EA announce online initiatives
LOS ANGELES: Electronic Arts Inc. today
announced a powerful slate of new initiatives during a special media
briefing before the start of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3).
Among
the announcements made today: The Sims™ introduced an all-new franchise
with SimAnimals™, EA signed up with legendary development studio id
Software to publish the studio’s next blockbuster franchise RAGE™, NBA
LIVE 09 will tap into online real-time player information through
Dynamic DNA, EA Online unveiled a new identity and micro-transaction
system, BioWare™ revealed new details about its dark heroic fantasy
epic Dragon Age™: Origins, and Maxis™ revealed that the Spore™ Creature
Creator - launched last month - has allowed users to generate more
creatures than there are documented species on planet earth.
“EA's
2008 lineup is our best ever," said EA CEO John Riccitiello. “Our
franchises are the most innovative they’ve ever been and we announced
the largest slate of brand new intellectual properties in our company’s
history.”
SimAnimals
The Sims Label
revealed the first details for its all-new franchise and original
intellectual property SimAnimals, and established a whole new category
of wild animal games. Made exclusively for the Wii™ and the Nintendo
DS™, SimAnimals will be available worldwide in January 2009. In this
game players are challenged to engage, touch, move and try to control a
wide range of animals as they journey deeper and deeper into the
forest. An on-screen animated hand allows players to reach out and
touch, pick up and move everything in the game from foxes and bears to
trees and flowers. Players cohabitate with these animals in their
natural surroundings, and based on how they are treated, the animals
will show love and affection – or dislike and aversion! Players will
have fun developing relationships with wild animals and their families,
and experiencing the humor and drama of surviving in the wilderness.
id Software
EA
has signed an agreement to publish RAGE, the next blockbuster from id
Software, the inventors of the first person shooter. Built on the id
Tech5 engine, RAGE will be released on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer
entertainment system, Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system from
Microsoft, PC and Macintosh® computers. More information about RAGE
will be available at QuakeCon 2008 in Dallas, Texas from July 31st to
August 2nd. More information about QuakeCon is available at www.quakecon.org.
NBA LIVE 09
NBA
LIVE 09 has rewritten the rules and fundamentally shifted the way you
look at sports simulation games. Dynamic DNA emulates - with absolute
precision - an NBA player in every sense of the word. Dynamic DNA then
comes to life with daily online updates throughout the season via the
NBA LIVE 365 feature. NBA LIVE 09 is now constantly evolving and
authentically reflects what you see on the court in your virtual
experience. Just like the real NBA game, players get injured, great
players go cold and no-names breakthrough. If you’re a sports fan, this
is a dream come true – NBA LIVE 09 is made fresh daily all season long.
NBA LIVE 09 will ship on October 7, 2008 in North America with an MSRP
of $59.99.
EA Online Initiatives
EA
Online announced new features to make games easier to use and more fun
to play, including a new identity system described in today’s press
conference as “nucleus.” This identity system stores a gamer’s profile
such as likes, dislikes, friends and achievements. The system carries a
gamer’s identity everywhere they go - across games and platforms – so
that the reputation a gamer establishes in their console can follow
them regardless of what platform they play on – anywhere or anytime.
In
addition, EA Online has built powerful backend tools that will make
micro-transactions a bigger part of the gaming experience. For example,
in the Battlefield Heroes™ store, gamers will be able to get new items
such as weapons, maps and fatigues. The identity system is built into
the new The Sims 2 Store, and will also be available in titles like
Spore and across titles from EA SPORTS.
Complementing the
capabilities of the online identity system, EA also unveiled new
details about its recent acquisition of Three SF and its service called
Rupture™. With Rupture, gamers will be able to track and challenge
friends across all games and gaming platforms. Built around an entirely
open, game-agnostic API, Rupture allows any game developer or gamer
with some scripting knowledge to extend Rupture to support new games,
game events, or statistics. More information about this can be found at
www.rupture.com/developers.
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