and teams, and by going big this year with legends facing off against the league’s current leaders, needless to say it will be an interesting vote with much debate and discussion.”

The first Madden-branded game was 1988′s John Madden Football. Since that time, the franchise has sold around 99 million games and generated over $3.7 billion for its publishers.

Among the bad news, EA has seen fit to tease something that is probably great news for the company. The EA sports website now contains an announcement for Madden 25.

What is Madden 25? That’s a straightforward question, but EA hasn’t released any details at all concerning the title. All that is known for sure is that Madden 25 will be released on August 27, 2013. That date is almost exactly one year from August 28, 2012 – the day that Madden NFL 13 was released. With that in mind, it’s likely that Madden 25 is a rebranding of the franchise for its anniversary, though it could also represent an event or downloadable content of some kind.

The teaser logo shows that it celebrates the 25 year history of Madden video games, from 1989 to 2014. The original John Madden Football for the Commodore 64 was actually released in 1988, but since Madden 25‘s release date is in 2013, the math still works out.

The Madden NFL series is one of EA’s most consistently profitable series. The publisher’s latest earnings report stated that Madden NFL 13 saw both unit sales and revenue increase over last year’s numbers.

This year’s Madden Super Bowl prediction sees the Baltimore Ravens edging out the San Francisco 49ers in a very tight game – 27 to 24. According to the simulation, the game comes down to a Justin tucker field goal. In this hypothetical game, Kaepernick mounts a final drive, but is ultimately foiled by an Ed Reed interception.

EA’s Madden has been predicting the outcomes of Super Bowls since 2004. In that time, they are 7 for 9. The only two predictions they got wrong were the Super Bowls won by Wild Card teams (Packers in 2011 and Giants in 2008). Last year, Madden correctly predicted that the Giants would beat the Patriots, though they didn’t get the score quite right (27-24 vs. reality’s 21-17).

And about the MVP? Flacco, all the way:

“Joe Flacco took home MVP honors completing 19 of 27 passes for 260 yards and two touchdowns. Flacco capped off an incredible postseason run that saw him defeat Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning, Tom Brady and Colin Kaepernick on the way to sending Ray Lewis out of the NFL with style,” says EA Sports.

According to EA, this is the best start for a Madden franchise game during the current console generation, up 7% from Madden NFL 12‘s launch. The franchise and console-specific caveats make the “record-setting” quality of the announcement laughable, but 900,000 games sold is nothing to sniff at. Still, it doesn’t even come close to Diablo III‘s 3.5 million copies sold on its first day.

“Madden NFL 13 is the most innovative entry the franchise has ever seen and we’re thrilled that fans have embraced it with such a huge first day,” said Andrew Wilson, executive vice president of EA Sports. “As we approach the kickoff of the NFL season next week, the football community is whetting their appetites by playing Madden NFL 13 in record numbers. With the combination of the cutting-edge Infinity Engine and new Connected Careers fans are truly getting their football fix with the best Madden NFL game ever.”

EA also announced the franchise-specific metric that Madden NFL 13 also set a record for online usage during its first day. According to the publisher, online usage was up 28% from Madden NFL 12‘s launch day.

Electronic Arts’ (EA) yearly sports title hit stores this morning, and sales have, predictably, been good. Of course, Madden NFL 13‘s cousin, FIFA 13, will soon follow with a release in late September. Today also saw the official release of Guild Wars 2, a highly-anticipated free-to-play MMO.

Despite its status as a yearly upgrade title, EA insists that this version of Madden is a huge step forward for the franchise.

“Madden NFL 13 is the biggest game-changer in the history of the franchise,” said Cam Weber, general manager of American Football at EA Sports. “Madden NFL 13 will deliver to our consumers the most realistic gameplay ever, and innovations like the Infinity Engine will completely redefine how fans will play Madden NFL. With deep new gameplay innovation, social integration, and an overhaul of the audio and visual presentation, Madden NFL 13 stands as a benchmark entry for the franchise.”

Versions of Madden NFL 13 are now available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, and PlayStation Vita. The Xbox 360 version of the game includes Kinect integration for features such as pre-play audibles.

“Madden NFL 13 is the biggest game-changer in the history of the franchise,” said Cam Weber, GM of American Football at EA SPORTS. “Madden NFL 13 will deliver to our consumers the most realistic gameplay ever, and innovations like the Infinity Engine will completely redefine how fans will play Madden NFL. With deep new gameplay innovation, social integration, and an overhaul of the audio and visual presentation, Madden NFL 13 stands as a benchmark entry for the franchise.”

According to Detroit Lions receiver Calvin Johnson (also known as “Megatron”) who graces the cover, the gameplay is “ridiculous”.

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Calvin Johnson Jr.
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Gameplay on the Madden13 demo is ridiculous http://t.co/QVxJ1uhU

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The game is powered by the new Infinity Engine, and delivers what EA calls “physics you can feel on every play.”

“Core gameplay innovations such as total control passing, ball hawk and read and react defensive AI, combine to create the most realistic Madden NFL game ever,” the company says.

There’s also a new “Connected Careers” mode, which lets players play with up to 32 friends in a league. “Weekly, seasonal and milestone goals set the benchmarks for progress, and fans can not only choose to make history as a created or real life player or coach, but also relive the legendary careers of all-time greats including Walter Payton, Michael Irvin, Steve Young and more,” EA says.

Of course, there’s a social media element, with a virtual Twitter feed, and social integration/team management from PCs, tablets and smartphones.

Other new features include a new “Ultimate Team Edition,” with new trading cards and a new card management system, Kinect integration for the Xbox version, a 3-D powered broadcast booth with Jim Nantz and Phil Simms and various bonus content.

The game retails for $59.99 on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3, $49.99 on the Nintendo Wii, and $39.99 on PlayStation Vita.

Now let’s just hope that Calvin can avoid the dreaded Madden curse.

Topping the list of anticipated Xbox 360 games is Halo 4. Even with a new developer, gamers can’t wait for more Master Chief. Specific details about the game have recently come to light in the newest issue of GameInformer.

The most anticipated game for the Playstation 3 is Assassin’s Creed III. The details for the game have been slowly leaking out over the course of the last few weeks, and much has been made of its setting – the U.S. Revolutionary War. Assassin’s Creed III was second in the list of anticipated Xbox 360 games.

The Nintendo Wii list had fewer titles on it, but the most anticipated game for the system was Madden NFL 13. The yearly football title was in the top four of every list. Oddly, many of the games on the Wii list were movie tie-in products, including Battleship, The Amazing Spider-Man, and Men In Black.

Other titles that ranked high on the lists include Resident Evil 6, Max Payne 3, and Ghost Recon: Future Soldier.

A majority of the titles in the lists are sequels for or remakes of popular franchise titles. In fact, of the 11 titles most anticipated for the Xbox 360, 10 of them are from franchise titles from known and popular series. All 11 of the most anticipated Playstation 3 titles are large franchise titles, and none of them are exclusive to Sony’s console. The one “original” title on the Xbox 360 list is Kinect: Star Wars, and that’s obviously as large of an intellectual property as you can get. Still, there hasn’t yet been a Star Wars game of that type, and I suspect there won’t be a second now that the carbonite freeze chamber dance-off is public knowledge.

Are you anticipating some of these same titles? Lamenting the fact that originality is simply not in demand? Let me know in the comments below.

EA Sports has decided to reduce the price of Madden 12 for Android ahead of the Super Bowl. It’s usually $4.99, but if you go the Android Market right now, you can grab it for 99 cents. That’s a pretty good deal for the Android version of one of the most popular gaming franchises in all of gaming, though some have reported bugs with it.

The game has more 5 star ratings than other ratings on the Android Market, though its average is 3.3. Of course a $4 dollar discount can be more persuasive than negative reviews.

The app is now optimized for Android tablets.

If you’re watching the Super Bowl alone and you don’t care about Madonna, perhaps this will give you something to do during half time.