Last night was Super Bowl XLVII, not sure if you heard. The Baltimore Ravens reigned supreme over the San Francisco 49ers, again for those who are blissfully ignorant of those facts.
Or perhaps you didn't watch because you knew of the outcome already? Days prior to the big game, EA held their annual Madden NFL simulation to predict the winner of the real thing. And once again, it was correct.
Anyhow who is not super familiar with the game of football, and it's officially licensed video game representative, might not feel that such an accomplishment is a huge deal. But it's worth noting how, as Polygon also points out, that the simulation's final score was a three-point victory of 27-24. That's the same margin of victory from last night; the real score was 34-31.
Furthermore, Madden NFL 13 also got the real life winner of the MVP award; Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco walked away with last night's trophy. The overall flow of last night was also predicted by the video game. In both instances, the Ravens had a big third quarter lead before the 49ers made a come back, and who ultimately fell short of victory after a last minute rally didn't pan out.
Some of the finer details are different, and even the game was not able to predict the blackout that took place that caused a 30+ minute delay. But otherwise, Madden NFL 13 lived up to the game's legacy. As of now, Madden has been able to accurately predict eight of the last ten Super Bowls.
