This year’s version of the Madden video game will place a new emphasis on concussions, with any player suffering a concussion being sidelined for the rest of the game, and the game announcers (Gus Johnson and Cris Collinsworth) explaining the seriousness of head injuries.
John Madden says he approves of those changes to the game that bears his name.
“Concussions are such a big thing, it has to be a big thing in the video game,” Madden told the New York Times. “It starts young kids — they start in video games. I think the osmosis is if you get a concussion, that’s a serious thing and you shouldn’t play. Or leading with the head that you want to eliminate. We want that message to be strong.”
NFL spokesman Greg Aiello says the league is working closely with EA Sports on the proper handling of concussions in the Madden game. And Phil Frazier, the executive producer of Madden 12, called it “a teaching tool” and “a means to educate.”
I don’t know too many people who play Madden and think of themselves as being educated by a teaching tool, but there’s no question that if the Madden game is going to depict the NFL accurately, it needs to deal with concussions.