EA Sports Complex brings the play to PlayStation Home

First unveiled at CES this year, EA's upcoming Home Space looks to be the most fulfilling addition to PlayStation Home since its launch. Planned for a March release, EA Sports Complex will give PlayStation fans access to a rudimentary poker game, racing game and golf game -- all for free. The only price players will have to pay is some exposure to EA Sports advertisements that appear on the billboards and posters in the virtual world.

The early build we saw at an EA event last night showed the Space running at a lackluster framerate, something we hope will be fixed before release. The visuals were also rather lackluster, subpar to those found in other Home spaces (like the Uncharted or Far Cry spaces).

While the visuals aren't very compelling, the content more than makes up for it. One of the goals of the Sports Complex is to make it easy for everyone to play something. The long lines for other Home games won't be found here. The entire room was designed so that everyone will be able to play something. About 50 or so people can be in one instance of the Complex, and there are enough poker tables, race cars and golf spots to accommodate every single one of them.
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The poker game requires a minimum of four people to begin. When all players are seated at a table, each player receives a virtual pool of money. Those that are worried about microtransactions need not fear -- you'll be using completely free virtual money. There's no need to buy virtual chips from the PlayStation Store. A leaderboard will be present showing the top earners in the Sports Complex.

The racing game is incredibly rudimentary, reminiscent of the old school top-down racers of yore. This is not a competitive race: players will simply try to post their best lap times on the leaderboards. The better you do, the more boost you'll be able to unlock for your car. Those that keep on playing will be rewarded with faster and faster vehicles.

In the distance, players will be able to see upcoming Spaces for other EA Sports games. For example, the next Madden game may feature a football stadium Home Space where Madden fans can hang out and launch an online game. It's still very much a work in progress, but EA has made it clear that they want to be very big supporters of PlayStation Home. The Sports Complex, with its highly accessible games, is just one facet of a very ambitious plan to make EA the top developer on PlayStation Home. We can't wait to see where else they'll go from here.