Spike TV Kicks Off ‘Maddenpalooza’
Network Teams With Electronic Arts For Release of Popular Video Game
By Larry Barrett -- Multichannel News, 8/8/2008 8:14:00 AM
Spike TV and Electronic Arts will celebrate the 20th anniversary of the most successful franchise in video game history Monday, Aug. 11 with its Madden NFL 09 Kickoff! Live special.
The festivities will get under way at 9 p.m. ET when the network airs the inspirational college football film Rudy, during which the action will cut away to Geoff Keighley of GameTrailers TV who will be live from the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. counting down to the official release of the video game at midnight ET Tuesday.
Spike TV officials said thousands of “Madden aficionados” will fill the Rose Bowl to play the game before its release at midnight, including past cover athletes and NFL superstars Marshall Faulk, Ray Lewis, Shaun Alexander and Daunte Culpepper, who all will give their impressions of the game to the audience at home. Also, the game’s namesake, Hall of Fame coach and broadcaster John Madden (pictured), will talk about the 20th iteration of this historic franchise and takes a look at both its past and its future.
This year’s cover features recently unretired quarterback Brett Favre who was traded Wednesday from the Green Bay Packers to the New York Jets.
Viewers will get an in-depth look at some of the game’s new features as Keighley meets with the game’s developers at Electronic Arts’ Tiburon studios for a hands-on preview of “Madden NFL 09.” He also visits the New York Giants training camp to talk to some of the reigning Super Bowl Champions as they get their first look at the game and their player ratings.
Madden NFL 09 Kickoff! Live also will feature interviews with some of the musicians involved with the game's soundtrack, including artists Good Charlotte, Busta Rhymes and Rev Theory.
