Freestyle
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First footage of NASCAR Kart Racing
If you thought NASCAR Kart Racing was bad in still images, wait until you see it in motion. For us, it doesn't look like the worst thing ever. The biggest problem we have is if, well, if we're going to play a Mario Kart clone, we might as well just play Mario Kart. What about you? Has the trailer changed your mind at all?%Gallery-38567%[Via NWii]
EA's Facebreaker falls in first round, sells 52k units
EA Sport's Freestyle brand, meant for a "more casual sports gaming audience," suffered a beating as its first title, Facebreaker, sold 52,000 units in September. The game's over-the-top nature, originally giving the impression of being a modern day Punch-Out!!, apparently didn't click with consumers ... or critics, receiving an average Metacritic score of 54.A Wii version of Facebreaker, which may (?) perform better than its Xbox 360 and PS3 cousins, is expected in November. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter says the poor sales aren't really that big of a deal for EA, considering how well it's doing with Mercenaries 2, Spore, Warhammer and Dead Space.
Flickr Find: The Cocoon
Mitch Haile shared this set with our Flickr Pool to show us the ridiculously awesome setup he has in his office. From what we can tell, he has: a 24-inch Intel iMac a 15-inch MacBook Pro a Mac Pro with six (!) monitors several PCs a couple of Kinesis Freestyle keyboards The six monitors include four HPs, one ViewSonic, and a 30-inch Apple Cinema Display. The Mac Pro has three video cards. The whole shebang is served by two APC uninterruptible power supplies. Nice. Me, I just want a reason to keep an ice bucket on my desk. Thanks, Mitch!
GOTY 2008: Celebrity Sports Showdown
Click image for more ludicrous, I-can't-believe-they-actually-did-this screens. When we took on this job, we never quite expected to be commenting on a picture of country music star Keith Urban skiing, but we'll do our best. So that's Keith Urban skiing, and this is Celebrity Sports Showdown, the latest Wii project in EA Sports' "Freestyle" sub-brand. If your breakfast just reappeared in your mouth, know this: you're not alone.The aim of this minigame smorgasbord is thus: take control of one of fifteen big-headed "celebrities," and pit them against one another in events including (amongst others) Wild Water Canoeing, Smash Badminton, Arena Dodgeball, Slalom Showdown, Hurdle Derby, and Curling. The celebrities come from the sphere of music and sport, and include leathery-skinned lump-wiggler Fergie, Reggie Bush, Avril Lavigne, Sugar Ray Leonard, and others not sufficiently famous enough to make this sentence.There's a full list past the break, though most are fairly C-list to a UK resident such as yours truly -- will there be a localized version with Keith Chegwin? Fingers and toes crossed! Or not.%Gallery-29557%
Kinesis makes its keyboards even more ergonomic with new accessories
As if a keyboard split down the middle wasn't enough, Kinesis has now rolled out a pair of new accessories that promise to make its Freestyle keyboards, including the Solo (pictured above), even more ergonomic -- or, if you desire, even less so. Those include the Freestyle V3 accessory, which clips onto the base of the keyboard and gives you three different slope settings, and the Freestyle Ascent Multi-tent, which'll let you independently set each keying module in ten degree increments all the way up to 90 degrees, and lock 'em in at the desired distance apart from one another. If that sounds like the solution your wrists have been looking for, you can apparently grab both of 'em now, with the V3 running $25 and the Ascent setting you back a hefty $200 -- the Solo keyboard itself demands an even $100.[Via BIOS]
FaceBreaker to pummel retail shelves September 5
Living room pugilists can finally circle a date on their calender, provided they can hold a pen while wearing gloves, as GameSpot reports that Electronic Arts plans to ship its arcadey boxing title FaceBreaker for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii on September 5. As the first title to emerge from EA's newly launched Freestyle brand, the game promises over-the-top ringside heroics. FaceBreaker is a game that continues to remain on our radar as one of our more anticipated games at next month's E3, though honestly we're conflicted if this has more to do with the title's tooned-out gameplay or simply the opportunity to uppercut Peter Moore.
Facebreaker trailers: Meet the pugilists
Although the Facebreaker character trailers aren't half as amusing as the Team Fortress 2 portraits, we do have hope for the game itself. It would be nice if there was a now-gen "casual" boxing game that rekindled that fun we had while playing Punch-Out back in the '80s.The latest Facebraker profile (above) is of Steve, your typical fat nerd cliché. We've also placed the video for Romeo after the break. With a September release as part of EA Sports' new Freestyle brand, we're looking forward to getting some hands-on time with Facebreaker at E3. Hopefully the gameplay will enhance the fun and diminish the creepiness we feel in these trailers.
EA plans Western-style exercise game for Balance Board
EA Sports' new "Freestyle" brand will feature more casual sports games than the Madden-type stuff found under the main EA Sports brand -- think EA Sports BIG, but in 2008. The first game to come out under the brand will be FaceBreaker, the cartoony boxing game. EA Sports president Peter Moore has already revealed a second Freestyle game, though an official announcement has yet to be made. The new exercise game will support Nintendo's Balance Board peripheral in much the same way that Wii Fit does.To differentiate between Wii Fit and the new project, Moore describes a "Western," cardiovascular style of exercise, as opposed to the tai-chi-like anaerobic "holistic fitness" in Wii Fit. Which sounds like a great idea.
EA Sports unveils 'Freestyle' brand
EA launched a new sub-brand of its EA Sports division today called Freestyle. The division is designed to create games for a "more casual sports gaming audience." These titles will be created with buzzwords in mind like "playful, inclusive, casual and easy to pick up."The first title releasing this September in this all-inclusive sports brand is the arcade-style boxing game with the family-friendly name FaceBreaker. Yup, there's no better title to launch a casual sports brand than a game called FaceBreaker. Because nothing says "playful, inclusive, casual and easy to pick up" than FaceBreaker.[Via GameDaily]
