Thursday Afterschool Special: Video Games

A boring playoff night

If you couldn't stay up for last night's NBA and NHL playoff games, well, you didn't miss much. The Pittsburgh Penguins went up 4–1 on the road in the third period against the Lightning (and would eventually win 4–2). Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors beat the Thunder by 27, 118–91, in an emphatic rebuke of OKC's Game 1 upset. One replay worth seeing, though, is Andre Iguodala's ridiculous layup:

Mario Kart on the ice

The Lightning had a little fun in between periods with their on-ice projection system.

Madden covers throughout the years

Rob Gronkowski is your Madden 17 cover athlete. Check out his predecessors:

The franchise launches on Apple II computers. The same game was improved and released on MS-DOS and Commodore 64/128 computers in 1989.

Madden becomes more arcade style and is available on consoles such as Sega Genesis.

This is the one where the ambulances come on the field to take away injured players.

Go no-huddle and taunt your opponents with this iteration of the series.

For the first time, official team names and logos become available in Madden. Season mode also debuts.

Real player names are the highlight here. Plus, Madden hits the handheld gaming scene (Game Boy and Game Gear).

New features included create-a-player and classic teams.

Madden goes hi-rez with this first 32-Bit release on the PlayStation and Saturn game systems.

Madden debuts on the Nintendo 64 with stunning visuals.

Closet general managers were in heaven when Franchise Mode debuted this year.

On-field celebrations were enhanced for this version.

The first PS2 release for Madden featured player cards that unlocked secret game codes.

Madden hits the GameCube and XBOX platforms for the first time.

Madden hits cyberspace with online play.

This version offers gamers an expanded franchise mode.

Innovations include "Hit Stick" and "Create-A-Fan."

Control a player from his rookie year to retirement with Superstar mode.

The lead-blocking control proves to be a big hit.

Co-op play allows gamers to team up with their friends online to take on human or the CPU.

The first version to offer online, league game play, allowing up to 32 players to compete in an online, simulated NFL season.

PRO-TAK animation technology allows up to nine man gang tackles and fumble pile-ups to help players "fight for every yard."

This version features several new additions to the franchise, such as Online Team Play, Online Scouting and online attribute boosts for co-op play.

The release was delayed by two weeks due to the NFL lockout.

The first game in the series to have Kinect support as well as a new physics engine promoting real in game physics.

Precision Modifier unlocks the power, precision, and creativity of the NFL ball-carrier.

Camera-lock behind a selected defender to play the game from the defense's point of view.

All-new playmaking tools that highlight the battle for Air Supremacy.

New Ball Carrier UI Prompts help teach moves available to you, while the new Path Assist helps you navigate and anticipate down field. The New Defensive AI System is built on up to date NFL Strategies – such as Gap Play, Force Defenders and improved Zone Coverages.

This is awesome, but don't do it

You can break your pitching hand trying.

Juan Lagares does his Willie Mays

Real LeBron vs. video game LeBron

Today's Peanuts

(Photo credit: Ethan Miller/Getty Images for Microsoft)