14 DAY TRIAL // Electronic Arts has announced that it has partnered up with Doritos, the well known fast food brand handled by Pepsi, in order to allow fans of the Madden NFL franchise to choose which players will be gracing the cover of the next videogame in the series.
Players will need to get a username and password and log onto the official site used for voting to pick between three front runners: Drew Brees, who plays for the New Orleans Saints, Reggie Wayne from the Colts, and Jared Allen, who is a defensive players for the Vikings. All those who cast a vote in the run off will have a chance to win a trip to New York City at some point in April to see the NFL Draft.
For quite some time, American football fans have been talking about the so-called “Madden curse,” which is said to affect all those players who make the cover, reducing their performance for the upcoming season or even sidelining them totally through injury. One of last year's cover players, Troy Polamalu from the Steelers, was out of the game for much of the season and the man who is chosen for the Madden NFL 11 cover will probably fear a similar fate.
With the curse in effect and with the possibility of voting open to all fans, it would not be too weird to see fans of one team actually vote in order to increase the chances of sidelining the leading player of a rival.
Back in November 2010, John Riccitiello, the Chief Executive Officer of Electronic Arts, said that his company was planning an “innovative and new take” for the next title in the Madden NFL series. The game is expected to arrive in the usual August time frame and more details will probably be unveiled soon.