'PA Commentator' software beefs up commentary in sports games

Commentary in sports video games has come a long way. It's a little known but relatively true fact that for the first few years, the only commentary in any game was John Madden saying "Boom! He's on his back!" (This was especially confusing in luge-centric titles.)

Phonetic Arts is promising to push the limit even further with its newly-announced PA Commentator, which it claims will greatly improve the fluidity and diversity in sports game commentary by combining existing words to form new lines that pertain to the onscreen play. The tech's officially being launched at Microsoft's GameFest Feb. 10 and 11, so hopefully we'll get to hear it in action soon.