GameSpasm

When Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 was revealed to have PlayStation Move support, we wondered why EA would support every other motion-controlled peripheral (all two) and not Microsoft's Project Natal. So we hit up EA for an answer. As it turns out, EA just wasn't "in a position" to add Natal support to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 -- but the company doesn't rule out implementation in future installments of the franchise.

"We are always evaluating new technologies and Natal would be a perfect fit for the Tiger Woods PGA Tour franchise," an EA spokesperson told Joystiq, "however we are simply not in a position to do so with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11."

There you have it: Natal is a "perfect fit," but Tiger Woods 11 won't have that functionality. Our guess? The Natal dev kits haven't shipped and a post-release implementation patch would not be cost effective.

EA: No Project Natal support for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: Ea, Electronic Arts, Golf, project-natal, Sports, tiger woods, Tiger woods pga tour 11

Related posts

• For EA Sports, Few Options Other than Toxic Tiger [Scandal] (0)
• Sony Motion Control Support Confirmed for Tiger Woods Title [Motion Control] (0)
• It’s official: EA sticks with Tiger, announces Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 (0)
• EA Sports Happy To See Tiger Woods Address the Public [Clips] (0)
• Tiger Woods to Share Cover of Tiger Woods Game [Cover] (0)

That's right, folks -- Harmonix has just revealed that Green Day: Rock Band will be available for all come June 8 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Players will progress through the career of the trio, unlocking collectible images (more than 100, apparently) and some 40 minutes of "rare and unreleased" footage from interviews, outtakes and performances along the way.

The game will also sport the same vocal harmonizing feature that made The Beatles: Rock Band such a delight for mic hogs and comes loaded with 47 Green Day tracks, including "Brain Stew," "Jaded," "Hitchin' a Ride," "American Idiot," "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

Oh, and if you're looking to export these tunes, worry not: all 47 tracks are fully exportable to a console hard drive and playable in Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the recently announced Rock Band 3. Plus, if you've picked up the six Green Day tunes already available as DLC, you can play them in the new game with "added vocal harmonies, unique performance visuals, and exclusive archival material."

Green Day: Rock Band will be available as a standalone game for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99, while Wii owners will get a bit of a price break at $49.99. A special edition Green Day: Rock Band Plus will also come to Xbox 360 and PS3 for $69.99 and includes fancy packaging, an "export" feature (we assume, a voucher to export the disc tracks to a hard drive) and the six previously released Green Day DLC tracks.

Green Day: Rock Band releases June 8 worldwide originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: demiurge, demiurge-studios, Ea, green-day, green-day-rock-band, harmonix, mk12, mtv-games, q2-2010, release-date, Rock Band

Related posts

• MTV teases ‘Green Day Rock Band’ [update] (0)
• Harmonix cooperatively developing Green Day: Rock Band with Demiurge, MK12, others (0)
• Rock Band 3 out this holiday season (0)
• More Green Day headed to Rock Band (0)
• Green Day: Rock Band won’t be the only Rock Band in 2010 (0)

In early 2009, Centerscore co-founder Oliver Miao was assigned an extremely daunting task. His studio had recently been acquired by EA Mobile, and his higher-ups had requested an iPhone version of the studio's successful teen-dating sim series, Surviving High School. The difficulty didn't come in developing the title, but rather, in monetizing it.

During his GDC panel titled "Surviving the iPhone: EA's Original Game Bet," Miao recounted the different business models Centerscore proposed to EA Mobile for SHS. The initial idea was to sell the game for 99 cents, and then hand out additional weekly "episodes" for free. While this would help build the brand, EA Mobile didn't anticipate enough return on the investment. It was denied, and Centerscore was sent back to the drawing board.

The second idea was to offer the current episode of the game for free, but charge 99 cents for bundled episodes from previous weeks. This idea was also shot down, and Centerscore's project was threatened with cancellation. Finally, the two parties came up with a solution that's proven to be fairly lucrative: give the current episode for free, charge for previous episodes, and offer the next episode in advance for an additional 99 cents -- quite an innovative business model.

Of course, Centerscore could have easily raked in the cash by simply charging $500 for one of its first mobile titles, Garfield Bowling. We can't think of a price we wouldn't pay for that gem.

GDC: Surviving High School creator talks clever, profitable microtransactions originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 07:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: business-models, business-strategy, centerscore, Ea, EA-Mobile, gdc, gdc-2010, Microtransactions, surviving-high-school

Related posts

• WSJ: Playfish creating social game based on ‘well-known EA brand’ (0)
• Vicious Engine 2 adds Wii, PS2 and PSP (0)
• Spore Creatures creeps onto iPhone and iPod Touch (0)
• Sony’s free PhyreEngine expands to PSP (0)
• Schappert clarifies EA’s sweeping DLC and online strategy (0)

According to the man who's had to write the cheques for the game's development, Electronic Arts is taking massive multiplayer online title The Old Republic seriously. Very seriously. More »
Tags: Bioware, Ea, NEWS, PC, Star wars: the old republic

Related posts

• BioWare’s ‘Star Wars’ MMO Planned For Spring 2011 (0)
• UPDATE: ‘Return to Ostagar’ DLC For ‘Dragon Age: Origins’ Hitting Next Week? (0)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic Heading For A Spring 2011 Launch [Release Date] (0)
• BioWare Denies PS3 Plans For ‘Mass Effect 2′ (0)
• BioWare Confirms Spring 2011 Release Window For The Old Republic [Release Dates] (0)

Bringing back an old franchise that withered isn’t easy. Bringing back Medal of Honor the way it’s coming back this year? That’s hard. More »

Tags: dice, Ea, ea la, Impressions, Medal-of-Honor, Original, PS3, Xbox 360

Related posts

• Break Down Doors With These Medal Of Honor Screens [Screens] (0)
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Review: Judging A Book By Its Cover Works [Review] (0)
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Developer Takes Your Calls Live Today [Podcast] (0)
• Who You Can Kill, Who You Can’t [Death] (0)
• True Crime Impressions: Finally, Dumpster Kills [Gdc10] (0)

It's impossible to avoid comparisons between EA's upcoming Medal of Honor reboot and Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare series ... so, I'll just get it out of the way: Medal of Honor unapologetically follows in the footsteps of Call of Duty. In fact, I'm willing to raise the possibility that Medal of Honor could be the "true" sequel to the Call of Duty 4 campaign many of us are still waiting for after suffering through Modern Warfare 2's increasingly preposterous storyline.

Recently, I got a peak at a new Medal of Honor trailer which lays it out like this: There are two sides to every war: the sledgehammer and the scalpel. What Call of Duty 4 did so well was to portray exactly how these two components work in tandem, as it featured scenarios in which large assaults aided small elite forces, and vice versa. Medal of Honor promises to recreate similar battlefield situations, with the "scalpel" represented by the Tier 1 Operators, an elite branch of SOCOM.

Continue reading Impressions: Medal of Honor

Impressions: Medal of Honor originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 04:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: Ea, eala, Medal-of-Honor, Project mercury

Related posts

• The ‘Medal of Honor’ Beard Cover Interview (0)
• First gameplay footage of Medal of Honor revealed (0)
• Rumor: Next Medal of Honor Set In Present Day [Ea] (0)
• Rumor: Leaked video shows Mercenaries multiplayer sequel (0)
• Pandemic closes physical doors, brand lives on (0)

EA's been keen on in-game advertising since 2006, and, two years ago, signed a pretty big deal with in-game ad provider Massive. Apparently, though, EA won't be re-upping that agreement. As Mediaweek reports, the publisher has instead decided to take it upon itself to coordinate in-game ad sales starting with Madden NFL 11.

Elizabeth Harz from EA's global media sales division says it's basically a situation in which EA is cutting out the middle man. "Fundamentally, [EA sales execs] are talking about these gaming audiences everyday already," meaning that EA is already discussing who's playing and what products would best target those audiences.On its own, EA can create more diverse and specific advertising packages, with increased ability to personalize packages based on the potential advertisers' targeted demographic. Exciting stuff, we know.

[Via Game Politics]

EA shifting ad sales in-house starting with Madden NFL 11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: ads, advertising, Ea, Electronic Arts, in-game-ads, in-game-advertising, Madden, madden-11, massive

Related posts

• EA shifting ad sales in-house starting with Madden NFL 11 (0)
• Visceral begins shift from Dante’s Inferno to Dead Space 2 (0)
• Phantasy Star Portable 2 product placement is getting ridiculous (0)
• Madden 10 Now Pops Up Ads with Annoying Frequency [Ads] (0)
• ‘Big Dawg’ vs. Madden lawsuit dismissed (0)

EA's been keen on in-game advertising since 2006, and, two years ago, signed a pretty big deal with in-game ad provider Massive. Apparently, though, EA won't be re-upping that agreement. As Mediaweek reports, the publisher has instead decided to take it upon itself to coordinate in-game ad sales starting with Madden NFL 11.

Elizabeth Harz from EA's global media sales division says it's basically a situation in which EA is cutting out the middle man. "Fundamentally, [EA sales execs] are talking about these gaming audiences everyday already," meaning that EA is already discussing who's playing and what products would best target those audiences.On its own, EA can create more diverse and specific advertising packages, with increased ability to personalize packages based on the potential advertisers' targeted demographic. Exciting stuff, we know.

[Via Game Politics]

EA shifting ad sales in-house starting with Madden NFL 11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: ads, advertising, Ea, Electronic Arts, in-game-ads, in-game-advertising, Madden, madden-11, massive

Related posts

• EA shifting ad sales in-house starting with Madden NFL 11 (0)
• Visceral begins shift from Dante’s Inferno to Dead Space 2 (0)
• Phantasy Star Portable 2 product placement is getting ridiculous (0)
• Madden 10 Now Pops Up Ads with Annoying Frequency [Ads] (0)
• ‘Big Dawg’ vs. Madden lawsuit dismissed (0)

Surprise! Major MMOs cost batty-bonkers-cuckoo amounts of money to produce. Eurogamer reports that Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown said as much today, describing Star Wars: The Old Republic as the "largest ever development project, period, in the history of the company." EA is apparently betting big on having something like Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft with The Old Republic. Brown guesstimates that WoW cost about $100 million to launch back in 2004 -- the game makes something like that now in a month.

The executive explained that the average game costs about $30 million to produce, but that "any MMO costs significantly more than that." With an expected spring 2011 release, hopefully EA will start making a return at that time on its investment in a galaxy far, far away. Otherwise, the gaping maw of the Rancor would be preferable to what investors will do.

SWTOR is EA's most expensive project yet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: Bioware, budget, Development, Ea, Electronic Arts, MMO, Star Wars, Star wars: the old republic, swtor

Related posts

• SWTOR is EA’s most expensive project yet (0)
• Star Wars The Old Republic dev diary: Returning to Taris (0)
• Return to Alderaan in Star Wars: The Old Republic (0)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic site launches Jedi class page (0)
• Farm moisture on Tatooine in these Star Wars: The Old Republic screens (0)

Surprise! Major MMOs cost batty-bonkers-cuckoo amounts of money to produce. Eurogamer reports that Electronic Arts CFO Eric Brown said as much today, describing Star Wars: The Old Republic as the "largest ever development project, period, in the history of the company." EA is apparently betting big on having something like Activision Blizzard's World of Warcraft with The Old Republic. Brown guesstimates that WoW cost about $100 million to launch back in 2004 -- the game makes something like that now in a month.

The executive explained that the average game costs about $30 million to produce, but that "any MMO costs significantly more than that." With an expected spring 2011 release, hopefully EA will start making a return at that time on its investment in a galaxy far, far away. Otherwise, the gaping maw of the Rancor would be preferable to what investors will do.

SWTOR is EA's most expensive project yet originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 11 Mar 2010 01:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments Tags: Bioware, budget, Development, Ea, Electronic Arts, MMO, Star Wars, Star wars: the old republic, swtor

Related posts

• SWTOR is EA’s most expensive project yet (0)
• Star Wars The Old Republic dev diary: Returning to Taris (0)
• Return to Alderaan in Star Wars: The Old Republic (0)
• Star Wars: The Old Republic site launches Jedi class page (0)
• Farm moisture on Tatooine in these Star Wars: The Old Republic screens (0)