Devlog week 7

I read an interesting article from The New York Times Magazine entitled, “What Playing Madden Teaches Us About Football- And What It Doesn’t” by Jay Caspian Kang. The author began the article by writing, “Nearly everything I know about football I know from Madden.” He explained that his only experience with the game of football was through his trading card collection because his family did not have cable. He and his friend, David Rabinowitz, first played John Madden Football “92 in David’s  basement. The football video game “... stitched together the players on my trading cards into a simple, playable version of what I saw on Sundays.” Mr. Kang was always amazed by the animated plays that he controlled on his remote. The video game, which first came out in 1988, showed an ambulance that came onto the field and ran over players when someone was injured. This violent act was later removed from the video game. When the author watches the real game now, twenty-four years later, he thinks of the video game where you have the simple option to pass, run, or throw the ball downfield. Mr. Kang explains that Madden “...takes the entire ecosystem of the country’s most popular sport and empowers the gamer to believe that nobody else could control it better.” Over the years the graphics improved and with the help of coaches and players, they consider what may be too complicated a play for the video game. In addition, you can even see the name and detailed physical features of the player, not just their number and jersey color. In today’s version of the game, however, the player is now able to choose from different offense and defense play options than in the earlier versions. Some of the violent actions have been removed from the game which, “provided a safer, more manageable facsimile of what we watch on Sunday.” A key component of the video game is that it brings out the emotions of the player when they watch their favorite player on the football field. The original video game was named after a former TV commentator and coach, John Madden.

Jay Caspian King, an American author, and editor was born in Seoul, South Korea. He grew up in Massachusetts and North Carolina and attended Bowdoin College and Columbia University where he received a Master’s of Fine Arts. He later taught creative writing and world history. He is a writer for The New York Times magazine and wrote his first novel in 2012, which was a turning point in his career. This book was about gambling Mr. Kang was also one of the founding editors of ESPN sports and was featured on HBO. In addition, he was an editor of the blog, Grantblog. He is a thyroid cancer survivor. 

The New York Times magazine is a weekly newspaper supplement that features news events including politics, business sports, and fashion. It is a well-known magazine and although it is not the largest, it is well known for its editorial publications. 

Kang, J. C. (2016, September 13). What playing Madden teaches us about football - and what it doesn't. The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2021, from                                  

https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/18/magazine/what-playing-madden

-teaches-us-about-football-and-what-it-doesnt.html.