Midnight Madness for Madden 2011

While the 2010-11 NFL season doesn't kick off for another month, fans decided to get an early start on their gridiron glory by purchasing Madden 2011 early Tuesday morning.

Since the game's first release in 1989, the Madden franchise has become one of the most successful in video game history.

Sales for the incredibly lucrative franchise reached a peak in 2007 when approximately 9.08 million copies of the game were sold, but have dropped in recent years. As of March of this year, Madden 2010 had sold only 6.18 million copies.

"It's the only football game that they make," said Devon Brown, the GameStop employee in charge of the midnight release. "EA [Electronic Arts] has bought the rights to football, period. So people get really excited around this time of the year. If you can't physically play the game, why not play it in a video game?"

The game's developer, Electronic Arts (EA), has an exclusive contract with the NFL that makes EA the only company which can distribute an NFL game. In February of 2008, EA announced an extension of its exclusive licensing relationships with the National Football League (NFL) and NFL Players to develop, publish and distribute interactive football video games. These agreements – which were negotiated separately and are extensions of contracts originally signed in December 2004 – provide EA continued rights to NFL teams, stadiums and players for its critically-acclaimed and best-selling football video games through the end of the 2012 season, which culminates in February 2013.

With features like the all-new GameFlow system, which puts gamers in the helmet of an NFL quarterback, Madden '11 is expected to fly off of the shelves. Eric Dirr, of Huntington Station, was one of the first in line for the game.

"It's the best game every year," Dirr said. "You just got to have it. Every year they come up with something new to make it better and to make you want to buy it the next year."

The patient customers were all in agreement about Madden's rightful place at the gaming throne. "It's the game of the year, every year," said Robby Taff of Huntington. "I always play it. I've bought it for like 10 years and I'm not going to stop."

The Madden faithful are clearly committed to the franchise and said they generally like to buy the newest version of the game every year because of its enhanced features and growing realism, but in the end, it comes down to one thing: fun.

"Playing online with my friends, the competition, new players every year, it's just fun," Taff said. "I can't wait to play."