After five weeks of fan voting on the official Madden NFL 12 site, it was finally determined that Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis would be the new cover athlete. Beating out the likes of previous cover athlete Michael Vick and Super Bowl MVP Aaron Rodgers, Hillis was faced with some stiff competition, but won out in the end.
Today, EA Sports has unveiled the finished cover art for Madden 12 for all the fans that voted to see their hard work come to life. Alongside the cover reveal, EA Sports also unveiled and detailed the new Hall of Fame Edition of Madden 12 that features future Hall of Famer and former Madden cover athlete Marshall Faulk on the cover.
Aside from featuring a premium bronze, foil embossed cover the Hall of Fame Edition boasts a few cool goodies for fans of Marshall Faulk and NFL-related collectibles. Alongside the full retail version of the game, Hall of Fame Edition owners will receive an autographed Panini Card that was hand signed by Faulk himself, and two lucky Madden fans — one Xbox 360 and one PS3 — will open their Hall of Fame Editions to find a solid 18k gold version of the Panini card inside.
As well as the Panini card comes more exclusive cards to add to your Madden Ultimate Team. Dubbed the Platinum Pack, these “fantasy football-esque” trading cards include players from a select pool of 13 NFL Hall of Famers and former Madden cover athletes. If you’re thinking about giving Ultimate Team a shot, then you definitely might want to consider picking up the Hall of Fame Edition.
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While the Marshall Faulk-embossed cover of Madden 12 is sure to be a buy for serious Madden fans, the Peyton Hillis version of Madden 12 will more than suffice your casual gamer looking to scratch their football itch. With this year’s iteration improving upon its predecessors in five key areas (Playbooks and Gameplay, Presentation, Franchise and Superstar Modes, Dynamic Player Performance, Madden Ultimate Team, and Online), fans might want to think long and hard about which version they pick up.
How do you think Madden 12 will sell if the 2012 NFL season is still in flux: better or worse? Will you be picking up the Madden 12 Hall of Fame Edition featuring Marshalll Faulk?
Madden NFL 12 releases August 30, 2011 for the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, and Wii.