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ESPN's bowl coverage swaps out the telestrator for augmented reality GameView
We dug into ESPN's use of the Xbox 360 and EA Sports games to power its Virtual Playbook segments last year, but in preparation for this round of BCS bowl games it's upgraded the system with a bit of augmented reality. The new GameView system uses a tabletop 70-inch touchscreen LCD, a copy of NCAA Football '12 and four dedicated workstations to blend everything together and create a simulation for viewers to see the analysts move virtual players around the field. It should at least be more interesting than CNN's previous election coverage implementation, although we're mostly wondering when a combo of Kinect, Surface and old school electronic football will bring the experience directly to our living rooms to play around with. Check out the gallery for a few more screens and expect to see this implemented more during the upcoming big time bowl games -- no, there's no secret code Desmond Howard can input to get a national championship game between two college football teams that haven't already played each other, we asked.
Some NCAA Football 12 features reportedly broken by patch
According to plenty of angry forum posts from players of NCAA Football 12, a recent patch for the game has broken or hampered several key features including no-huddle play calling, custom playbooks and, most rampantly, the Dynasty Mode. Apparently, players on both the 360 and PS3 have received frequent "Transfer Failed" errors when attempting to upload the results of games in the online mode. A company staffer going by the name of EA_Jaga on the EA forums informed players that the error had been fixed, but the dozen or so posts right after from users still getting the "Transfer Failed" error indicates otherwise. We've reached out to EA for some sort of timetable on a fix. We'll let you know what we hear. [Update: EA tells us that the custom playbook issue was fixed by the recently released Title Update 2. The other issues are still under investigation.] [Thanks, Russel]
Court dismisses QB's case against EA over image usage in NCAA Football
Ex-Rutgers University quarterback Ryan Hart has had his lawsuit against Electronic Arts dismissed by US District Judge Freda Wolfson, reports Reuters. The suit alleged that EA knowingly used Hart's likeness in NCAA Football without his consent, and as such should be required to provide Hart with compensation. In this case, Hart's "likeness" amounts to his physical appearance and footballery stats, not his actual name. Judge Wolfson dismissed the suit on the grounds that EA's First Amendment rights to free expression outweigh Hart's right to protect his likeness, despite the fact that the character in question was "designed with Hart's physical attributes, sports statistics, and biographical information in mind." Wolfson feels that the game's robust character customization options negate the impact of these similarities, as they are not set in stone. This ruling contradicts a precedent set by a similar case in 2010, in which a California judge allowed a suit by ex-Arizona State University/University of Nebraska quarterback Samuel Keller, a decision which EA is currently appealing. Speaking of appeals, Hart's legal representation is naturally appealing the Judge's ruling, calling the outcome "a major disappointment." As is the way with this sort of thing, it will likely be several months before any progress is made by either party. Until then, enjoy this bathroom stall poem we've penned for the occasion: "Here I sit all broken Harted, tried to sue but got Electronic Arted."
July NPD: Sales down 26%, NCAA Football leads software
Ouch! Overall video game industry sales are down 26% in North America for July, year over year, with a 29% dip in console hardware sales mostly to blame. New retail software sales saw a less severe 17% drop, while accessories saw only an 8% drop. Unsurprisingly, on the hardware front, "the platforms that contributed a greater portion of new physical retail dollar sales as compared to last year were the Xbox 360 and the PS3," says NPD's Anita Frazier. She also adds that July 2011 is the industry's "lowest month since October 2006." We'll say it again: Ouch! As has become the norm, Microsoft trumpeted its performance in an email claiming a "45% share of the overall current-generation console market." Six years into the Xbox 360's lifecycle, the console managed to move 277,000 units "maintaining the number-one console spot in the U.S. for 2011." Frazier notes that, while the Xbox 360 may have had the strongest numbers of the three consoles, July "was the first month that the Xbox 360 saw a year-over-year decline since December 2009." Of course, last July saw a strong sales spike "driven by the introduction of the Kinect-ready slim form factor SKU," Frazier reminds us. On the software front, July 2011 only saw "17 new releases [...] compared to 29 last July." With NCAA Football 12 taking the top sales spot, reflecting a "15% increase in unit sales versus NCAA 11 in July 2010," Frazier postulates that this year's Madden delay might have prompted football fans to pick up EA's earlier offering. Find the full top ten list after the break.
EA Sports opening up shop in Austin; EA adding 300 jobs across Sports, Games, and more [update]
We first heard inklings of this deal last month, but it's as official as can be now, having just been proclaimed by EA execs and Texas governor Rick Perry at EA's BioWare Austin campus: Electronic Arts is establishing a new EA Sports operation in Austin, TX. "We're going to be adding 300 jobs to our operations here in Austin," EA's Frank Gibeau said -- half full-time, half contract. EA Sports COO Daryl Holt revealed that it will build a new team in Austin to support the teams in Florida and British Columbia, focusing on HD platforms and then expanding to "emerging" markets. The announcement was highlighted by a video of a Texas A&M-uniformed Rick Perry in NCAA Football 2012. Update: The 300 jobs aren't entirely focused on EA Sports. EA Games president Frank Gibeau told me that the jobs would be distributed between EA Sports, EA Games, as well as IT and finance -- with EA Sports being the only new department to move into the two EA buildings currently occupied by BioWare. EA Sports COO Daryl Holt told Joystiq "I think we'll probably start this first year somewhere around 30-35, just to get the team up and moving, just so they can start building features and working on HD platform development." He said the team could grow "exponentially, however we want," into new IP and "live services." EA has yet to decide which franchises to put the new Austin team onto. "We're not going to disrupt what's currently going on," Holt said of the existing studios in Tiburon and Burnaby. "Orlando's expanding, Burnaby's expanding, EA's growing," he said, and moving into the sports-happy state of Texas is part of that growth. It will "absolutely not" replace any of the existing studios, which will "remain core to us." "They're growing as well," Holt clarified. "There's job openings and job postings in Florida in Vancouver." Right now, the growth in Austin is open-ended, "but it's not something that's going to be open-ended while we recruit the team, because we want to recruit the right talent."
NCAA Football 12 cover athlete determined by fan vote
Cover athletes for EA Sports' NCAA Football series may not get the same attention as Madden's leading men -- but hey, at least they're not cursed. In fact, you can help the next young star get "lucky" by voting him onto the cover of NCAA Football 12.
