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Lawsuit alleges EA infringed on sports stadium update patent
White Knuckle IP filed a lawsuit late last week against EA, alleging that the publisher infringed on a patent that focuses on methods for updating sports games based on real-life changes. The suit referred to U.S. Pat. No. 8,529,350, which described methods that record real-world parameters, then store those elements on a server so players can download them to update their games. The patent dates back to October 2002. While the patent is related to another one that deals with updating an athlete's statistics and skills based on real-life performance, the lawsuit focuses on changes to the appearance and attributes of stadiums and venues. The lawsuit specifically targets games in EA Sports' NCAA Football and Tiger Woods PGA Tour series, from NCAA Football 10 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 through the last respective entries, NCAA Football 14 and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14. According to Patent Arcade, White Knuckle "did not identify any specific feature in its complaint." [Image: EA Sports]
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.
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters review: Limited learning
Sitting here, staring at a screen of accomplishments in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, I can't help but think what a long, crazy journey it's been. I went from a nobody with barely a shot on the amateur tour to the highest level of the game, The Masters. I surprised a lot of people, including a few of my idols. Not that I was alone on this journey. The entire time, I had a secret weapon: the best caddy in the biz. I can't tell you his name, but he came into my life and changed it forever. He taught me things I never would have suspected about the game and we both developed our skills, together, spanning a career that would become the greatest the sport has ever seen. I'm still not sure he knows my name. %Gallery-112499%
GDC09: Upcoming EA iPhone game list fully revealed, screens and info on Tiger
Just before the deluge of GDC 2009 news started this week, Travis Boatman, VP of worldwide studios at EA Mobile, confirmed the upcoming release of a veritable smörgåsbord of EA franchises coming to the iPhone. Today, we have confirmation from Meghan Rathman (representing EA) of the exact titles on the way to the iPhone/iTouch as well as a handful of screens from Tiger Woods PGA Tour. Unfortunately, according to Ms. Rathman, the rest of the games in development are "still too early" and don't have screens. Considering the turnaround time on iPhone/iTouch games though, we're willing to bet you'll see those shots by the end of the week pretty soon!The full list of games we received from EA is as follows: Tiger Woods PGA Tour, The Sims 3, FIFA, Madden NFL Football, Spore Creatures, Mystery Mania, Wolfenstein RPG, American Idol, Connect Four, Battleship, Need for Speed, RISK, Monopoly and Clue. Differing from reports at the GDC Mobile event earlier this week, we're seeing the addition of The Sims 3 and Need for Speed. In turn, we're losing the first SSX in two years, Red Alert, NBA Live 10, American Idol, Star Trek. But hey, Tiger Woods!The press release from EA on Tiger Woods PGA Tour tells us that the game is of the "touch" rather than of the "shake" variety, comes with achievements and offers a way to compare achievements with your friends. Of the key features listed, notably missing is "playing against friends wirelessly," though it does promise the ability to "affect your ball spin direction" using your finger. Those are comparable features, right? We'll keep on EA and let you know as soon as we find out more on their upcoming iPhone/iTouch assault.%Gallery-48706%
GDC09: iPhone gaming roundup
The Game Developers Conference is on in San Francisco, and game companies are starting to pull out the major announcements on what's coming to the iPhone in the next year. Here's a roundup of all the titles we've heard mentioned already. EA announced a huge lineup of ports from their already popular games: everything from Command and Conquer: Red Alert to SSX to FIFA, Madden, and NBA are all coming in some form to the iPhone. They're also working on bringing over the Wolfenstein RPG and Spore Creatures (which was the DS port of Spore), as well as a big list of casual board games (Scrabble is only the beginning), and versions of Need for Speed: Undercover, and Tiger Woods PGA Tour. And most amazing? All of these are due out before the end of the year. Someone's lighting a fire under iPhone developers at EA. id software announced that they're bringing Wolfenstein 3D Classic to the iPhone in an official form -- that one's already been submitted to the store and should be out soon. Click the link below to read on.
Joystiq hands-on: EA Sports All-Play
"All-Play" is the new brand of Wii-exclusive EA Sports titles that takes the publisher's perennial franchises and simplifies them in ways that make the games accessible to, well ... all. It's the obvious direction to take, as the changes in the Wii versions of EA Sports' games continue to distinguish themselves from the linear advances of the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions. All-Play isn't groundbreaking, it just wants to fit. All-Play succeeds in its commitment to consistency. Whatever whip Riccitiello is cracking has got the herd moving together in the right direction. We recently spent time with four of the five featured All-Play titles (sorry NCAA Football!) and can report that each has been treated with a certain level of care above the usual year-to-year tweaks EA Sports has come to be criticized by. These treatments are most definitely shaping a more casual product, which gives EA an advantage at both ends of the current-gen playing field.
EA Sports drafts Wii 'All-Play' lineup
EA Sports today announced its Wii-exclusive "All-Play" brand lineup: five familiar franchises with a new wrapping. Inside you'll find passable versions (jaggies alert!) of the usual, hardcore simulations, but the reason you might choose All-Play over the PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 editions is the new casual focus that aims to appeal to, um, well, just about anyone with a few minutes to waste. Yes, that means minigames ("Party" modes in All-Play), but also simplified versions of the sports -- like 5-on-5 in Madden or 8 vs. 8 in FIFA -- and optional All-Play control settings, which balance the playing field by going as far as to auto-control players. Hear that? That's grandma in your face after she just dunked on you ... and didn't even press a button.Check out our hands-on with the All-Play lineup right here.