In 1998, John Madden Football was released into the world of Gaming. The game was very popular and a financial success. This game led to many adaptations that would come out in years to come. Each would feature something new and innovating to the virtual world of Football. It seems that this game has brought football fans together here at Concord University through an exciting football tournament with the help of Esports.
The tournament was held on August 25th, 2023, at 8pm. The tournament had a very unique style of rules and guidelines that encouraged players of different consoles to participate. The recent version of the game Madden 23’ can be played on either the Xbox Series S or PlayStation 5. However, the finale was what brought out the competition for both sides. A coin toss decided what console was what the finale match was played on, the winner would get the choice on which console to play on. However, this wasn’t the only set of rules that spiced up the playing field.
General rules like attendance, single elimination and respectfulness are common for Madden Tournaments. However, it’s towards the game settings that changed the experience for the players. You can only pick three random teams; however, you could lock in with a fourth random team but the chances of it being good or bad is 50/50. The teammates for the players were set on All-Madden with competitive mode and each quarter was a total of 4 minutes. The final set of rules was no looking at your opponent’s buttons as they play as well as a “21 skunk” where if you score 21 and your opponent doesn’t score anything on their pick, they are considered defeated.
When asked about the environment of Esports with Madden. The only person I could ask about this was a player by the name of “TTVGUMMYTOES”.
“Positivity scene is great with the coaches as well as the other games within the landscape of Esports”
TTVGUMMYTOES
He explained to me as he was pleased with the outcome of the event. The outcome saw everyone getting along and had a fair amount of people for Xbox and PlayStation players. This positive outcome could lead to more gaming events happening on Concord University.
This event was well executed and showed me the community of Concord University. It showed me that despite our differences for who we are as a person, it’s the little things that bring us together. It doesn’t matter who wins or loses. What matters the most is the experience of the event. After a chaotic two weeks, this event helped bring us together and enjoy the traditional sport of football on a whole other level.
by Kaleb Watson