Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Madden NFL 09 Pink to support breast cancer foundationhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/03/madden-nfl-09-pink-to-support-breast-cancer-foundation/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/03/madden-nfl-09-pink-to-support-breast-cancer-foundation/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/10/03/madden-nfl-09-pink-to-support-breast-cancer-foundation/#commentsFiled under: , , ,



EA Sports announced today that Madden NFL 09 Pink will be sold at Target, with a portion of the proceeds from the sale going to the Deanna Favre HOPE Foundation. The box will be available during the month of October (National Breast Cancer Awareness Month) and can also be purchased at Target.com and NFLShop.com.

We called EA Sports to find out how this "new" art still has Favre in his Packers uniform. Turns out the pink ribbon design is actually part of a clear overlay inside the cover. Meaning, consumers can completely remove it if they want, or place the Favre Jets cover in behind it. Behold, the freedom of choice.

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]]>eaea-sportsmaddenmadden-09madden-nfl-09targetAlexander Sliwinski2008-10-03T16:15:00+00:00No curse, but Madden 09 has bugshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/no-curse-but-madden-09-has-bugs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/no-curse-but-madden-09-has-bugs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/no-curse-but-madden-09-has-bugs/#commentsFiled under: , ,

madden 09
With the NFL regular season just barely underway, there's plenty of time for the Madden Curse to sink its hooks into Mr. Favre's vulnerable ankle, but for now, EA is busy squashing a host of bugs that have crawled out of the bowels of latest edition of Madden. The major pest is a freezing issue that can crop up during play calling and highlight screens, reports IGN. Senior designer Ian Cummings has documented most, if not all known bugs on the game's Producer Blog, recommending various workarounds while the team puts together a patch. EA is targeting "less than a 3 week turnaround" from last Tuesday for the update to be released. So put a big checkmark next to the 16th and cross your fingers.

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]]>bugseaea-sportsmaddenmadden-09madden-nfl-09James Ransom-Wiley2008-09-05T20:30:00+00:00New tech puts ESPN anchors on video game gridironhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/new-tech-puts-espn-anchors-on-video-game-gridiron/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/new-tech-puts-espn-anchors-on-video-game-gridiron/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/09/05/new-tech-puts-espn-anchors-on-video-game-gridiron/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Don't be surprised if this Sunday's edition of ESPN's Sunday NFL Countdown looks a bit more like a game of Madden. According to a New York Times report, the Disney-owned sports network will use the "EA Sports Virtual Playbook" and a special studio and camera setup to allow "both real and virtual people move around the ESPN set to demonstrate plays and possible situations." It sure sounds a lot simpler than getting real NFL players to crash around the set, but we'll reserve judgment until we see it in action this weekend.

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]]>ea sportsEA-sportsEaSportsESPNfootballmaddenvirtualKyle Orland2008-09-05T16:50:00+00:00Joystiq X08 interview: NHL 09 producer Andy Agostinihttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/26/joystiq-x08-interview-nhl-09-producer-andy-agostini/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/26/joystiq-x08-interview-nhl-09-producer-andy-agostini/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/26/joystiq-x08-interview-nhl-09-producer-andy-agostini/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Who says a sports franchise can't reinvent itself? For EA Sports, the NHL game franchise has done just that over the last three versions. After introducing the analog control mechanic in NHL 07 along with the AHL teams and Create-a-Play feature in NHL 08, it would appear the franchise has gone as far as it can. Well, sports fans, NHL 09 attempts to break the mold once again with its Be a Pro mode. The mode is instantly recognizable to fans of FIFA 08 but different because it's spread across seasons in NHL 09, rather than single games.

In an interview with Joystiq at Microsoft's X08 in Toronto, NHL 09 producer Andy Agostini discussds the Be a Pro mode, annual creativity and the hardships of updating rosters after a title ships.



[MP3] Download this interview in MP3 format

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]]>ea-sportsnhl-09x08Xav de Matos2008-08-26T15:00:00+00:00GC 2008: Peter Moore doesn't want to punish pirateshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/22/peter-moore-doesnt-want-to-punish-pirates/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/22/peter-moore-doesnt-want-to-punish-pirates/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/22/peter-moore-doesnt-want-to-punish-pirates/#commentsFiled under: ,


Despite his fondness for authentic, handmade pirate headwear, Peter Moore was talking about video game pirates at the Leipzig Games Convention, telling Eurogamer that he doesn't think the rapscallions should be made to walk the plank. After all, that didn't work when the record industry tried to sue people for illegally downloading music, Moore reminds us.

Granted, this doesn't mean he wants people to run out and torrent the latest EA title but "there are better solutions than chasing people for money," Moore says. "I'm not sure what they are, other than to build game experiences that make it more difficult for there to be any value in pirating games."

So will Moore change his tune and start keelhauling PC pirates? Probably not, since he's "not a huge fan of trying to punish your consumer." Avast, me buckos! Might we expect a subscription-based Madden on PC then?

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]]>eaEA-Sportsleipzig-08peter-moorepiracyKevin Kelly2008-08-22T00:00:00+00:00See Tiger Woods actually make the Jesus Shothttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/21/see-tiger-woods-actually-make-the-jesus-shot/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/21/see-tiger-woods-actually-make-the-jesus-shot/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/21/see-tiger-woods-actually-make-the-jesus-shot/#commentsFiled under: ,

There are really only two ways of handling a glitch. Fix it in a patch or convince everyone who experienced it that it never happened in the first place. EA, as you can see in the above video, has provided the most impressive example of that second method we've ever seen.

After seeing one user's "Jesus Shot" video from Tiger Woods 08, (you'll find it just after the break), wherein a glitched Tiger walks over a pond to make a shot, EA answered back with its own video that Levinator25's supposed bug was, in fact, a mind-blowing feature. Bravo, EA. Bravo.

[Thanks, Conrad]

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]]>eaea-sportstiger-woods-08tiger-woods-09Justin McElroy2008-08-21T08:30:00+00:00FIFA trade jinxes another EA Sports coverhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/19/fifa-trade-jinxes-another-ea-sports-cover/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/19/fifa-trade-jinxes-another-ea-sports-cover/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/19/fifa-trade-jinxes-another-ea-sports-cover/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,


FIFA 09 cover athlete Maurice Edu has been traded to another team, meaning EA Sports will, yet again, have to change the box art on one of its games. Edu, who would have been featured on the cover wearing his Toronto FC jersey, will now wear the uniform of the US Men's National Team -- not Scotland's Glasgow Rangers, which is the team he'll actually play on. EA Sports tells IGN that the cover of the game will ship with the correct art -- no "print out" version necessary.

This would be the second time in a month that EA Sports had to dump extra resources into changing a cover due to an athlete changing teams. Earlier this month the publisher had to fix the art for perennial high-profile American football title Madden 09 when cheesehead favorite Brett Favre unretired and left for New York New Jersey.

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]]>ea-sportsedufifa-09maurice-eduAlexander Sliwinski2008-08-19T16:58:00+00:00EA Sports' Moore sets sights on eclipsing Nike brandhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/ea-sports-moore-sets-sights-on-eclipsing-nike-brand/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/ea-sports-moore-sets-sights-on-eclipsing-nike-brand/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/15/ea-sports-moore-sets-sights-on-eclipsing-nike-brand/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Peter Moore is on a mission. In an interview with MCV, the EA Sports president is looking to poise his company as "the leading sports brand in the world." That's a rather ambitious claim, given the brand dominance of sports industry companies such as ESPN, Nike and his former employer Reebok.

Said Moore, "We need to globalize our business, provide even more opportunities for our customers to interact with us online, knock down the barriers to those who find the learning curve of our games too steep, and discover new areas in sports - and health and wellness - in which our brand can truly make a difference." In other words, Moore is looking to expand the demographic and potential audience of EA Sports titles to every human in existence. May we suggest Michael Phelps Pro S-wii-ming 2009 for the Nintendo Wii?

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]]>eaea-sportselectronic-artsmoorenikepeter-moorereebokRoss Miller2008-08-15T01:00:00+00:00Go skiing with Fergie in Celebrity Sports Showdownhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/go-skiing-with-fergie-in-celebrity-sports-showdown/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/go-skiing-with-fergie-in-celebrity-sports-showdown/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/13/go-skiing-with-fergie-in-celebrity-sports-showdown/#commentsFiled under: ,


And then kill yourself immediately, please. We suggest taking your copy of Celebrity Sports Showdown, EA Canada's zeitgeist fart and 12-sport minigame miasma, and wedging it vertically between a few issues of Teeny Bopper Monthly before leaping into it, face first, using the mound of self-pity you've buried yourself in over the years as a diving platform. Trust us, it'll be less damaging to your dignity than spending this holiday cruising over icy bumps with the mistress of lady lumps.

Don't worry, there's still time to turn your life around. Snap that elastic band on your wrist every time you reach out to a second-rate celebrity in a Wii sports video game, even one that promises a who's who and a who cares of popular culture. If you see an unnervingly rendered Keith Urban, Nelly Furtado or LeAnn Rimes beckoning you to enjoy inner-tubing, wild water canoeing, curling or anything involving "the ultimate party experience," turn the other way and flee.

Gallery: Celebrity Sports Showdown (Wii)

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]]>Celebrity-Sports-ShowdownEA-CanadaEA-SportsEA-Sports-FreestyleFergieLudwig Kietzmann2008-08-13T12:40:00+00:00Season Update: What's new in Madden 09http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/season-update-how-madden-09-differs-from-last-years-model/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/season-update-how-madden-09-differs-from-last-years-model/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/season-update-how-madden-09-differs-from-last-years-model/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

The biggest question we hear every single year with the Madden franchise (and in fact, most EA Sports titles) is, "How is this game any different than last year's?" Snarky responses about the roster change aside (and even that gets fumbled sometimes), the gridiron gang at our sister site X3F have assembled the Season Update, calling out the differences (both good and bad) between Madden 09 and its immediate predecessor. For those still on the fence about picking up a copy, click here for the play-by-play.

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]]>eaea-sportsmaddenmadden-08madden-09Ross Miller2008-08-12T17:58:00+00:00Metareview - Madden NFL 09 (Xbox 360, PS3)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/metareview-madden-09-360-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/metareview-madden-09-360-ps3/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/metareview-madden-09-360-ps3/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


It's times like this we're happy there's a Metareview. Because, honestly, if we had to say something intelligent and clever about football, it's probably going to be related to The Waterboy or Superpro. We're sports dumb, to put it more directly. Luckily, the internet is here to put the new Madden through its paces.
  • 1UP (A): "Madden's the sports-gaming superpower, though, so it's hard not to nitpick some of this stuff. But even with the listed complaints, this is a football game that one-ups the stakes between the sidelines, and it's so visually impressive that it's likely to stick in your system all season long -- even on Saturdays."
  • GameDaily (80/100): "Despite all the this cool stuff, Madden commits some penalties. The game supposedly has more dynamic camera angles, but you'll often see the same one repeat up to ten times per game. As for the computer, it often makes strange decisions, such as running out the clock when it needs a score or wandering out of bounds for no reason."
  • IGN (88/100): "It may not look all that different to the casual observer, but football aficionados and Madden veterans alike will be able to appreciate the small enhancements."

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]]>eaea-sportsmaddenmadden-09Madden-NFL-09metareviewJustin McElroy2008-08-12T12:15:00+00:00Print me: New Madden NFL 09 cover (except Xbox, Wii, and DS ...)http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/print-me-new-madden-nfl-09-cover-except-xbox-wii-and-ds/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/print-me-new-madden-nfl-09-cover-except-xbox-wii-and-ds/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/print-me-new-madden-nfl-09-cover-except-xbox-wii-and-ds/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


click to enlarge

Huh, looks like EA doesn't have everyone ... covered. Less than a week after Madden 09's cover athlete Brett Favre jumped ship for the Jets (single-handedly thrashing millions in Madden marketing materials) EA has come through with its "plan": you can now download a replacement cover (in handy PDF format) for your copy of Madden NFL 09 featuring Favre donning his new team's colors ...

... that is, if you happened to purchase either the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, or PS2 release. Those of you that bought the Wii or DS versions, sorry. And for the four of you that bought the Xbox version ... you should know better.

Also released today: a "new online roster download" for Xbox 360, Xbox, PS3, PS2 and Wii which "features Favre as the starting quarterback on the New York Jets." Rocking something a little more portable, are we? EA advises you hit up Franchise Mode, transfer "NFL Great" Favre to the free agent roster pool, and then scoop him up "on any of the 32 NFL teams for the 2008 season."

[Update: If you don't want to blow all of your green ink printing out the new cover, stop by either Sam's Club or Wal-Mart to pick one up in-store. It's unclear if you'll need to purchase the game there as well but our money's on "probably."]

Gallery: Madden NFL 09 (replacement covers)

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]]>BreakingNewsBrett-FavreEAEA-SportsMadden-09Madden-NFL-09Christopher Grant2008-08-12T11:59:00+00:00Joystiq goes to Maddenpaloozahttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/joystiq-goes-to-maddenpalooza/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/joystiq-goes-to-maddenpalooza/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/12/joystiq-goes-to-maddenpalooza/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , ,


The Rose Bowl was Madden-ified yesterday to make way for the 20th anniversary of Madden games, as well as the new Madden NFL 09 game that went on sale at midnight last night... or 9 PM Pacific if you were lucky enough to be in the stadium in Pasadena. The upper deck was wrapped in gigantic Madden sail cloths promoting the game and featuring poster boy Brett Favre in his Packers gear. The playing turf featured autograph sessions with NFL legends, skill games, free Pepsi schwag (which we forgot to photograph, whoops), a Slurpee booth complete with Hooters-esque booth babes, a mini Wal-Mart store, and a giant gaming tent full of tons of Xbox 360s, and a scant few Wiis, PS3s, and PSPs.

Read on, dear gamer, to discover the rest, including a confab between rapper Busta Rhymes and EA's Peter Moore. Plus you can click on the gallery below for loads of photos.

Gallery: Maddenpalooza


While there was a ton of gaming going on inside the massive tent of consoles that contained hundreds of units all tuned to the new Madden, one of the highlights of the event had to be those photos of Busta with Peter Moore. Seriously. If there's a secret Busta Rhymes unlockable player inside Madden 09, we called it here first. The main reason Busta wanted to meet Moore? He wanted some free stuff. No kidding. Anyhow, yes. Buttloads of 360s, a couple dozen Wiis, and a very small section of PS3s that went largely ignored. And those PSPs? Untouched.

EA must have dropped a lot of dough on this event, although we're sure the sponsors probably helped out a ton. By the time we were heading out, more and more people were starting to line up, since it was post-quittin' time, and the event was scheduled to last until 10 PM. This was one of the few West Coast launches we'd been to where they let people purchase the game as of midnight on the East Coast. No complaints from the people who were lining up to buy their game vouchers.

Speaking of lining up, the mini Wal-Mart store on the field had a lot of NFL schwag for purchase, ranging from game balls to jerseys, and they also had a huge shelf full of Xbox 360s. Would you head out to a gaming event in a stadium to impulsively pick up a new console? Probably not, and we didn't see anyone lugging one around either. They should have stocked up on some Favre Jets jerserys. Those would have pulled in some serious dough.

Most of the time people tended to shuttle between the gaming tent and the stage, where bands like From First to Last and Good Charlotte rocked the sometimes meager audience in front of the stage. Some former NFL players were on hand, like Ron Woodson and Warren Sapp, and they had incredibly long lines of people waiting on their signatures. Staff members were handing out wristbands and cutting those off early, much to the chagrin of sports fans.

We tried to head up into the stands to score some shots of the field and the entire stadium, which was impressively dressed up for the event, but we were denied by stadium security. Several times. We were told that it was "too dangerous" to head up into the same stands where thousands of screaming USC fans had to watch their team get beaten in the final seconds of the 2006 Rose Bowl. We guess those stairs can be treacherous or something.

Still, if you want to see some good shots from up top, check out Major Nelson's flickrfeed. He got the good stuff. We did spend a lot of time playing the game, mostly to avoid some of the ear bleeding intensity of bands we hadn't heard of (okay, Good Charlotte ain't bad [Umm, yes they are - Ed]). It definitely looks a lot better than the last Madden, and we'll be picking up a copy eventually. However, if the online play sucks again, we're going to Busta Moore than a cap in someone's rear end. And win the bad pun of the year award while we're at it.

The only thing that could top the Busta/Moore lovefest was the fact that Midway had driven two enormous rolling billboards for Blitz: The League II down to the Rose Bowl. Priceless.

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]]>Busta-RhymesEAEA-SportsFootballMaddenMadden-09Madden-NFL-09MaddenpaloozaNFLPeter-MooreKevin Kelly2008-08-12T10:00:00+00:00Favre to remain a Packer ... on Madden cover (EA has a plan!) [update]http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/favre-to-remain-a-packer-on-madden-cover-ea-has-a-plan/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/favre-to-remain-a-packer-on-madden-cover-ea-has-a-plan/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/favre-to-remain-a-packer-on-madden-cover-ea-has-a-plan/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , , , ,

mock-up
With Brett Favre booked for a one-way ticket out of retirement and into New York (as a Jet!), Madden NFL 09 will look decidedly vintage when it releases next week with Favre on the cover ... as a Packer. Some may attribute the gaffe to evidence of the "Madden Curse" at work (c'mon, it can do better than that!), but EA Sports boss Peter Moore assures, "There's a plan."

While IGN has already confirmed there will be no second printing -- Favre will remain a Packer on the surface of Madden 09, at least -- a Crispy Gamer interview with Moore and marketing director David Tinson published last week addressed the possibility of Favre switching teams; to which Moore offered his vague assurance. "It will ship with what you've seen. Yes. And then we'll have a plan if he's not [a Packer]," Tinson added. Day-one roster update confirmed!

Update: EA will indeed release a day-one update placing Favre on the Jets (and reflecting any other relevant roster changes), reports MTV Multiplayer. But that's not all: "We do not plan to re-issue packaging, but WILL offer a free downloadable cover in the coming days on easports.com featuring Brett Favre in a Jets uniform. Fans can print this new cover out and insert it into the case of Madden NFL 09," a company spokesperson revealed to MTV. See, EA did have a plan! ... But if you're not feelin' it, why not make your own cover?

[Image credit: FirstCuts]

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]]>brett-favreeaea-sportsmaddenmadden-09madden-cursepeter-mooreJames Ransom-Wiley2008-08-07T11:27:00+00:00Watch Kim Kardashian fight Peter Moorehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/watch-kim-kardashian-fight-peter-moore/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/watch-kim-kardashian-fight-peter-moore/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/07/watch-kim-kardashian-fight-peter-moore/#commentsFiled under: , ,

We're so mad at ourselves for in some small way perpetuating the sphere of influence of Kim Kardashian, who, as Joel McHale correctly points out, is famous for having a big ass and a sex tape. But news is slow this morning, OK? It was either this or another cake shaped like the Companion Cube.

That said, here's EA Sports chief Peter Moore beating up on Kim Kardashian in Facebreaker, a fight you can re-enact at home with just a few free minutes and a semi-truck full of self-loathing. Who wins this historic clash of titans? All we can say for sure is not us, dear reader. Not us.

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]]>eaea-sportsfacebreakerpeter-mooreJustin McElroy2008-08-07T09:30:00+00:00Jim Brown sues Sony, EA over Madden likenesshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/01/jim-brown-sues-sony-ea-over-madden-likeness/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/01/jim-brown-sues-sony-ea-over-madden-likeness/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/08/01/jim-brown-sues-sony-ea-over-madden-likeness/#commentsFiled under: ,

You'd think most football players would be overjoyed to be named to the Madden's "All Browns Team." Not hall-of-fame running back Jim Brown, though. Bloomberg reports that Brown filed suit against Electronic Arts and Sony yesterday in a New York court, alleging that he "never signed away any rights that would allow his likeness to be used.''

What makes Brown different from the hundreds of other current players represented in the game? According to the lawsuit, Brown alleges that when he played in the '50s and '60s, "the NFL had league wide policy that players shall have no lawyers or agents when negotiating compensation." Even if he had had a lawyer, Brown argues, "video games were not invented yet and no union to obtain rights from [them] existed.'

It's a decent argument, but we'd like to think that some forward-looking '60s lawyer could have foreseen the invention of video games and included them in his contract negotiations. After all, today's sports contracts routinely contain clauses for holosim royalties (No, not really).

[Via GameDaily]

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]]>cleveland-brownsEAEA-sportselectronic-artsjim-brownlawsuitlegalMaddenSonyKyle Orland2008-08-01T12:35:00+00:00EA's fiscal Q109 conference call at-a-glancehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/29/eas-fiscal-q108-conference-call-at-a-glance/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/29/eas-fiscal-q108-conference-call-at-a-glance/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/29/eas-fiscal-q108-conference-call-at-a-glance/#commentsFiled under:


Today was the day for industry behemoth Electronic Arts to divulge the results of its (very large) bean counting to investors and the press. In a conference call this afternoon, EA CEO John Riccitiello got down to business, discussing a marked increase in sales over the same period last year, but also fessing up to a stinging $95 million loss. The especially strong performance of Battlefield: Bad Company was singled out as a key contributor to the sales spike, with UEFA Euro 2008 and Rock Band also leading EA's lineup in terms of units moved at retail. A major push into digital distribution, particularly in Asia, was something EA brass also seemed quite pleased with.

Riccitiello made a point of singling out Nintendo platforms as a focus for the company going forward. He talked about Boom Blox being a success both critically and commercially, and revealed that EA has 40 titles in development between Wii and DS. He stated that the company's approach with the titles is a combination of "quality over quantity" and ensuring that they are designed to take full advantage of each platform's unique feature set. The EA boss used the upcoming Wii title Skate It as an example.

EA's acquisition of BioWare and Pandemic was briefly touched on, with mention of an MMO (likely BioWare's online KOTOR title) coming out of the deal "for the future." Another future title called out in the prepared statement was the Command & Conquer FPS, Tiberium, which Riccitiello confirmed has become a fiscal year 2010 release.

EA Sports head Peter Moore revealed that pre-order numbers for NCAA Football 09 and Madden NFL 09 are lower than they were for last year's football titles, but expects both games to perform better than average for their respective franchises. Moore stressed the importance of innovation and wholly-owned properties in the sports space, singling out the Dynamic DNA feature of NBA Live 09 as an example of the former, and Facebreaker to represent the latter. He also confirmed that EA Sports is working on another, yet-unannounced original sports IP. EA Sports will return to the field with PC sports titles next year, Moore said, stating that the new lineup will boast features derived from the platform's strengths in online connectivity.

During the Q&A session that followed the EA execs' scripted statements, Riccitiello talked about Battlefield Heroes, the company's free-to-play installment in the popular franchise, being reworked to include stronger social networking features. Oh, and that takeover of Take-Two the company has been plotting? Riccitiello and crew weren't talking about that.

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]]>eaea-sportselectronic-artsq109Randy Nelson2008-07-29T21:30:00+00:00EA Sports working on fixes for NCAA Football 2009 bugshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/26/ea-sports-working-on-fixes-for-ncaa-football-2009-bugs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/26/ea-sports-working-on-fixes-for-ncaa-football-2009-bugs/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/26/ea-sports-working-on-fixes-for-ncaa-football-2009-bugs/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


July 15 was meant to be a day of great rejoicing for collegiate football fans, as it was the day EA Sports elected to hand down this year's model of NCAA Football. Unfortunately, a couple of NCAA Football 2009's newly implemented features (the EA Locker roster system and online dynasties) didn't work properly for a few unlucky players, occasionally erasing entire teams or failing to register online victories for a small percentage of gridiron gamers. Luckily, EA seems to be working diligently to recover from these costly fumbles.

According to EA spokesman Tyrone Miller, a patch to fix the EA Locker has been submitted to Microsoft and Sony for approval, and should be available to download during the first week of August. They've yet to announce any repairs to the online dynasties, though sports game blogger Pasta Padre reported that EA was able to fix his online dynasty after submitting his in-game issues to the company. Whether or not EA will make a similar fix downloadable for the rest of the bug-riddled masses remains to be seen.

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]]>bugeaea-lockerea-sportselectronic-artsfixfootballncaa-football-09online-dynastypatchGriffin McElroy2008-07-26T18:30:00+00:00Peter Moore calls E3 'soulless,' calls for public eventhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/26/peter-moore-calls-e3-soulless-calls-for-public-event/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/26/peter-moore-calls-e3-soulless-calls-for-public-event/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/26/peter-moore-calls-e3-soulless-calls-for-public-event/#commentsFiled under: ,


His face may be broken, but EA's Peter Moore likes to speak his mind, and what's on his mind lately is last week's E3, a gathering that he thinks can be fixed by opening it up to the public. Whoa, maybe all of that ink has gone to his brain, or has he already forgotten the madhouse that the annual used to be, when everyone and their brother seemed to find a way to roam the show's halls? Plus, isn't that what E for All is for, anyway?

Calling the event "soulless and lacking an epicenter," the former Microsoft exec suggests that organizers "invite the community" to the show, adding that given enough planning, letting gamers experience E3 first hand will help companies create better games and forge new ideas. Of course, it would likely be too crowded for any of the attending press to get any work done, but that's beside the point. Right, Pete?

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]]>e-for-alle3-2008e32008eaea-sportseasportseforallelectronic-artselectronicartspeter-mooreJason Dobson2008-07-26T01:00:00+00:00Facebreaker demo coming July 31 with create-a-character sharinghttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/facebreaker-demo-coming-july-31-with-create-a-character-sharing/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/facebreaker-demo-coming-july-31-with-create-a-character-sharing/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/23/facebreaker-demo-coming-july-31-with-create-a-character-sharing/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


EA Sports has confirmed an initial report that a demo of its arcade-style boxing game, Facebreaker, will be hitting Microsoft and Sony's download services shortly. More specifically, the Xbox 360 demo will be available on Thursday, July 31 with a PS3 version arriving a week later on August 7.

What sets this demo apart from most others is the approach EA is taking with regards to migrating user-generated content to the final product. Akin to the Spore Creature Creator, players will be able to generate their own custom pugilists and share them with others over the intertubes. The characters will also be accessible in the final version of Facebreaker, which enters the retail ring on September 5.

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]]>demoea-sportsfacebreakerpsn-storexblmRandy Nelson2008-07-23T17:30:00+00:00