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If you're watching Belton's channel ABGotGame, the only thing he is more hated than his adversaries? Madden itself. It is a common refrain "This game is rubbish" or "this game is terrible." When watching any video, Belton is cursing the game's developer, EA Sports, like it's a malevolent god. Throwing erratically? "EA!" Taking a bag? "EA! !" Missing an madden 22 coins buy easy interception?
In January 2022, he shared the video "I've niews seen it before...You are the winner EA...I'm not playing Madden again." ..." Then, just one week afterward, Belton posted another Madden video. If you'd been following his channel for a while as I had, you knew the man was not going to give up.
What's hilarious concerning Madden -- which happens to be the sole NFL licensee of a videogame franchise 34 years going -- is that despite its immense popularity, it's the last thing that you ever hear is people complaining about it.
The most frequent complaint, which is repeated often, is that each season's latest version is a slight upgrade over the last. Because EA Sports has the exclusive license, it is the sole company that has the ability to create an "simulation-style" NFL game. This suggests that EA Sports is under no pressure to meaningfully improve the game each year. In 2020, a raging tweet campaign in the Twitterverse urged the league to sign EA as its official partner #NFLDropEA. However, despite the social media outrage and the coordinated review-bombing on the game's Metacritic website, Madden 21 sales were substantially higher. This year's Madden 22 did well, also, and the series remains the top-selling sports franchise of all time.
The critics come from the minority that is vocal, but a minority whose job it is to be extremely vocal. We're talking about YouTubers, who make a living making videos by streaming themselves playing a sport they say they don't like.
The variety of YouTubers' focus areas reveals how vast the game these days. There are YouTubers like Belton who upload video of their own games as well as a plethora of users who upload tips and tricks, then there are YouTubers who dedicate themselves to slamming on Madden.
Last fall, one channel named SOFTDRINKTV posted a 14-minute video entitled "The Most Insane Madden of All Time," which was followed with a 19-minute version titled "Madden NFL 22 is NOT Good - A Review." They re-enter the same place recently with a video titled "Everything Wrong with Madden NFL 22 (in 16 minutes)." The narration of this one begins memorably or even a bit dramatically: "This is the kind of game that inspires you to stick a thumbtack in your eyeballs. When you play Madden 22, the blessing of life turns into the curse. You'll never want to live. It can cause existential dread."
Just like any other subculture Madden comes with its own terminology. Specific throws can be described as "lasers" (self-explanatory). Most of the time, a great throw is a "dot" and you'll be "dotted up" -- which has evolved from "dart" (less self-explanatory). Additionally, solid defensive coverage was previously "bagged," though recently I've come across YouTubers saying "booked." However, the most logical one according to my understanding is "mossing" an individual as in when the receiver jumps over a corner to grab the ball from the air, inspired to Randy Moss.
However, hating Madden seems to be as much a part of the society, even if it's a bit theatrical at times. The Reddit r/Madden is entirely "rants" about why Madden is a mess, and usually just a video clip of a glitch or bug. The tag #Madden22 that is on TikTok is equal parts highlights, as well as calling out faulty play that EA must fix.
However, in mut 22 coins the event that don't like a video game that many times, why play it year after year?