The case of the frozen Madden

Alex and I were in the tail end of the most epic game of Madden '07 to ever be played. It was snowing in the game, with a light dusting of flakes building up on the field. What we didn't know was that it would be cold enough to freeze the entire game in its tracks.

The hour was late, the score was close, and the competition was high. The game was so exciting that the only person watching it had unceremoniously fallen asleep on the couch. The actual score was somewhere in the range of 31-24 in my favor. Alex had just fallen behind by two scores after somewhat of a comeback. However, on his last drive he went for a risky fourth down conversion and ended up turning over the ball. Now, I was driving steadily down the field with just over 3 minutes left in the fourth quarter, looking for the score that would be the nail in his coffin.

I picked a weak side running play, hoping to pick up some yards and run the clock down. As I pulled back on my wii-mote to hike the ball, my running back dashed out to the left and did a sweet juke around the defenders. He broke through the line and was sailing easily toward the endzone. I began laughing maniacally as every step decreased his chances of winning. Out of nowhere, one of his defenders swooped in and took my runner off of his feet. And I fumbled the ball! It was knocked lose of my running back's hands, falling to the ground and just sitting there. Time seemed to stop. Then, as quickly as my hopes were dashed, Alex's returned as one of his players scooped up the ball, looking toward the end zone. But his lumbering defensive player was unable to make the journey up the field to the endzone and was tackled by a mass of angry offensive players. And then everything stopped.

The players got up and walked off the field as the referee picked up the ball and placed it for the next snap. Usually the plays come up at this point so each player can pick his next play and the game can continue. But this time, nothing happened. Just the ball sitting on the field and the referee standing beside it. Then the players ran back on the field. And nothing happened. We were both awestruck by this development. The showdown between him and I was supposed to be the highlight of the night, the main event, the climax. And in one mind-boggling play it had all come to a halt, literally. We tried calling a time out. Nothing. Eventually the game prompted that there was a penalty for delay of game, but the prompt appeared and then disappeared, leaving our players standing aimless on the field. Amazed at the turn of events, we roused the only audience member from her slumber but she just didn't seem to care. Regretfully, we agreed the game was lost and turned off the system, our showdown to take place on some future night.

This was the first time I had a Wii game outright freeze on me. I have noticed in both Rayman Raving Rabbids and Madden that if I play the game for awhile, there are increasing amounts of tiny graphical hiccups and snags. I guess this is to be expected from launch titles, but it's still amazingly frustrating when it happens.