Monday, June 1, 2009

EA Sports: Team Builder and Madden Online Franchise

EA is bringing a new level of connectivity to it's sports games. Beginning with NCAA 2010, you'll be able to customize your own team, including logos, colors and players. But don't take our word for it, head on over to: the Teambuilder website and check it out yourself. 

If college isn't your thing, this year's edition of Madden will include online franchise. Say good-bye to productivity. You can trade, draft and schedule games from the EA Sports Connect website, your cell phone or iPhone (there's an App for that).

EA Sports: FIght Night 4/ MMA

Peter Moore takes the stage to show off Fight Night 4. The original helped to usher in the current generation of consoles and the next iteration is aiming to push it even further. 

We get a live demo pitting Tyson vs. Ali. Game is much more dynamic. Round Three was scripted in up-close areas. That's changed. Ali knocks out Tyson, and we get a close-up of the new muscle and sweat dynamics. 

Fight Night Round 4 hits June 25.

EA is also moving from the ring into the cage with EA Sports: MMA. Game is already in production at EA Tiburon. 

The Saboteur

Imagine Get Up mixed with Max Payne... Saboteur has an intersting black and white comic-book feel to it, which they explained is actually a feature of the game; as you improved the area's will to fight, the color will return to the environment.



The Saboteur features a very interactive environment, allowing you to actually jump in a car to make your escape or even climb the Eiffel Tower, should you choose to.



More on this one later, as this looks like it could definietly be awesome.

Bioware shows off Dragon Age/ Mass Effect 2

Bioware's founders take the stage to show Dragon Age: Origins, a game they feel will redefine the fantasy genre. The game will challenge your perceptions of right and wrong and is the culmination of Bioware's experiences.

New trailer is shown and we have our first official announcement that it will ship on PC, Xbox 360 and PS3. Trailer shows off some story elements. Game has a Lord of the Rings feel, but with a unique twist. Expect lots of blood, orcs, magic and some other "situations". 

Game releases on October 20.

Next up is Mass Effect 2. Shepard isn't dead, he's back and leading a mission that he isn't expected to survive. We get the first gameplay trailer. Game is faster-paced than the original (good), but doesn't lose any of the drama. The Normandy's crew is back. 

Need for Speed: SHIFT

Need for Speed: Shift players achieve awards based on their personal driving style. Clean laps will get you points towards being a careful driver. Slamming into other cars will also earn you profile points, but towards being an aggressive driver.



The idea behind the profile points is to reward players for playing, not necesarrilt for winning, but for playing in their style. This should allow Need for Speed: Shift to appeal to a wider audience.



...also they will be giving me, I mean, giving away a BMW M3 car on the last day of E3, so that is sure to pull quite a crowd.

EA Girls

EA is targeting the girls hard and heavy with new games this year, from EA Girls:



The Littlest Pet Shop series gets four new games, with Littlest Pet Shop Online, Littlest Pet Shop Friends: City, Littlest Pet Shop Friends: Country and Littlest Pet Shop Friends: Beach.



Also,
Charm Girls Club titles were shown, including Charm Girls Club:My Fashion Mall, Charm Girls Club:Show, Charm Girls Club:Prom and Charm Girls Club:Pajama Party

EA's Press Conference lineup: E3 2009

Upon signing in at EA's E3 2009 press conference, press received a USB thumb drive with various assets. While it can't be guaranteed that everything shown today is necessarily included on the stick, with the possible exception of really big surprises, the games we cn expect to learn more about include:

  • Army of Two: The 40th Day

  • Battlefield 1943

  • Battlefield Bad Company 2

  • Brütal Legend

  • Charm Girls Club

  • Dante's Inferno

  • Dead Space: Extraction

  • Dragon Age Origins

  • Fight Night Round 4

  • G.I.Joe The Rise of Cobra

  • Grand Slam Tennis

  • Harry Potter and the Hal-Blood Prince

  • Littlest Pet Shop Online

  • Madden NFL 10

  • Mass Effect 2

  • MySims Agents

  • NCAA FB 10

  • Need for Speed NITRO

  • Need for Speed SHIFT

  • Spore Hero

  • Spore Hero Arena

  • The Saboteur

  • The Sims 3

  • Tiger Woods 10



..And now the show starts...

MS Press: Rock Band: Beatles First Look

After a bit of a technical snafu, we're back with a not-so-live but still fresh enough that it is still consumable look at Microsoft's E3 Press Conference.

"Here comes the sun..." and the first look at Rock Band: The Beatles.  Intro kicks off with an animated feature similar to Guitar Hero, but with a few 3D elements thrown in. We see the guys running from fans, on stage and finally taking part in a large, psychedelic parade.

After the trailer we get our first look at the game in action. Live on-stage demo of "Day Tripper". Looks like there's a new guitar that comes with the game and a new feature: 3-part harmony. Time to pick up some more microphones. Game runs like traditional Rock Band, but with The Beatles instead of the normal cast. During the performance the singers nail a harmony, unlocking a "Unison Bonus".

Release date is 09/09/09 and EA is revealing the first ten songs on the track list:

"I Saw Her Standing There"

"I Wanna Hold Your Hand"

"I Feel Fine"

"Day Tripper"

"Taxman"

"Back in the USSR"

"I am the Eggman/ Walrus"

"Octupus’ Garden"

"Here Comes the Sun"

"Get Back"

The tracklist will be expanded in the future with downloadable full albums. First is "Abbey Road" in March. "All You Need is Love" is Xbox Live exclusive. Proceeds from the download will go to "Doctors Without Borders".

Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison on stage. Helped with game’s vision. Once they leave, Paul McCartney and Ringo enter to a standing ovation.

Ringo: “Game is good. Graphics are good. We were great.”

Paul: “Never thought we would be androids,…”

Ringo: “… but I like the way I walk”

EA Press Conference - Live Blog

One down, three to go. It's EA's turn to show what they have in store. Will we see a little more from Rock Band: Beatles? More news on Brutal Legend or Dead Space Extraction? We'll find out at 2 pm Pacific/ 4 Central.