From Mattel to Madden

Running on a 9-volt transistor battery, this pocket handheld unit proved popular beyond Mattel's initial expectations, selling 500,000 units in its first year.

With just four men on each team -- three linemen and a quarterback -- Atari's first football effort didn't exactly smack of realism. Teams could score touchdowns and safeties but not field goals.

While users couldn't actually control the players, this Texas Instruments title was a very detailed football simulation for its time.

Novel features for this title included an actual scrolling field, cheering fans and the largest playbook in a football game to date.

A step up from the previous year's Coleco Head to Head Football, Total Control 4 was a cartridge-based sports gaming system which came bundled with the football cartridge (above, the orange section).

A considerable improvement from Atari's debut football effort, teams controlled a quarterback, flanker and three linemen on offense -- or two defensive linemen, two cornerbacks and a linebacker on defense.

This arcade port was one of the first and best-known football titles for the wildly popular NES console.

This unheralded NES game, developed by Atlus and published by LJN, was actually the first to acquire an official NFL license.

The first installment of the franchise which would forever change sports gaming.

Tecmo Bowl -- and it's equally beloved sequel Tecmo Super Bowl (1990) -- boasted an NFLPA license, enabling users to take control of stars like Randall Cunningham, Walter Payton and Christian Okoye.

This Sega Genesis title was the first game to use digitized speech and continuous play-by-play commentary.

The first Madden game with an NFLPA license generated a huge boost in popularity for the up-and-coming franchise.

As the flagship football title of the groundbreaking Sony PlayStation console, GameDay took advantage of the eight-button controller to give the user unprecedented control for a football game.

Taking cues from its NBA Jam series, Midway debuted NFL Blitz in 1997 -- a playground-style game where teams needed 30 yards for a first down and excessive violence was encouraged.

The first Madden game with online capabilities opened the home console to the world.

The 20th Anniversary edition of the venerable football franchise has been billed as the first video game that adapts to you.