Inside story on creation of "Madden"

My dad bought Madden '89 for me back in the day. It was supposed to be Madden '92. He didn't know the difference. It was still a solid Christmas.

 

Hawkins was emplyee 68 at Apple.

So as well as he's done, he'd have to be worth a hell of a lot more if he had just stayed at Apple, right?

 

A terrific piece of work. Bravo.

 

High Heat 2k-2k3 PC is by far the best baseball series ever created. WAR THE OLD SCHOOL TWO DIVISIONS AND OLD PLAYOFFS.

 

Yeah, the lawsuit stuff regarding classic players is pretty interesting, but also the kind of thing that probably makes for a better stand-alone article. Personally, I've always felt the NFL, the NFLPA and the retired players' groups like Gridiron Greats should have gotten together and come up with some sort of special, video-game only licensing arrangement that would allow EA or 2K or whomever to buy likeness rights to former players for in-game use ... and then use that money to help take care of former players in need. Pretty much a win-win there, and you're not even dipping into the current pot, which neither the league nor the players want to touch.

Hawkins is very (and understandably) proud of the High Heat franchise. He's just a fascinating guy in general. I met him for about three hours and could have listened to him tell stories all day. His split with EA is downright King Lear-ish.