Super Bowl 2012: Ranking Tecmo, Madden and More Video Game Picks

Video game football has become almost as big as the real thing, so I'm always interested to see what the games predict the outcome of the Super Bowl will be.

This year, the prediction simulations have rolled in from the current giant of the virtual gridiron industry, as well as from two of the more classic incarnations.

Lets take a look at what the games predict will happen tomorrow, in order of relevance.

Tecmo Bowl

So many of us remember the original Tecmo Bowl for console gaming on the old Nintendo Entertainment System. This was the version where Bo Jackson was the most unrealistic and fun player ever recreated on a sports game.

Players bounced off Bo like his shoulder pads were made of trampolines. If you were the Raiders, you loved it.

The rosters have been updated, and now the teams are set for the Super Bowl XLVI combatants to do battle on the arcade-style football title. Here are the results:

This was obviously done with some sort of cheat code input by an overzealous Giants fan. While I don't find it absurd to think the Giants will win the game, I do think a final score of 24-7 is a bit of a stretch.

I might also add, Brandon Jacobs is a wee-bit darker than his depiction in Tecmo Bowl. It's more like Jacobs after he's been hanging around Sammy Sosa for a while.

In case you haven't seen Sammy lately, check him out:

To further nitpick at the ridiculous, Victor Cruz's celebration dance was far from the Salsa moves we've come to expect from him. In Tecmo Bowl, he just kind of went in to a robotic version of the Running Man in the corner of the end zone. Let's get his dance in there next time, fellas.

The bottom line of Tecmo Bowl's prediction may end up coming true, but it absolutely won't happen this way. I guess that is why us gamers have moved on to more realistic titles like the ones below.

NFL 2K5

Many gamers still laud NFL 2K5 as the best football simulation title ever created. I would have agreed with that until this past year. There is no denying, if 2KSports hadn't been shut out of the NFL licensing deal, they would be at least giving EA Sports and Madden a serious run for their money.

With Madden running with virtually no competition, Madden 12 is now the best available.

As it stands, a few hardcore NFL 2K5 fans and hackers have continued to update the rosters for the cult classic. With their hard work and technical skills, we have a valid Super Bowl simulation below:

One look at that final score of 45-31 score in favor of the Patriots tells you this game is really taking the statistics and abilities of the players into account. The post-game screen shows a ridiculous amount of passing yards for both squads and meager rushing totals.

There is a rather unrealistic Maurice Jones-Drew-like TD run by BenJarvus Green-Ellis, but that aside, it would be easy to see the game transpiring this way. Of course, Giants fans hope this isn't the case, but it makes sense.

Here Brady outduels Manning, and his receivers come up with big plays all over the field. Needless to say, with over 400 passing yards and 45 points scored, the Giants defensive line did not have a good day.

That's one for the G-Men and one for the Pats. It's on to tie-breaker.

Madden 12

The king of the virtual gridiron, Madden has become almost as big of an accessory to the real game as fantasy football. There are fans that regard the annual release of Madden as a holiday worthy of a sick day at work, or planned vacation for the more proactive.

Every year the Super Bowl is simulated on Madden. Here is the most recent result:

EA flexes their muscles yet again with the top-notch presentation for their simulation. If things go as they predict, every football fan will be treated to an awesome Super Bowl.

It is depicted as the classic QB battle in an up-and-down contest. Though there were few defensive highlights, the point total would imply the Giants defensive line fared much better in a quest to slow down Tom Brady and the Pats offense.

In the end, the Giants prevailed on a last-second field goal by Lawrence Tynes...again.

So, which game will be closest in its prediction?

I'm going to go with Madden, with a change to the ending. I believe it will be Brady marching down the field to give Stephen Gostkowski that shot at the game-winner, not Eli Manning setting up Lawrence Tynes.

Gostkowski will nail it and the Patriots will win. Still, I will be watching the game for similarities to these three virtual predictions. If the outcome is very close to the summed result, the Super Bowl simulations will only grow in popularity.