Madden NFL 07

• Title — Madden NFL 07 • Developer — EA Tiburon EA Canada (Wii) HB Studios (Wii) Exient Entertainment (DS/GBA) • Publisher — EA Sports • Series — Madden NFL • Released — PlayStation 3 & Wii • Genre — Sports • Modes — Single-player, Multiplayer • Platforms — PlayStation 2 PlayStation 3 PlayStation Portable Xbox Xbox 360 Microsoft Windows Nintendo DS Game Boy Advance Wii GameCube Mobile phone

Just as in the previous titles in the Madden NFL series, Madden NFL 07 makes a few additions to the general game play. • Lead Blocker Control: After selecting a running play, the player will be able to cycle through the offensive players as they get into position at the line. The player can choose the athlete to control when the ball is snapped, and the game camera will zoom in on the fullback, tackle, guard, center, tight end, or wide receiver selected. With this feature, it is now possible for the player to open up a path for a running play, as the computer controls the halfback and tries to slip through the gap created. This feature also appeals to Madden players who do not wish to use computer assistance in any way, shape, or form. This feature allows the player to manually block with their fullback, tackle, guard, center, tight end, or wide receiver and quickly switch to their halfback to manually slip through the gap created, thus eliminating any computer assistance during the gameplay. • Highlight Stick: Players can now move the right analog stick in any direction to see an animation where the smaller running backs will duck, spin, or squirt out of a tackle. It is also possible to string such evasive moves together, piecing together a juke left with a hop step backwards (down on the right analog stick for PS2 and Xbox or down on the C stick for GameCube) to elude defenders. The Truck Stick animations still exist for the bigger backs, but also feature more variety of running moves with the addition of the Highlight Stick. For example, using the Highlight Stick with Tiki Barber, a smaller back not known for trucking, utilizes an array of moves to avoid and squirt out of tackles. • Juking and Spinning: Players can now choose two types of both Jukes and Spins to avoid would-be tacklers. For the PS2, players can either do a cut move to the left or right using the L1 or R1 buttons respectively, or a wider juke to the left or right by flicking the Right Analog stick left or right respectively. For a quick spin to elude a tackler the player simply taps the circle button. For a stronger spin which could possibly break a tackle, simply hold down the circle button. • FreeMotion Controls: The Wii version of Madden NFL 07, which was developed at EA Canada rather than Tiburon, features a unique control scheme that has been completely redone to complement the motion sensing capabilities of the console's Wii Remote and Nunchuk controllers.

The seventh generation version of Madden NFL 07 featured the Superstar Mode and Franchise but the Tony Bruno Show was absent in this game possibly due to a contractual issue, but he was in the Wii, GameCube, Xbox, and PlayStation 2 versions. The Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions also did not allow the player to edit the players appearance or attributes or change the numbers on their jerseys, but the Wii version and PlayStation 2 version did. Though, the Xbox 360 version did allow one to create a player. The franchise mode is not as deep as the previous generation versions, as Owner Mode is not present. Fantasy Draft and Two-Player co-operative play are missing as well. Also this game would be the last appearance of the NFL Europe teams in the Xbox version, next gen games came without the league teams.

The soundtrack features 35 songs from various artists such as Audioslave, Rise Against, Keane, Wolfmother, Lupe Fiasco, Cord, Crime Mob, Thirty Seconds to Mars, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Trae tha Truth. The Madden NFL 07 soundtrack was: • 30 Seconds to Mars - "Battle of One" • AFI - "Summer Shudder" • Al Fatz - "Came Down" • Anti-Flag - "This Is the End (For You My Mind)" • Atreyu - "Ex's and Oh's" • Audioslave - "Revelations" • Bishop Lamont featuring Chevy Jones - "The Best" • Cartel - "Say Anything (Else)" • Cord - "Go Either Way" • Damone - "Out Here All Night" • Dashboard Confessional - "Reason to Believe" • Dynamite MC - "Bounce" • Feezy 350 - "Playa What" • Glasses Malone - "Right Now" • Haley Hunt featuring Goose & Reason - "Won't Stop Runnin'" • Hit the Lights - "Until We Get Caught" • Keane - "Is It Any Wonder? • Less Than Jake - "Still Life Franchise" • Lupe Fiasco featuring Jonah Matranga - "The Instrumental" • Matchbook Romance - "Monsters" • Omnisoul - "Not Giving Up" • Rise Against - "Drones" • Riverboat Gamblers - "On Again Off Again" • Saves the Day - "Head for the Hills" • Shorty Da Kid - "Get Loose" • Spank Rock - "Backyard Betty" • Sparta - "Taking Back Control (listed as (Future Needs)" • Taking Back Control - "Spin" • The Pink Spiders - "Easy Way Out" • The Rapture - "Whoo! Alright - Yeah... Uh Huh • The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus - "In Fate's Hands" • The Sleeping - "Don't Hold Back" • Trae tha Truth - "Real Talk" • Underoath - "You're Ever So Inviting" • Wolfmother - "Woman" • Sam Spence - "A Chilling Championship (Remix)" • David Robidoux - "Reunion In Canton (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "Magnificent Eleven (Remix)" • Tom Hedden - "A New Game (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "Classic Battle (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "The Equalizer (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "Salute To Courage (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "A Golden Boy Again (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "Round-Up (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "Ramblin' Man From Gramblin' (Remix)" • Sam Spence - "A Chilling Championship" • Sam Spence - "Magnificent Eleven" • David Robidoux - "Reunion In Canton" • Tom Hedden - "A New Game" • Sam Spence - "Classic Battle" • Sam Spence - "The Equalizer" • Sam Spence - "Salute To Courage" • Sam Spence - "A Golden Boy Again" • Sam Spence - "Round-Up" • Sam Spence - "Ramblin' Man From Gramblin'" • Tom Hedden - "The Super Bowl"

In December 2006, all versions of Madden NFL 07 combined sold 1.9 million units, making it the best-selling title that month in the United States. Overall in 2006, the PlayStation 2 version of Madden NFL 07 sold 2.8 million units, making it the best-selling video game that year in the US, while the Xbox 360 version sold 1.1 million units in the US. The game sold more than 7.4 million copies in the United States by August 2007.

The game received "generally favorable reviews" on all platforms except the DS and Game Boy Advance versions, which received "average" reviews according to video game review aggregator Metacritic. AllGame gave the PS2 and Xbox versions each a score of four stars out of five and said of the entertainment, "The Madden gameplay has always been spectacular and it gets better with the new offensive line and running back controls." IGN gave the 2D edition of the Mobile phone version a score of 4.5 out of ten and called it "a mess" and "a let-down and a bad call for all involved." However, the same website gave the 3D edition of the same version a score of eight out of ten and called it "a far superior product over the 2D edition -- it's the only download you should consider if you want at some mobile Madden." In Japan, Famitsu gave the PlayStation 2 version a score of one six, one eight, one six, and one seven, for a total of 27 out of 40, while also giving the Xbox 360 version a score of one seven, one eight, one seven, and one five, for the same total of 27 out of 40.

In November 2007, Madden NFL 07 was included in EA Sports: 07 Collection along with other 2006 EA Sports games.