What Will iPhone Gaming Be Like?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, Internet, Portable/Mobile, Rumors,
The iPhone looks to be one of the first great, albeit pricy, “convergence” gadgets out there. Running a version of MacOS X that will allow you to surf the web, play 4GB worth of MP3s, watch videos (in near-widescreen format), and make phonecalls, the iPhone holds a lot of promise. Still, nothing’s been mentioned yet about the real reason folks will be picking up this $499/$599 monster - it’s a new way to play Snood, Solitaire, and Bejeweled on the go!
Apple may not have announced anything yet, but Gamesindustry.biz is reporting that Electronic Arts is in talks with Apple to produce games for the new gadget. EA has already produced games for the ubiquitous Apple iPod, including translations of Mahjong, Mini-Golf, Tetris, and Sudoku built for its click-wheel interface. Given that the iPhone will have a multi-touch interface, a faster processor, and a nice widescreen display, it seems that EA could be able to produce some really advanced content for this piece of hardware. Perhaps a Madden clone where you can draw-out your playbook on the screen? Or a first-person shooter where you aim and shoot with touch-controls? We’ll have to wait and see how ambitious EA gets, but it’s looking like there’s a lot of promise in this platform.
Read More 
| GamesIndustry.biz
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Popular Science Profiles Will Wright and Spore
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Culture, Electronic Arts, Internet, Reviews, Simulation,
It might not be the most gamer-oriented interview of all time, but at 8 full pages, this interview with Will Wright, the designer of Sim City and the upcoming Spore, covers a lot of territory and contains some interesting discussion of gamer interactions, the social nature of games, game theory, and the risks of the game industry. He also gives his opinion on a lot of current trends, like the Wii’s control scheme (he likes it), and Second life (interesting, but he doesn’t have enough time for it).
This is a great read for anyone in the game industry or anyone who’s just interested in the sociology of games.
Read More | Popular Science
Gallery: Popular Science Profiles Will Wright and Spore
EA Wants Xbox 360 1080P Bragging Rights
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Sports, Xbox 360,
After Sega bragged about bringing true 1080P to the Xbox 360 for the first time, EA stepped up today to say that they would actually be the first to have a 1080P native title. Representatives from EA talked to Gamasutra, and they noted that the upcoming February release of NBA Street Homecourt would support the full 1080P resolution on the Xbox 360 at 30 frames per second and would beat Virtua Tennis 3 to market by a month. Perhaps during the two weeks before Street is released, someone else will step up and steal the 1080P crown yet again.
Read More | Gamasutra
Gallery: EA Wants Xbox 360 1080P Bragging Rights
EA Confirms Spore For DS
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Nintendo DS, Wii,
EA confirmed their continuing commitment to both of Nintendo’s gaming platforms today. Next Generation reports that during EA’s conference call to investors, the company asserted that they are actively directing resources to publishing games on the Wii and the DS, including one of 2007’s most anticipated titles, Wil Wright’s Spore. The company did not suggest a release window for the game. Some of Maxis’ other “god-game” franchises were mentioned, including My Sims and SimCity. Assuming that Spore can live up to the hype, a version of the game on the DS would be yet another way for the handheld to expand its audience.
Read More | Next Generation
Gallery: EA Confirms Spore For DS
Sim City DS Trailer - Currently for Japan Only?
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Simulation, Trailers,
It can’t be long until Nintendo and EA announce that Sim City DS will also be hitting the states… this footage just looks too good, and Nintendo fanboys will be whining A LOT if this doesn’t get ported state-side. Plus Will Wright’s native language is English, so we should get a game with him speaking English… right?!?
The trailer found in the link is the latest advertisement for the Japanese version of the game, and shows of the variety of ways in which the touch-screen is used. This is looking to be a fabulous fit for the DS. The touch screen is of course used to design buildings and layout roads, but you’ll see in the trailer that you can also use the stylus to do things like fight off alien invaders and giant apes that attack from time to time. Hopefully we’ll hear some news from EA soon about a US release…
Read More | GameBrink.com
Gallery: Sim City DS Trailer - Currently for Japan Only?
Wii News Channel, Mario Kart 64 Launch Soon
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Nintendo, Retro, SEGA, Wii,
Nintendo outlined their upcoming releases for the first quarter via press release today. While the first-party Wii-original list is spare, consisting only of Wii Play with a bundled remote launching February 14th, next week will see the release of Mario Kart 64 for the Virtual Console, bringing one of the best entries in that franchise to the Wii. In addition, Nintendo will finally be making the Wii News Channel available on January 27th; hopefully the News Channel will be more fully realized than the Weather Channel. Third-party releases will see SSX Blur coming, which has been getting some decent early buzz. Others include The Godfather: Blackhand Edition and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07; it will be interesting to see how EA handles the Wii remote in its upcoming titles.
The full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Wii News Channel, Mario Kart 64 Launch Soon
Gallery: Wii News Channel, Mario Kart 64 Launch Soon
EA Announces “The Sims Stories” Designed for PC Laptop
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, PC, Portable/Mobile, Release Dates, Simulation,
EA has announced yet another game in the cash-cow Sims universe… this time it’s a set of standalone “Stories” built around characters in the Sims universe. Unlike previous Sims games, which seemed designed to suck every moment of your real life away so that you could give it to your virtual character, The Sims Stories are self-contained (i.e., they don’t require any previous games or expansion packs) and designed for short, casual play on PC laptops with modest specs. The first in a series, The Sims: Life Stories will be a comedy/romance which you play from the perspective of two different generically-named Sims, “Riley” and “Vince”. The initial story will be followed by The Sims: Pet Stories and The Sims: Castaway Stories.
Maybe it’s just that I never really got into the Sims universe, but this sounds like it has “flop” written all over it. How is EA going to convince gamers to spend their money on generic adventure games about everyday characters? It’s a lot like trying to convince somebody to play Sam and Max, but without any artistic style or wacky characters. I suppose you could make the argument that Sims Stories is to reality TV as Sam and Max is to cartoons (and boy is that there reality TV popular these days), but somehow I don’t see this working in the gaming sphere.
Regardless of its success, these games look like they were rather cheap for EA to produce, and will probably net them a bit of a profit. The game was only announced today, but will be debuting in stores on February 7, 2007, a scant 3 weeks away.
Click the jump for EA’s full press release…
Click to continue reading EA Announces “The Sims Stories” Designed for PC Laptop
Read More | EA.com
Gallery: EA Announces “The Sims Stories” Designed for PC Laptop
EA Drops Prices for Lots of Soon-to-be-Obsolete Games
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, Hot Deals, Nintendo Gamecube, PlayStation 2, PSP, Xbox, Xbox 360,
Hoping to clear off shelf space for next year’s iteration of Madden, Fight Night, and Tiger Woods, EA has dropped the price on a few games in their library. Starting tomorrow, you’ll be able to pick up many of EA’s titles for $10-$30 off of their usual price. Of course, with EA’s habit of shutting down servers for unpopular games, you might want to think twice before picking up anything that has a year attached to the title. Still, there are some fairly well reviewed titles to be found, including The Godfather and Need for Speed Carbon, so this might be a good way to get some extra bang out of that gift certificate you got this Christmas.
See the full list of reduced-price titles, after the jump…
Click to continue reading EA Drops Prices for Lots of Soon-to-be-Obsolete Games
Read More | Game Invasion @ Comcast.net
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Playfeed Review: Battlefield 2142 by EA for PC
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: First Person Shooters, Internet, PC, Reviews, Strategy,
A week ago, EA was nice enough to give us a review copy of their latest tactical squad-based FPS, Battlefield 2142. Following in the footsteps of Battlefield 2, 2142 features well-balanced strategic combat with a ton of depth and near-infinite replay value. These are the hallmarks we’ve come to expect from the Battlefield series (as well as its competitors, Counterstrike and Team Fortress among them), but does 2142 have the stuff to rise above the rest? Click the jump for our full review!! 😊
Click to continue reading Playfeed Review: Battlefield 2142 by EA for PC
Gallery: Playfeed Review: Battlefield 2142 by EA for PC
EA To Charge For Cheat Codes
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Electronic Arts, Sports, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace,
Next Generation is reporting that EA has expanded its plan to suck every last dime from gamers. Electronic Arts already made the unusual move to charge for game tutorials for Madden 2007 on the Xbox Live Marketplace, but the latest word is that the company will now charge for cheat codes for Tiger Woods 07. According to Next Generation, the cheat codes will range from $2.50 and $3.75; gamers should still be able to unlock everything in the game by playing through normally. However, if EA continues to monetize every extra in the game then gamers may find that unlocking items may become harder and harder in order to justify the cost of the cheat code.
Read More | Next Generation
Gallery: EA To Charge For Cheat Codes
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