The Madden You’ve Never Played

By Bill Tangeman | March 3, 2008

For all of the innovations EA stuck into the ‘08 version of Madden, perhaps the biggest was to release a version completely in Spanish. I picked up a copy para practicar mi espa√±ol – to practice my Spanish – and to see exactly how they implemented a different language. They got some things right. The menus and instruction book are well done in Spanish. There are some songs by Spanish language groups like Man√° that I don’t believe are in the English version. And, the play by play announcer is very well done. However, EA has some room for improvement. I don’t know why this version of the game connects to real time ESPN updates in English when it could be updating from ESPN Deportes. Without a doubt the most glaring omission from this version is the lack of a color commentator. My favorite part about English Madden is hearing John Madden say stupid stuff. I was hoping for a Spanish Madden character screaming crazy commentary. Unfortunately, it’s just the play by play guy.