EA Tiburon
Latest
Madden NFL Arcade coming to XBLA & PSN; $15 this Dec.
Click for more highlights! Dear Download-only Record Holder, You had a good run -- time to move over. Madden NFL Arcade is coming to town. EA has detailed, priced and dated its bite-sized Madden for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. Targeted for the holiday season, Madden Arcade is described as fast-paced, 5-on-5 football. It's a classic backyard scenario -- first to 30; 4 plays per possession; no penalties; no field goals -- draped in NFL glamour. Following in the tradition of its arcade-football predecessors (NFL Blitz, NFL Street, etc.) and EA's 3-on-3 NHL Arcade, Madden Arcade will feature a 'toonish art style, downsized playing field (60 yards) and 13 "Game Changers" (power-ups), including the ability to freeze your opponents, turn off their passing icons, or enlist an army of lineman to pretty much guarantee a sack. Each match is customizable, too, by altering skill level, points to win and other options, and supports up to 4-player co-op on a single console or 1-vs-1 online. Madden NFL Arcade will be released this December on XBLA (1200) and PSN ($14.99). And shortly thereafter, the game is the odds on favorite to become the best-selling download-only title ever. How's the saying go: Don't hate the player? Hate the ... %Gallery-75560%
Madden 10: Did EA press reset?
Senior producer Phil Frazier calls Madden NFL 10 a "reset." That's a tough buzzword to sell, especially for Madden, which is reappearing this August as its twenty-something-ith iteration. Despite its massive following, Joystiq has largely treated the series as uninteresting. Year in, year out, the process has grown mechanical: the annual announcement, followed by details of game enhancements, and then, of course, a look at those supposedly cursed cover athletes. Then, silence. The game's released. A few months later, news of its sales dominance. Rinse. Repeat. Reset.It's difficult not to trivialize a game franchise that follows such a formulaic path from concept to destined bestseller. On the surface, it appears as if there are no surprises. There's nothing to be inspired by. Maybe there's a twinge of aliveness in seeing the first screenshot of the new season, in admiring the game's gradual transformation into lifelike football, in our brief exaggeration of that image as actually lifelike, before scrutiny sets in, and we identify it as just the new Madden.Somewhere, certainly, there are discussion forums geeking out over the new look and tweaks and promises -- or passionately lamenting the next "QB Vision Cone." But here, we have not been moved beyond the mundane and have not trusted that an exclusive NFL license, a one-year development cycle and, dare we suggest, a "simple" sports game are keys to gaming innovation. An inner troll is nagging: Guys, you know it's just another "roster update."
Henry Hatsworth won't doff his cap in Australia
Bad news for our Australian friends who love match-three puzzles blended with platforming ... or at least think they would if given the opportunity: EA's Australian branch says Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure won't be coming to the continent. There's no reason given, but we can only imagine that EA Australia wants to save its countrymen from the overwhelming desire to snap their DS systems in half after getting killed by the nurse boss for the hundredth GD time. [Thanks, Patrick]
EA's NASCAR exclusivity in question, sim series 'on hold'
Throw up your caution flags if you've got 'em, folks. Word from the NASCAR News Wire is that EA's annual racing sim is "on hold," according to SportsBusiness Journal reporter Michael Smith. Backing up this claim, EA product marketing manager Randy Chase referred to the NASCAR sim series as "the old game" while describing the "lighthearted" appeal of the new Kart version of the franchise, which was released for Wii earlier this month. Additionally, Blake Davidson, managing director of NASCAR's licensed products, has suggested that the company is currently considering the "best model" to tap into its gaming demographic, which may include licensing its rights to multiple publishers (EA has held exclusivity since 1997 -- correction: 2003; those rights expire this year). "Do we continue with an exclusive model or go nonexclusive? Do we need annual releases? This is a very important category for us," said Davidson of NASCAR games, which rank in the top five revenue-generating licenses for the business.Update: "NASCAR Kart Racing on the Wii is the only NASCAR-licensed video game that will ship this year from EA Sports. Due to the family-friendly atmosphere of NASCAR, we felt that a title developed exclusively for the Wii platform was the best scenario for the NASCAR racing video game franchise and fans of racing alike," a representative from EA Tiburon, the NASCAR franchise developer, confirmed with Joystiq. Read how EA Tiburon answered a few ancillary questions about exclusivity after the break.[Via FirstCuts -- thanks Chris! Image credit: tequilamike]
Henry Hatsworth's outrageous bosses revealed
The latest screens and info of the bizarre, wonderful Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure illustrate some of the interaction between the platforming on the top screen and the block puzzle game on the bottom. The newly-revealed "outrageous world-ending bosses" all have the ability to manipulate the puzzle screen in some way, making it harder for players to use puzzle pieces to power Henry up. "Lady D" here sends spores down into the bottom screen that sprout vines and fix your blocks in place. Barrel-chested Lance Banson puts music-note blocks in the bottom screen that do ... something (MTV Multiplayer was under embargo related to some gameplay details). The third boss -- well, we don't know what he does with the puzzles, but he's an old guy in a wheelchair who is used as a melee weapon by his giant caretaker, which means he's worth mentioning. Henry Hatsworth joins the comically overcrowded DS lineup in March! %Gallery-29510%
EA confirms layoffs at Madden dev Tiburon
The Orlando Sentinel has confirmed another round of industry layoffs, this time at EA's Tiburon, developers of the top-selling Madden franchise. Despite EA's intentions not to discuss layoffs earlier this week in regards to Warhammer dev Mythic, Craig Hagen – who reportedly handles government affairs for EA – confirmed that layoffs had occurred at the Florida-based studio.Hagen noted that some reductions at Tiburon were made by freezing open positions, but wouldn't specify how many employees had been laid off or in what sections of the company cuts were made. Approximately 700 people currently work at the flagship sports studio.[Via Gamasutra]
Henry Hatsworth in the Listening Adventure
We found out yesterday that EA's delightfully bizarre hybrid puzzle/platformer Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure was scheduled for Q1 of next year. EA then specified March in a press release. Capital! And we can't think of a better way to celebrate the impending release of this super-weird game than by downloading a whole bunch of stuff related to it. Luckily, EA has provided the ideal opportunity for such a venture at the official Henry Hatsworth website, where you can download not only the usual wallpapers, but also the game's full soundtrack, for free! When did EA get this cool? We've also added a couple of screens to our Henry Hatsworth gallery. %Gallery-29510% [Via Joystiq]
Henry Hatsworth not Layton arrival: coming March 2009
Though we jest about the similarities between the two prim, proper and perfectly portable puzzle-solving gentlemen on the DS, the truth is that Henry Hatsworth has a distinct and delightfully violent streak. His game, Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, not only features all manner of block-matching challenges, but simultaneously offers plenty of things to jump over, fight and shoot. Good show! Clearly, he's a man of both brain and brawn (we can relate!), and we'll be welcoming him onto the DS in March 2009. Oh, and don't you dare forget the "outrageous world-ending bosses." %Gallery-29502% [Via press release]
Henry Hatsworth in the Trailer Adventure
Though there've been some great screenshots and amazing art released for Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure, we've had to rely on old indirect-feed videos for previews of the action/puzzle hybrid in motion. Not so anymore! EA put out this short trailer to show off Henry's upcoming adventures, and it pretty much looks as awesome as we thought the game would be, if not awesomer. The game even has a combo counter at the bottom right, just like one of our favorite 2D platformers, The Legend of Spyro: The Eternal Night! %Gallery-29510%
Henry Hatsworth's adventure slightly less puzzling
MTV Multiplayer's Patrick Klepek got some hands-on time with EA Tiburon's surprisingly non-EA-like puzzle-platformer Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure. His impressions can be summed up in the elongated sentence "I want more nooooooow." Klepek offers the clearest explanation yet of the two-tiered gameplay. Defeated enemies are sent down to the bottom screen as squares in a "Planet Puzzle League-esque" puzzle game. In addition to the benefits provided by successful combos in the puzzle area, it is important to clear these squares quickly, or else they will go back up into the platform world as enemies again. As for those combo benefits, Klepek gave an example: a lightning attack earned by pulling off combos, which allows Henry to damage an enemy severely. We think somebody pulled off a combo of John Madden-shaped blocks that afflicted us with the status of "being interested in an EA game."
Joystiq hands-on: Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (DS)
Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure combines a block-matching, DS puzzle game--think Panel de Pon/Planet Puzzle League--with a side-scrolling platformer. This puzzling mash-up keeps the blocks on the bottom screen, Hatsworth jumping up top, and you toggling between each to maintain progress. We recently played this stylish title, due at the beginning of 2009. With so many small things to get right, we're uncertain that the puzzle-platformer will work, but we're impressed by its potential. %Gallery-29502%
Henry Hatsworth's brilliant return
Disappearing off the map shortly after it was introduced last February -- and briefly reappearing at E3's Into The Pixel exhibit -- EA Tiburon's mystery puzzle/platforming DS game has finally been officially announced as Henry Hatsworth In The Puzzling Adventure. To jog your memory, the colorful 2D title follows British adventurer Henry Hatsworth as he explores 30+ levels over five exotic worlds, hunting down artifacts that will grant him new powers and ultimately unlock a golden mech suit. And that's just the top screen! On the touch screen, players are presented with a puzzle game which can be used to gain power ups and helath, as well as transform Hatsworth into different forms. Jump past the post break for videos of the game that were debuted earlier this year at GDC. %Gallery-29510%
EA reveals Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure for DS
Neat hat on a clever noggin news now, with EA announcing Henry Hatsworth in the Puzzling Adventure (working title), a platformer/puzzler for the Nintendo DS. Developed by an EA Tiburon team under the publisher's Casual Entertainment label, Hatsworth hopes to fuse the "action of an adventure game with the challenge of a puzzle game," with players switching between "action-platform" screens and "the increasingly challenging puzzle world." EA promises over 30 levels and five "exotic" worlds for the geriatric genius to explore, complete with power ups, enemies and "outrageous world-ending bosses." The game's executive producer, Scott Walker, describes it as "an incredibly unique game" that you "won't want to put down" once it ships in 2009 -- which either means it's very good, or it has some sort of explosive detonator strapped to the back of the cartridge. %Gallery-29502%
E308: EA Tiburon's quirky 2D platformer/puzzler reappears
Remember this khaki-clad British explorer, Hatsby? EA Tiburon's Kyle Gray introduced the character's charming sprite and his untitled puzzle/platforming DS game at GDC earlier this year, but we haven't seen or heard any news from him since! All we have had to go on all these months were the videos he left behind, which we've embedded past the break!Artwork for the game has mysteriously popped up on the official site for Into the Pixel, an art exhibit collecting exemplary works of video game art and scheduled to open to the public at October's E for All Expo. The piece, titled "Puzzle World Twilight" and submitted by EA Tiburon concept artist Jay Epperson, shows Hatsby taking to the nighttime skies against a backdrop of Chinese paper cut outs. Though we were already excited with the hybrid game's promises of an opera-singing boss, a robotic construct of Big Ben, and some unexplained touchscreen puzzle running alongside the platforming action, after seeing this gorgeous art, we can't contain ourselves! Tell us your secrets, Hatsby, you magnificent bastard!
Madden 09 goes gold, here's a handful of new screens
Click for high-resolution image A fresh batch of Madden NFL 09 PS3 screenshots are here from us to you. The famous virtual football franchise will get another annual update when this Madden-baby hits the PS3, PSP, and other platforms this August 12. The game has now gone gold, which means there's nothing going to stop this gridiron game from sacking retailers.The Madden series has been around for 20 years. Can you believe it? That's one game, every year, for the past 20 years. Whether you like sports based games or not, you have to admit that's some impressive stats right there. So, in addition to our PS3 shots of Madden NFL 09, we've also got a gallery of every past Madden cover (obviously including non-PlayStation ones). If you're a football fan, make sure you scan through both galleries. %Gallery-26062%%Gallery-26063%
EA announces NFL Head Coach 2009
During the dog days of summer in 2006, EA Sports released their first console sports management simulator to great success. That's commercial success, not critical. While NFL Head Coach was initially popular the game and it's many exploits turned many players off. Well, in a move that seems incomprehensible, EA waited a few years to work on a sequel and has just announced NFL Head Coach 2009.With two-time Super Bowl winner Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, gracing the cover, the EA Tiburon developed title makes the jump to the Xbox 360 and PS3 with an expected summer release. We (Read: Just me, Xav) are actually pretty excited about playing a revamped version of NFL Head Coach. Let's just hope EA was actually working on the title and not investing in more 19-0 hat factories.
Madden producer David Ortiz leaves EA Tiburon
The 'other' David Ortiz, the EA veteran who worked his way up the ranks to lead producer of Madden for Xbox 360 and PS3, has left EA Tiburon, reports 1UP. While inside sources cite "family reasons" for Ortiz's departure, rumor 'round the water cooler tells of a growing fracture between Ortiz and the mysterious inner workings of the studio. (We can totally see how ordering the peons to copy/paste game code from year to year could lead to, um, dissatisfaction.) "David's been a valuable part of our team at EA Tiburon, and we wish him the best," EA said in a statement.Thankfully, one man's loss is another's gain, and Tiburon producer Phil Frazier will move into the batter's box, erm, take over as lead for Madden NFL 09 – Frazier most recently struck out as a developer for the ill-received NFL Tour.
