‘Madden’ Fans, Rejoice: EA Is Finally Fixing the Game’s Repetitive Commentary

'Madden 17' will feature commentary from Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis that will be updated weekly.

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When it comes to NFL video games, there's only one game in town these days. Ever since 2K got out of the game back in 2004 following the release of ESPN NFL 2K5, the Madden franchise has been the only option for gamers who want to control their favorite NFL teams on the sticks.

For the most part, that hasn't presented a problem for EA Sports, the company that manufactures the game. They've pushed themselves and continued to innovate their Madden games with new features every season. But there's one thing that has driven gamers nuts year in and year out—the stale, frequently banal commentary that they've been forced to listen to while playing Madden. EA has tried to tackle the problem by switching up their commentators over the years and recording more commentary every offseason, but the repetitive, robotic delivery of the Madden analysts continues to stiff-arm everyone who turns a Madden game on. It's ironic when you consider that the entire Madden series is, you know, named after a legendary NFL commentator.

It sounds like the Madden commentary might finally be changing for the better, though, as EA is reportedly going to try something new with Madden 17 that could literally change the game if all goes according to plan. According to Polygon, EA is going to replace Jim Nantz and Phil Simms with Brandon Gaudin and Charles Davis, two guys you've probably never heard of before. But while Gaudin and Davis might not be household names like Nantz and Simms—Gaudin has no NFL play-by-play experience and calls football and basketball games on the radio for Georgia Tech, and Davis completed his first full season in a Fox NFL broadcast booth last year after spending nine seasons calling college games—they've been able to dedicate plenty of time to recording commentary for Madden 17 over the last seven months. Additionally, they've committed to recording weekly updates in EA's Orlando-based studios throughout the 2016-17 NFL season, which means you'll be able to hear about real-life injuries, trades, and other NFL news while you play the new Madden. It'll prevent you from having to spend any time Googling "How do I mute Madden commentary?" this fall.

You can check out Madden 17 in August to see where its commentary ranks on the scale of Madden commentators— ranging from Madden himself (great) to Tom Hammond ("OMG, I AM GOING TO RIP THE SPEAKERS OUT OF MY TV" not so great). You can hear more about what EA has tried to do with Gaudin and Davis here:

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