14 DAY TRIAL // Video game publisher Electronic Arts has announced 16 athletes from the National Football League that have been selected in the first phase of a process that will see the fan base choose the player who will become the cover athlete for the next edition of the hugely popular Madden NFL series.
The list of confirmed nominees now includes:
- Larry Fitzgerald and Patrick Peterson from the Arizona Cardinals - Patrick Willis and Vernon Davis from San Francisco 49ers - Marshawn Lynch and Earl Thomas selected from the Seattle Seahawks - Brandon Lloyd and Chris Long, who play for the St Louis Rams -Tim Tebow and Von Miller from the Denver Broncos - Dwayne Bowe and Derrick Johnson, playing for the Kansas City Chiefs - Shane Lechler and Sebastian Janikowski coming from Oakland Raiders - Antonio Gates and Philip Rivers from the San Diego Chargers.
The initial list is set to include another 16 players drawn from other NFL teams and Electronic Arts is expected to announce them soon.
The actual voting process is set to start at the beginning of next week and will see pairs of players face off against one another in a bracket that is designed to evaluate the popularity of each of them with the gamer base that buys and plays Madden NFL 13.
The fans’ favorites will probably be the leading quarterback of the recent Super Bowl champions, Eli Manning, and the ever-popular Tim Teebow.
EA Sports has not announced any clear information about the new game or about a significant change in mechanics, but more details are expected as summer progresses.
Madden NFL 13 will probably be launched in late August, starting the fall launch season, and is expected to perform well for Electronic Arts on the PlayStation 3, the Xbox 360 and, presumably, the new Wii U from Nintendo.