Madden rumbles into stores

America's pastime may be baseball, but when it comes to game time, the country absolutely devours football. Electronic Arts' Madden NFL franchise, entering its 17th year with more than 51 million games sold worldwide, added its newest member of the family today when cash registers began ringing up copies of Madden NFL 07.

EA left no current platform behind, releasing the game on the Xbox 360, Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, DS, PSP, PC, and Game Boy Advance. The game will also be available on the upcoming PlayStation 3 and Wii later this year.

New to 07 is the ability to control the lead blocker on running plays--after steering a lumbering lineman or fullback to open up a hole in the D-line, players then take control of the tailback and look for daylight. The Xbox 360 version, the second Madden title for the system, has been expanded to include the NFL Superstar mode, which sees gamers lead a created player through an NFL career.

While some gamers no doubt called in sick to work with the "Madden Flu," EA did its best to make the day a legitimate holiday. Declaring today "Maddenoliday," the publisher held an event in Madden, Mississipi, to celebrate the game's launch.

Another Madden-related event, the Madden Challenge, begins September 1 in Denver. This year, gamers will square off against each other in a national competition for the grand prize of $100,000. For more information, head over to the contest's official Web site.

Madden NFL 07 is rated E for Everyone and retails for $59.99 on the Xbox 360, $49.99 on the PS2 and Xbox, $39.99 on the GameCube, PSP, and PC, and $29.99 on the DS and GBA.

To find out of Madden NFL 07 is headed for the Hall of Fame or Pop Warner territory, watch GameSpot's live video review of the game today at 4 p.m. PT.