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EA's Need for Speed gets street cred threads
Commercial advertisements and corporate sponsorship have taken it to the next level, to the Xtreme, to the maxX, to the... whatever. While some may not mind the influx of ads inside our favorite video games, some find them very irritable. They aren't much of a concern in "realistic" games, which is why EA decided to team up with 55DSL (a clothing company) in their upcoming game Need For Speed: Carbon that is coming to every console in existence.The clothing being worn by characters in the game will have all been exclusively designed by the folks at 55DSL but will be available to purchase as your own personal garb at EA-sponsored events or pre-order campaigns. Executive producer of Carbon, Larry LaPierre, had this to say about the partnership: "This partnership adds another layer of authenticity to our role in street culture." Role in street culture... what does that mean? Sounds like EA likes themselves, but they're allowed since they nearly own the universe. Still, if you're into getting game-designed clothes by an outside clothing company, Carbon comes out this November so pre-order now and snag a street cultured t-shirt.
Will Wright releases Spores onto the 360
Supposedly speaking to SPOnG, Will Wright revealed the possibility of a console release of the game that people just won't shut up about, Spore. More specifically, he indicated the possibility of a 360 release (and Wii and PS3, blah, blah)."We're looking at all the platforms for Spore, because we're thinking about Spore as a franchise, not as a PC game. We're going to do the PC game first, but really, what we're trying to launch is an entire franchise that will be all across platforms."It wouldn't be a huge stretch to believe that EA wants to spread one of the most hyped games in recent memory as far as possible. Perhaps we'll be ordering our own custom critters from Xbox Live Marketplace?
EA makes a lot of money on the PSP
While it's easy to hate EA, they are still one of the most influential companies in the industry. Their fiscal numbers for 2006 and Q1 2007 were released a few days ago and they reveal interesting information. It's unsurprising that EA makes a lot of money of the PSP: it made $289 million in revenue on PSP sales last year. What is surprising is how much more money that is compared to the Nintendo DS: only $67 million in the same time. Even more surprising is that although EA makes a lot more revenue on the PSP, it has announced much greater support for the DS in the future.[Via PSPWorld]
EA boasts more monopolization of your wallet
The starship enterprise flagship franchises of Electronic Arts carried the brunt of the profits for EA this past quarter, up 13% from $365 to $413 million. Need For Speed: Most Wanted, FIFA World Cup, Sims 2, Fight Night Round 3, and Battlefield 2: Modern Combat were to blame thank. Even so, at the end of the day, EA still came out at an overall loss of $81 million. Why? Transitioning to new consoles.EA expects larger profit margins next quarter. While EA is the largest developer for the XBox 360 (and the universe in general), they also claim to have strong support for the launch of the PS3, which is great, but we'd like to see more than ports of this year's sports titles. Surely they are working on something original and new, right? They've done it before. Again, it's been stressed so much, but, the Tokyo Game Show, guys! Here's to hyping it up!
Army of Two info and screens
EA released some new info and screens of the upcoming co-op centric game, Army of Two. As you can imagine, the game is based around the concept of a two man tactical unit. The game is set to feature super fantastic AI for your squad mate, which promises to adapt to the player. Do you like to hold back? Then your squad mate will learn to take the lead (in theory). Behold, EA's marketing spiel:"Never go into battle alone! EA's new next-gen boutique development studio is changing the face of how people will play games. Delivering a groundbreaking strategic 3rd person co-op shooter unparalleled in the action genre, EA Montreal's ARMY OF TWO focuses on gameplay centered around TWO man missions, TWO man strategies, TWO man tactics and a TWO man advantage "Extreme capitalization aside, Army of Two could be wicked fun, especially with a buddy. Wait a minute. Original and intriguing IP coming from EA? Is it just me or is it crazy in here...
EA gabs Q1, Wii, PS3, and E3
In their Q1 earnings report, EA announced revenues were up 13% from last year but net loss also increased in the same period, from $58 million to $81 million.They followed their earnings report with a juicy conference call full of some candid executive gabbing and Gamasutra was listening, scribbling feverishly. Turns out the gaming press weren't the only ones impressed with Nintendo's E3 assault, as EA revealed, "'...we have ramped up [game] production for the Wii and DS Lite' following significant excitement over the Nintendo-created consoles at E3." That's number one. Number two isn't quite as exciting: first party Wii titles won't be more than $49.99 "suggesting that Electronic Arts games may debut for Wii at $49.99 at launch." They weren't saying though. On the PS3 front, they balked at Sony's promise of 6 million PS3 consoles in the 2006-7 fiscal year citing "hardware companies come up a little short", and that they "expect that [Sony] will be challenged" to produce that number. This, of course, echoes the common sense response to manufacturing a console of the PS3's complexity. That's not all though, they also did the whole 360 versus PS3 thing saying the two are "more alike than different," then quickly equivocated realizing placement on Sony's Christmas list was in jeopardy, "There's a lot of horsepower in the PS3 that we're going to be able to unlock in years two, three, and four."Gamasutra has more deets on the call, including EA's response to the E3 closure ("We think it makes good business sense"), some details on PS3 launch titles, and more juicy numbers for those of you interested in that sort of thing.
New BFME II maps
EA has released some new maps for Battle for Middle Earth II on Marketplace. There are three in total: Argonath, Umbar, and Weathertop. Fans will recognize Argonath as the location of the giant statues from Fellowship, and of course Weathertop is where Frodo was stabbed by the Witch King's Morgul blade. Sniff, sniff. Man, does it smell like nerd in here?[Via Into the Mind of Gerlach (no, really)]
Pay to WATCH Madden 07 (if you're stupid)
Hey guess what? If you're an idiot that can't stand to wait for even a shred of Madden 07, you can grab a pay-per-view preview of the game starting August 4th. That's right, a behind the scenes marketing video -- the kind that most companies freely distribute on the Internet -- will be available on your TV for a mere 20 dollars American. EA and ESPN should be reviled for this, and rightfully so. The sad thing is that this will make money for EA. There are people stupid enough to pay EA to advertise a product they were already planning on buying. So, in conclusion, if any of you are even considering this, don't. You'll be feeding the hungriest damned company around and likely starting a very bad trend. Sorry for the rant, but this is absolute BS.[Via Joystiq]
EA's Jeff Brown agrees with Sony -- not arrogant
Recently, GamesIndustry.biz had the honor of interviewing EA's Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications. A lot of the interview is the generic blah blah blah about the upcoming console wars, EA's game lineup, whatever. The meat of this article is when GamesIndustry starts asking about Mr. Brown's take on the PS3. About the price point, Jeff assured us "we know this as fact: Sony Computer Entertainment and Sony Corporation are very, very, very good at marketing consumer electronics. These guys aren't dumb." Well... okay, Jeff. They can't be too dumb since they've been the market leader for a little over a decade. Just answer the question -- "Is it a little high? Perhaps it is, but I would never underestimate their ability to market consumer electronics." Thanks.The next question was about Sony's arrogance in telling consumers they are getting a lot of hardware for their money, to the point of the PS3 being cheap. So, Jeff, will that arrogance damage the Sony brand? Is that fair criticism? "I don't think it's fair. And at the risk of sounding arrogant myself, I don't think it's relevant." He goes on to explain the troubles most, if not all, systems have at launch. Shortages, glitches, whatever. Bouncing back is what matters and that will take a year to accurately judge.There you have it -- Jeff Brown says saying Sony is arrogant isn't fair and the criticism isn't relevant. We really do have to wait for the truth, because all of this he said, she said is just that -- speculation. No one knows better than the next person, but it is clear that out of all the hurdles systems have had to overcome around launch, Sony is dealing with a lot. A lot.[creds to "Fan" for this tidbit!]
ESPN live in next-gen NBA Live
EA is collaborating with the ESPN network to include real world sports coverage in NBA Live 07 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Aside from SportsCenter updates every twenty minutes, gamers will also have access to live streaming podcasts, including The Dan Patrick Show and Mike & Mike in the Morning. In addition, downloadable highlights from around the sport's world will be updated every hour. Here's to hoping Madden will get the same treatment.
Images you can easily refuse
Xboxyde brings us images of the long awaited 360 version of the Godfather. "Then why did you post an image of the Xbox version?" you ask. Well, kids, that image up there...that is from the 360 version. Boring building textures, character models that look nothing like EA's early target footage, it's all pretty not great.So, who wants to spend an extra 10 bucks on a (slightly) higher resolution Xbox game? Anybody? Hmmm?
Airborne is online
A trailer for Medal of Honor Airborne is now available on marketplace. I have not had the luxury of checking it out yet so, somebody get busy describing it in the comments. Why haven't I gotten it yet, you say? I was doing my patriotic duty, or jury duty to be more specific. In other news, expect a demo of Rockstar's Table Tennis soonish. The demo is set to feature two-player but no Live play. If you haven't experienced the joy of "Pressing the green button," I hope you'll try it out.[Thanks, X Budd]
EA and ESPN integrate real sports into our fake sports
Some new information about the EA/ESPN integration has popped up at IGN regarding NBA Live '07. EA and EPSN had signed a 15-year partnership agreement and this is the first worthwhile use of that. What was displayed was the ability to have a running ticker at the bottom of the screen of your game displaying real world news and scores. If you'd rather hear it than passingly read it, you can vie for the live podcasts of ESPN radio. Or if you want a break from gaming, you can watch ESPN original shows. Cool.This was shown using the XBox 360, but we were told the same abilities and technologies will be available for the Playstation 3. Is there any other sort of integration we'd like to see? Perhaps an online tournament covered by an actual ESPN show -- so you feel like you really are coaching the next champs. Think about it: a live ticker of all the current tourney matches, commentary by famous ESPN fellas (if they can take it seriously), recaps, etc. That would be really cool, but mixing reality with gaming like this is an excellent first step.
EA reveals next Need for Speed babe
EA has announced that Emmanuelle Vaugier, of Saw II fame, will appear in Need for Speed Carbon. Vaugier is set to follow in the footsteps of Brooke Burke and Josie Maran, two actresses that have flaunted their stuff in past Need for Speed iterations.Vaugier will star as Nikki, the ex-girlfriend of Carbon's hero. "Playing the role of Nikki allows me to take a completely fresh approach to acting and push the boundaries of the creative process," Vaugier confesses. Whatever. Just keep the 'drive safely' nagging down to a minimum, 'kay? Maran's PSA at the startup of Most Wanted got tired -- real quick.
Games surpassing TV, bringing us closer to 'real' sport
New York Times has published an article examining the potential of virtual sports as a means for understanding the intricacies of success in real world sports. Using Madden as an example, NYTimes suggests that the future of EA's franchise "may lie in a renewed emphasis on teamwork and a new appreciation for careful preparation before the big game."This year's cover athlete, Seahawk's running back Shaun Alexander, has pressed the development team to consider transforming Madden from a one-on-one experience to a team game. Imagine the emergence of Madden clans, each player dedicated to a skill position, all are working together to win. EA hasn't yet dedicated itself to this task, but with gaming headed online, it's certainly a direction the developers should pursue.And, with games like the recently released NFL Head Coach, the Steelers' Bill Cowher reminds us that video games are already teaching us far more about the grueling process of success in the NFL than we could ever gather from watching 60 minutes of game time on Sunday.[Note: NYTimes article requires registration to access online.]
Metareview: LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II
Our overlords friends at Joystiq have posted a metareview of the RTS that would be king, LOTR: Battle for Middle Earth II. Most of you are probably sick of hearing how the controls are going to revolutionize the RTS experience on a console, but it looks like EA managed to pull it off -- you'll probably have to get cozy with the manual for a while, though. And make sure you check out the tutorial because somebody seems to have missed it.Overall, the game averages out to an 84/100. Not bad at all. Hit the read link to see excerpts from major reviews. I plan to pick this up just as soon as I've got the scratch. Anyone care to join me?
EA devours competition, wins spicy burger contest for third straight year
Electronic Arts employees in Redwood City have won the Prince of Wales pub's annual habanero burger contest for a third straight year.Pub owner Jack Curry told the San Mateo Daily Journal that the EA team consumed 60 pepper-laced hamburgers, besting RSA, a computer security company, in order to retain the prestigious Prince of Wales title. Unfortunately, the win has done nothing to invigorate EA's steadily sinking stocks.
Sony slow on delivering dev-kits to some, not all
From a news article released at Bloomberg.com the PS3 is being met with conflicting views in the eyes of developers yet again. Last time, the issue was about game pricing and this time it's about the PS3 itself. Basically, all the developers are agreeing that the launch titles for the PS3 will NOT be using the full power of Sony's new machine because Sony hasn't given them all the detailed technical aspects of it. Robert Kotick (pictured right), CEO of Activision, said that the first batch of titles to be released "won't use more than 20 percent of the Cell chip's capabilities." If that's true and people are saying these first games look just as good as the 360, multiply that times five. That should make a gap.Not every developer is making such statements of veiled compliments, however. Many smaller developers haven't received a dev-kit at all and the larger ones who have gotten one often complain about limited design details and specs for the system. They say it's too much of a risk to make a game for a system that all the details aren't available for.Both Activision and Electronic Arts (huge American-based developers) have sided against the companies complaining. They say while they don't have the final version of the PS3, they "know what the processor's capacity is" and that overall they are "happy with the development kits." Kotick even said that the PS3 was "the most sophisticated piece of consumer hardware ever."Launch titles only using 20% of the PS3's ability? The two largest US-based developers backing Sony, at least, their dev-kits? Sounds pretty good for the future, if slightly cloudy in November.
Ad critic: Superman made by super people
Ad critic returns with this ad for (the now delayed) Superman Returns: The Videogame, featured prematurely in the June 2006 issue of Game Informer (click on the thumbnail for a high-res scan). It doesn't look like much at first glance; however, upon closer inspection, you'll notice those three rather substantial chunks of (gulp) text. After busting out your reading glasses you realize that EA -- the giant game maker whose employees make a famously Faustian arrangement: their soul (and/or free time) for the chance to make video games -- is running ads talking up their developers!As MTV News reminds us, this isn't the first time EA has highlighted developers in an ad. In 1983, one of the then-upstart Electronic Arts' earliest ads posed a handful of game designers alongside the question, "Can a Computer Make You Cry?" EA Vice President of Advertising Shawn Conly told MTV, "In some ways, that was a partial inspiration for where we're taking this right now."Indeed, the Superman ad isn't alone! Additional ads will include NFL Head Coach, Madden 07, and NCAA Football 07 (as seen in the July issue of EGM). All the titles are made by EA's Tiburon Studios ("a quirk of scheduling," says Conly) but now your average mag-reading gamer can know that also. Right there, in the upper right hand corner, the ads read, "Creative Close-Up: EA Tiburon Studio Orlando, FL."What say you, ad critics? Is EA's ad a super-success or a krypyonite-klunker? Sure, we might care about developers, but does your average, non-Joystiq reading gamer? Is it too text-heavy? What, if anything, would you like to see them change? Is this another sign that EA has turned over a new leaf?See also: Ad Critic: Auto Assault, Ad Critic: Oblivion , Ad Critic: Tomb Raider, Ad Critic: Hitman.
Need for Speed drops the Carbon bomb
The monopoly company Electonic Arts has recently announced its newest street racing title, Need for Speed: Carbon and will monopolize release it on multiple systems this November. When I say multiple systems, I mean all current gen consoles, next gen consoles and the handhelds. So, what's different in this mod n' drive n' shift n' turn racer than previous installments?The gents at IGN had the street cred to get some information from executive producer Larry LaPierre. His response was: canyon racing. Yep, now we take our races from the city streets into the nearby canyon roads and wind around mountains to victory. Sounds tough, since actually driving around a canyon in real life can be fairly unnerving. According to LaPierre, "Canyon Racing is a real test of a driver's skill and we think it provides a fantastic game play opportunity to lean into." Yeah, probably. Is that all?
