Video game opening sequences are easy to overlook. After all, they can usually be (and after the first play, usually are) skipped with the simple push of a “Start” button for those opting for immediate gameplay over glitz.
However, for your consideration we have production company Iron Claw’s opener for this year’s edition of Madden featuring Baltimore Ravens LB Ray Lewis giving a pre-game speech for the ages. Lewis, one of the NFL’s all-time great motivators (and onetime murder suspect) tells the player his own experiences with insecurity, and how he looked to legends Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and Vince Lombardi for inspiration in times of trial.
The press release we got about this 2-minute sequence says, “Iron Claw’s challenge was to engage the player in an unexpected way from the moment the game boots up for the first time.” Well, Iron Claw must have some football fans in the house, because casting Ray Lewis to pump up players across the country was the perfect casting choice. Now, we can we please get a re-boot of The Wire with Lewis in a starring role?