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Rumor: EA's persistent profile service is subscription-based, offers early game downloads
Those new "persistent" EA profiles, that are meant to carry a player's profile and achievements across EA Sports games, don't seem very controversial, right? Just a nice bonus for players. What if that profile was the harbinger of a subscription service, though? Pastapadre posted what is claimed to be a document from EA Sports outlining a new annual subscription-based offering for multiple sports games on PS3 and Xbox 360, offering DLC discounts, exclusive DLC, and in-game items for Madden, FIFA, NHL, Tiger Woods, and NCAA Football games -- as well as the only game named specifically instead of by series, SSX: Deadly Descents (which isn't even called that anymore). On top of all that stuff, the document claims that the subscription will offer "full downloadable versions of participating titles before they come out in stores," which we could see people gladly paying for. In addition, players would have the ability "to transfer paid content from your current participating titles to future title versions." EA had no comment about this rumored program when Game Informer asked, and no potential price point was offered. Hopefully, for the sake of gamers' bank accounts everywhere, EA doesn't realize how much it could make by offering Madden to people a bit early.
SSX dev diary finally shows off the tricks of the trade
Okay, we've heard a lot about EA Canada's upcoming SSX (née Deadly Descents) -- but somewhat inexplicably, we haven't heard a lot about the sweet tricks therein. Fortunately, that ever-important mortar that holds the franchise together is discussed in great detail in the dev diary posted below.
New SSX drops 'Deadly Descents' subtitle
EA Sports looks to still any bad vibes that have reverberated from negative reaction to the debut teaser for SSX: Deadly Descents by toning down the emphasis on "deadly." The company has officially dropped "Deadly Descents" from the game title, Game Informer confirms, and has begun a marketing campaign that, in part, assures fans that developer EA Canada is not abandoning the series' arcade roots in favor of more realistic gameplay in the reboot. The cinematic teaser, which portrays a desperate snowboarder skidding down a dark and stormy Himalayan slope -- his last words: "I'm not gonna make it," as he shoots over a cliff side and into the air, deploying his squirrel suit -- seemed to suggest that the new SSX would be "moving away from the bright colors and crazy arcade feel of the early titles in favor of a more realistic tone," as Game Informer observed. "Is this true?" the site asked creative director Todd Batty. "No, absolutely not," insisted Batty, who described "Deadly Descent" as a "new" event type in the game, "which is all about survival gameplay." SSX will also include "Speed Descent" and "Tricky Descent" events, according to Batty. "We wanted to make sure we hit the over-the-top arcadey gameplay in all of these different gameplay modes. We decided to lead with the new Deadly Descent gameplay in that trailer, but all of the classic SSX style will be there, too." The image makeover isn't fully complete, however, as the original SSX: Deadly Descents logo and name are still prominent on the EA.com game page (as of publishing); though the new, just SSX logo was used in last week's promotional video and is featured on the game's Facebook page. Of course, as Joystiq commenter "ptcamn" pointed out last week, lost in this little fiasco is the fact that EA tried a very similar, "survive the ride" marketing campaign for 2003's SSX 3 -- skull-face lightning flash and all.
The third pillar of SSX: Deadly Descents: 'Survive It'
Following the ill-advised turn taken in 2009's SSX Blindside, EA Canada looks to sure up the game plan for the snowboarding franchise's latest run, Deadly Descents, by introducing a new aspect to the game design: "survival gameplay." We'll let creative director Todd Batty try to explain this one.
EA reveals some dark, dangerous details on SSX: Deadly Descents
EA wasted no time in getting up an official website for SSX: Deadly Descents -- or, as the cast of True Blood promptly renamed it during its reveal at last night's calamitous VGAs, Deadly Ascent (backwards snowboarding woooo). The page includes last night's announcement trailer and a few screens (posted in the gallery below), as well as a few intriguing details in the game's description. In short, it sounds like the worlds' first extreme sports/racing/survival horror game. The site explains "players will explore the story of a team who seek to be the first to descend the faces of the most treacherous mountain ranges on the planet." Players will visit "the peaks of the Himalayas, where the air is so thin that riders have to descend through the death zone at breakneck speeds to keep from blacking out, to the solid ice ranges of Antarctica, where a sunlit line is the only survival option when temperatures drop 50 degrees centigrade in the shade." We wonder if you get bonus points if you finish the race with all your fingers and toes un-frostbitten. The game won't defy the series' penchant for sweet aerial tricks, as the site explains "the first goal is to survive. The second, in true SSX fashion, is to look good doing it." Seriously, we're going to have a hard time remembering to do the latter while constantly fretting about the former. %Gallery-110394%
SSX: Deadly Descents debuts at Spike VGAs
What is SSX: Deadly Descents? It's the next SSX game of course, silly! A brief trailer shown at tonight's Spike VGAs shows a distinctly darker, bro-ier snowboarding game than we're used to from the series -- "Nothing is more bone-chilling than reality!" is its tagline, for instance. Some consolation? The game will apparently use real world landscapes. Then again, we're happy as all get out to see anything from SSX. So, in summary: snowboarding, SSX, EA, bros, real-world environments. We've added the trailer after the break, so head past and see for yourself!
Rumor: New SSX developed by Skate team members
EA Sports' Peter Moore may consider it an "obscure new title" being teased in a recent VGA trailer, but word in the ski lodge is that it could be hinting at the new SSX game. A Kotaku source tells the site that a new installment in the abandoned snowboarding franchise has been in development at EA Canada by "much of the Skate team." The expectation is that Skate's inspired and innovative use of the right analog stick to perform tricks will transfer into the series. Whispers and hints of a legitimate SSX title have been echoing through the mountains since last year, with things taking a more substantial turn with the domain registrations of "SSX: Deadly Descent" and "SSX: First Descent." The VGAs will take place this Saturday, December 11, on Spike.
SSX 'Descent' sites registered
With Shaun White now taking it to the streets, perhaps there's an opening on the slope for EA's snowboarding franchise, SSX, to reemerge from hibernation. A mess of newly registered domains points to the possibility of a reboot of the series, which has been sidelined since 2007's pedestrian Wii release, Blur. Professional domain registration outfit Corporate Domains, Inc. (what a gig!) has locked down URL variations of "SSX: Deadly Descent," plus an "SSX: First Descent" domain -- suggestive of the popular reboot motif: the origin story. While none of this activity is confirmation of a new SSX game, EA has worked through Corporate Domains in the past in advance of public announcements, most recently to secure web real estate for potential Need for Speed names (though Hot Pursuit was ultimately recycled) and The Sims Medieval. As for SSX, it's been more than a year since EA Montreal's Alain Tascan left open the possibility for a new entry in the series, saying in September 2009, "If the market is there and is ready for a new one, then we'll consider it." Perhaps through Move and Kinect, EA Montreal sees its ready market and an opportunity to build on the motion-controlled framework established in its Blur effort. Of course, fans of the last-generation games might prefer to see the series' original developer, EA Canada, stage the comeback. And what a meta-comeback story it could be! (The studio could use a big win following the NBA Elite 11 fail, after all.) Still, all this domain fuss could just as easily be over the naming of the SSX iPhone game, which has been -- quietly -- in the works for too long.
EA done with Boogie franchise for now, SSX revived if market is 'ready'
In an interview with Gamesindustry.biz, EA Montreal general manager Alain Tascan discussed the possibility of a SSX franchise revival, saying, "If the market is there and is ready for a new one then we'll consider it." While Wii gamers have already hit the slopes with SSX Blur, the closest PS3 and Xbox 360 users have been to the franchise is through shoddy backwards compatibility features. Tascan also discounted a new installment in the rhythm music franchise, Boogie. According to Tascan, the franchise has been a success for EA and, while the publisher is proud of its work with the series, there are no plans for Boogie to return at this time. Thankfully, the games industry has plenty of music games to spare nowadays. [Via G4TV]
