Posts tagged Ea at Switched

Posts with tag ea

'SimCity' Coming to the iPhone

by Lee Bains, posted Nov 22nd 2008 at 1:12PM

Fans of the classic computer game 'SimCity' will be pleased to know that EA has now introduced an iPhone-compatible version, we learned from VentureBeat.

The review of this version, which is essentially 'SimCity 3000' and will soon be available for a mere $9.99, is glowing, with an exception made for the slow loading time. EA assured the reviewer, though, that this kink would be worked out by the time the game is made publicly available at the iPhone App Store in December.

In the meantime, nostalgic iPhone gamers have plenty to keep them occupied. [From: VentureBeat]

EA Planning a 'Wii Fit' Competitor?

by Engadget Staff, posted Nov 1st 2008 at 4:10PM

The Wii Fit might have some competition brewing, if Men's Fitness magazine is a publication worthy of the public's trust, that is. The details are vague, to say the very least but, here's what we "know": Dave Kushner, executive producer at EA Sports, told the magazine that the company is planning an 'unnamed fitness game' with a 'new peripheral' which will connect the Wiimote to the player's body, enabling all sorts of newfangled measurements, movements, and exercises barely dreamed of before. Sounds totally awesome, right? Well, if and when it materializes, we'll be sure to rush to the store, buy one, then sadly rue its unused, guilt-inducing existence every day thereafter.

[Via Nintendo Wii Fanboy]

Will Wright's 'Spore' Slammed by Reviewers for Copy Protection

by Tim Stevens, posted Sep 13th 2008 at 1:34PM

Will Wright's Masterpiece Spore Slammed by Reviewers for Copy Protection

EA's 'Spore,' the latest from 'Sims' creator Will Wright, was hailed by critics as being revolutionary when it was announced -- back in 2005. Since then, it's been delayed and delayed some more, but somehow the hype just continued to grow and grow. The game is now released on the PC and Mac platforms, receiving some mediocre scores from game reviewers who can't quite find a point to it all. More disastrously, though, is the overwhelmingly negative reviews gamers are giving the game at Amazon due to its "draconian" copy-protection system.

The game has to "dial home" to activate itself when installed, which means if you can't play the game if you don't have an Internet connection. More of an issue is that it will only activate itself three times; after that you're stuck calling EA's customer service, who may or may not activate the game for you. Then there's the life-cycle concern: Even if you still have activations left, if in 5 years EA decides to take its activation servers offline will, you be stuck with a useless game?

Irritated buyers are striking back by giving the game one-star reviews on Amazon, and with 1,355 reviews currently lodged, the average is indeed a single star. So, Amazon shoppers at least will know what they're getting themselves into when it comes to copy protection. Will they know just how generally average the game is otherwise, though? [Source: ars technica]

Madden 09 Marks 20 Years of Digital Football

by Tim Stevens, posted Aug 12th 2008 at 5:40PM

It's Madden day, the most anticipated day of the year for many gaming sports fans, when the latest installment of the hugely popular NFL game is released for just about every gaming platform out there -- even the aged PlayStation 2. With publisher EA's lock on the NFL license, it's basically the only game in town, and with no competition, it gets only incrementally better and better every year.

This year's edition, 'Madden 09,' follows that trend by delivering a little more polish here (improved graphics) and a few extra features there (the ability to retry plays), but hardly anything groundbreaking. Here's a roundup of the reviews we've seen posted thus-far.

Gamespot loves the improved graphics and the backtrack feature that lets you rewind a play and try it again, but laments the disappointing online league play.
IGN echoes most of those comments, indicating there isn't all that much new here.
1UP is rather more positive, gushing that the game is "so visually impressive that it's likely to stick in your system all season long."

Beyond the game, this year's cover has become a bit of a story in itself. Every year there's the so-called "Madden Curse," which casts doom and gloom for whichever unlucky soul happens to appear on the cover. This year, though, it was the athlete that cursed the cover, with the game shipping to retailers featuring Brett Favre in a Packers uniform. Brett, of course, is a Jet now, and while EA won't be re-releasing the game for obvious reasons, it has released a downloadable cover that you can print out on your own if you like.

For more on Madden 09, check out the coverage at Joystiq.

'Generation Kill' Dreamboat Kellan Lutz Talks Cell Phones

by Christine Whitney, posted Aug 5th 2008 at 12:04PM

Kellan Lutz, object of adolescent girls' desire and actor in multiple teen moo-vies, is about to get some street cred. The 19-year-old North Dakota native can be seen on the awesome HBO miniseries 'Generation Kill,' the latest project by the creators of our longtime addiction 'The Wire.' Boy's been busy breaking the hearts of middle American youths and shooting the CW's new 90210, but he still found time for a tell-all interview with Switched. Read on, as Kellan reveals the identities of his favorite gadgets, his Wii habits, and his most embarrassing cell-phone debacle.

What gadgets do you always bring with you to the set?

I really do love having my toys to occupy my time between scenes. I usually will bring my Playstation PSP to play EA sports games and other adventure games. I'm playing the new 'God of War' which has the right amount of action to get lost in. I also have a video mp3 player which I use to watch 'South Park' episodes, and movies as well as listen to music.

What cell phone do you have right now and what do you love/hate about it?

I just recently gave up my favorite phone the Palm Treo for a Samsung Instinct. I love touch screen phones as it gives me the right amount of control over a simple phone. I use my phone for everything from scheduling my life to listening to music, so it's more than just a phone. My new Instinct is cool because it has GPS, a full touch screen, and I can check my email when on set, but I would love to see how it stacks up to the new iPhone 3G. So I might just have to get one of those and pick the better of the two to keep. I really do miss the Treo's keyboard though. I got so good using the keyboard while driving to the point where I could text paragraphs without ever looking down. I loved being able to feel the keys. Also I just found out that the Instinct does not have PDF capability so I cannot read my scripts and sides on my phone anymore but it's worth everything--my "Instinct" is to keep it.

Who's the last person you sent a text message to and what was it about?

I sent a text to my brother, we talk all day long. I think I texted him asking him to buy tickets to see 'The Dark Knight' in IMAX. I can't wait to see this movie; I hear Heath Ledger could be up for an Oscar for his role as the Joker...I think it's going to be that good!

Continue reading 'Generation Kill' Dreamboat Kellan Lutz Talks Cell Phones

Hasbro Kills Scrabulous, Hackers Kill Scrabble

by Tim Stevens, posted Jul 30th 2008 at 4:05PM

'Scrabulous' was easily one of the most popular Facebook apps on the planet, letting friends play quick word games against each other a turn at a time. Hasbro, owners of the 'Scrabble' brand, naturally didn't like that and, as soon as they got their own Facebook version of the game rolling, promptly sued the makers of 'Scrabulous' and had Facebook remove the game. A day later, hackers have shut down Hasbro's official replacement, leaving word-loving fans with nothing to play with but wooden tiles.

No details were given of the so-called "malicious attack" against the game, nor has anyone claimed responsibility. It's been enough to effectively make the game, developed by EA, unplayable. This turn of events will surely bring smiles to the faces of fans of the displaced 'Scrabulous,' and will make it even harder for Hasbro to win them over to the officially licensed, and by most accounts insufficient, replacement for the original Facebook word game. [Source: Los Angeles Times]

McCain Uses Video Game Music In Campaign Ad, Upsetting Composer

by Terrence O'Brien, posted Jun 20th 2008 at 2:15PM

In what we're sure is a subtle way to try and connect younger voters, the McCain campaign has been using a chunk of music composed by Christopher Lennertz for 'Medal of Honor: European Assault' in a commercial. Lennertz is unhappy about it's use, however, as he is an Obama booster. Unfortunately for Lennertz, the rights to the music belong to the game's publisher EA, and not the composer.

Lennertz did, however, release a statement voicing his dissatisfaction with the McCain campaign for not seeking his approval or even notifying him of the music's use. Lennertz only found out about his music being used in the commercial when he started recieving e-mails from friends and family.

"I would like to think that someone who believes in the American ideals of business and creativity like Sen. McCain supposedly does, would not want to disgrace or inflict any hardship or ill-will on the artists who create in this country by using their works to promote products and agendas which with they disagree."

Lennertz ened his statement by declaring his support for Senator Obama. The full text of his statement can be found here. [Source: Joystiq]

Activision, Vivendi Announce Biggest Game Publishing Merger in History

by Tim Stevens, posted Dec 2nd 2007 at 2:32PM

Activision and Vivendi Merge, Trump EA As Biggest Publisher

For years now, Electronic Arts has been the global powerhouse in the video game industry thanks to multi-million dollar franchises like 'Madden' and 'The Sims.' Now, though, it's about to be relegated to second place thanks to a new, multi-billion dollar deal that would merge two powerhouse game publishers: Activision and Vivendi Games, creating the largest publisher of video games in the world.

Activision got its start in the Atari days, its first notable title being the classic 'Pitfall!'. Today, after decades of growth and acquisition, it owns major franchises like 'Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock' and 'Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.' Vivendi, on the other hand, got its start as a mid-nineteenth-century firm that only recently got into the media game, but quickly gained publishing rights to massively popular games from Blizzard such as 'World of Warcraft' and the 'Starcraft' series.

However, while Activision has been steadily growing, Vivendi's media group nearly folded just a few years ago until they sold off assets to stay afloat. In this deal, it will spend $1.7 billion and contribute its Sierra and Blizzard companies in exchange for taking a 52-percent stake in the resulting company, called Activision Blizzard.

So, lots of cash changing hands, but what does this mean to gamers? Probably not much. It'll be at least six months before the merger is complete, and a lot longer than that before we start seeing anyone from World of Warcraft showing as an unlockable character in 'Guitar Hero IV.'

From LATimes.com

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Grateful Dead Comes to Rock Band Video Game

by Evan Shamoon, posted Sep 6th 2007 at 11:17AM

Now that we live in a world dominated by licensing divisions, nothing is ever freaking sacred. So it's no surprise that MTV and EA will be joining forces with Rhino Entertainment to bring the Grateful Dead to the upcoming megahit video game, 'Rock Band.' The game is essentially a four-person, multiplayer version of the karaoke-esque 'Guitar Hero' that incorporates all the traditional instruments in a typical rock band.

It looks like 18 master recordings will be resurrected from the Dead's back-catalog, and will be made available as digitally distributed files some time after Rock Band's release this holiday season. Among the songs available will be the classic Dead tracks "Truckin'," "Uncle John's Band," "Touch of Grey," "Sugar Magnolia," and "Casey Jones."

Seriously, though, we're excited. There's a big difference between licensing songs to Toyota to hawk its newest SUV, and licensing them to a capable game developer like Harmonix (creators of the superb 'Guitar Hero' and 'Karaoke Revolution' games), which will ultimately allow millions of people to get closer to their favorite music.

(We think.)

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We Got to Play MySims, and It's a Blast

by Evan Shamoon, posted Jul 25th 2007 at 4:02PM

Yes, EA has been churning out new Sims games since Day Two of the franchise, and no, they've never made one quite like this.

On its surface, the most obvious point of reference for EA's new Wii-exclusive title is 'Animal Crossing': The player is able to create his or her own character and home, and furnish them accordingly. Although the character creation is relatively simplified versus other Sims games, MySims offers plenty of opportunities for variety and individuality. The character generator allows for quite a bit of personality-tuning: Just point the Wii-mote at the article of clothing, accessory, or body part you want to change, and suddenly you're flying through a laundry list of options. The house construction tool and "thing creator" (used to craft various types of items) looks like it'll give budding interior designers and architects a place to get their freak on.

But there's more to the game than just building. There's also a significant layer of "life simulator" involved in the game, bringing to mind other Japanese games like 'Harvest Moon,' and even creator Will Wright's own 'SimCity.' The player is given more of a macro role in the game, with more of a focus on (super simple) urban design and development concepts.

More than anything, though, 'MySims' is about making contact: Where past Sims console titles were about tending to your character's needs, 'MySims' is more role-playing than baby-sitting, as the character must chat with non-playing characters (NPCs) and develop relationships.

Overall, the game is looking like just the breath of fresh air the franchise needed. Look for it in September.

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