Madden NFL 12

Cover Athlete

In late April 2011, EA Sports announced that the cover athlete for Madden 12 would be Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis. After a month long 32 player fan vote, Hillis faced off against former Madden 2004 Cover Athlete and Philadelphia Eagles Quarterback Michael Vick. Hillis entered the tournament as the No. 10 overall seed, while Vick was the No. 3 seed and the odds on favorite entering the tournament finale. Throughout the tournament Hillis was buoyed by an online campaign that included front-page treatment on the Browns' website, as well as ongoing Twitter and Facebook campaigns by the team. Hillis won the final vote by an overwhelming margin (66 percent).

Along the way Peyton Hillis upset the Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice ( No. 7 seed); Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan (No. 2) Kansas City Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles (no. 6) and the Number 1 overall seed Green Bay Packers quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers.

Overall, the fan vote was largely regarded as a success by EA Sports who reported that almost 13 million votes were cast -- including more than 1 million in the final.

Hall of Fame Edition

EA has announced a Hall of Fame edition featuring St. Louis Rams running back Marshall Faulk on the cover, which commemorates the first Madden cover athlete to be inducted into the NFL's Hall of Fame. Available for the $89.99, this extremely limited run of 125,000 copies will be available exclusively in the United States for the PlayStation 3 & Xbox 360. This edition of the game will include:

• Premium bronze, foil embossed cover featuring Marshall Faulk.
• One of four exclusive Marshall Faulk trading cards, each hand-signed by Faulk. Also, one 18 carat solid gold autographed card will be randomly inserted into one Xbox 360 and one PlayStation 3 copy of the Hall of Fame Edition. The lucky recipients of these two cards will have one of the most valuable cards in Panini trading cards history.
• Exclusive Madden Ultimate Team Platinum Pack - A trading card pack of 13 NFL Hall of Famers and former Madden NFL cover athletes: Marshall Faulk, Barry Sanders, Jerry Rice, Rod Woodson, Eddie George, Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, Ray Lewis, Shaun Alexander, Vince Young, Larry Fitzgerald, Troy Polamalu and Drew Brees.

Madden Club 100

Prior to the release of Madden NFL 12, EA Sports and ESPN allowed fans to vote for one of five players from five different attributes to receive a "100" rating. The majority of players were already ranked between 97-99. The winner of each category was inducted into the "Madden Club 100" The voting took place from August 22 to August 26 via ESPN's Sports Nation. The five for each attribute are listed below with the winner italicized.

Demo

On August 9, 2011 EA Sports released a demo of Madden 12 that features a rematch of last years NFC Championship game between the Super Bowl Champion Green Bay Packers and The Chicago Bears.

Soundtrack

1. Lil Wayne ft. Cory Gunz - 6 Foot 7 Foot
2. Theophilus London - All Around the World
3. Rise Against - Architects
4. A Tribe Called Quest - Award Tour
5. Five Finger Death Punch - Back for More
6. Snoop Dog ft. T-Pain - Boom
7. Foo Fighters - Bridge Burning
8. Chipmunk ft. Chris Brown - Champion
9. Grouplove - Colours
10. David Rush - Don't Play Me Close
11. KoRn vs. Skillrex - Get Up
12. Yelawolf - Get the Fuck Up
13. Common ft. Nas - Ghetto Dreams
14. Queen ft. Armageddon - I Want it All / We Will Rock You
15. Asher Roth ft. Akon - Last Man Standing
16. Beastie Boys - Make Some Noise
17. Chiddy Bang ft. Icona Pop - Mind Your Manners
18. Alberta Cross - Money for the Weekend
19. Mellowhype - On Ya Mind
20. Tinie Tempah - Pass Out
21. Classified - That Ain't Classy
22. Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth - They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y.)