I forget what shoes, sports drink, or cable package it was trying to sell me, but there was once a commercial that declared the NFL season to be 13 months long. As I watch the NFL draft and see the first trailer for College Football 26 and Madden 26, that feels truer than ever.
Of course, there will be another MVP bundle packaging the two games together. College Football felt so good last year after not having it for a decade. I know the day is coming soon when EA drops a terrible version of both titles, but I buy them anyway. I'll admit, being a pro athlete is one of my favorite power fantasies while in real life, I get winded taking the stairs.
Madden 26 will do elaborate touchdown dances on the Nintendo Switch 2, while CFB 26 is skipping it. EA seems to like confusing its fans where the college version of the game is concerned. Last year, many players bought the wrong Xbox console to play College Football 25. I spend way too much time gaming, but to people who haven't played since CFB 14, Xbox's alphabet soup of console names was very confusing.
Madden 26 is finally leaving the PS4 and Xbox One behind. For the past few years, last-gen consoles have gotten a version of the game that didn't include the handful of upgrades EA Sports' roster updates get annually.
CFB 25 didn't bother with those machines last year, as it was the cool new kid that wasn't going to sit at the less popular table. There are rumors that EA may return to college basketball as well. The company probably has unresolved issues there. After all, it was Ed O' Bannon's realization that he hadn't gotten a dime from appearing in EA's games, that gave him the idea to sue.
Speaking of the athletes, they're getting a better deal this time. They'll get $1,500, more than double what they received last year, and a copy of the game's Deluxe Edition. More famous athletes will be able to negotiate even better deals. That's another reason I'm happy to pay for these games. The athletes who make the video games and the rest of college sports happen got ripped off for a long time.