breaks new ground for the franchise and promises future installments for football fans. However, this edition definitely shows EA's wireless inexperience and wasn't the stunner it should have been. In particular, the game's visuals are a disappointment. If you already have a V Cast phone, Madden 06 isn't a bad way to go. It's just not the killer app that forces an upgrade." Similarly, IGN gave the same version seven out of ten, saying that the game "was developed not internally, but by a development house called Finite Monkeys. And it ultimately feels like they were rushed to get this game on the decks by "Madden Tuesday." This is unfortunate, because I think a lot of people will download the game hoping to have a "Madden experience" on their handset, and just end up with an average football game, albeit one with above-average visuals and spoken commentary." Madden NFL 06 was 2005's only NFL-Licensed football videogame, due to the 2004 deal between the NFL/NFLPA and Electronic Arts. The deal grants EA exclusive rights to the likenesses and names of all players, stadiums, logos, and jerseys. Electronic Arts also signed a long-term deal with ESPN, complicating the game's relationship to its titular announcer. In early 2006, Madden—at the time under contract as color commentator for ABC's Monday Night Football—moved to NBC to join their Sunday night NFL coverage beginning in the 2006 season. The Xbox 360 version of Madden 06 features neither Al Michaels nor Madden in the announcing booth. Some positives with the Xbox 360 version were the right stick being used for the QB Vision feature and different songs from the original. Sales In the United States, the game's PlayStation Portable version alone sold 590,000 copies and earned $28 million by August 2006. During the period between January 2000 and August 2006, it was the 48th highest-selling game launched for the Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS or PlayStation Portable in that country. The game sold more than 6 million copies. Awards E3 2005 Game Critics Awards: Best Sports Game References External links Madden NFL 2005 video games Electronic Arts games Game Boy Advance games GameCube games Mobile games Nintendo DS games PlayStation 2 games PlayStation Portable games Windows games Windows Mobile Professional games Xbox 360 games Xbox games EA Sports games Sports video games with career mode Multiplayer and single-player video games Video games developed in the United States