EA Games Taking Full Advantage Of NFL License
In an effort to disprove its many critics, Electronic Arts is setting out to prove that the exclusivity deal struck with the NFL is not stifling creativity in football games.
So far, the only genres EA has covered have been football simulation (Madden, NCAA), arcade action (NFL Street) and strategy (NFL Head Coach). EA is hoping to prove their creativity, as well as bring new fans to football, with three new NFL licensed games in three genres new to the NFL:
NFL Cheerleader
Seen as a way to gain brand appreciation among the teenage girl and the shut-in 20 and 30 something male market by many around the league, NFL Cheerleader might remind players of the popular Dance Dance Revolution series. EA is quick to point out the difference: "as opposed to dancing to pop songs with colorful abstract graphics in the background players go through the steps of everybody’s favorite cheer routines while real time simulated games - using the current Madden engine - are played out in the background." Players choose a team and face the difficult task of choosing the right cheers to keep team morale high. Of course, just like real life the effect on team morale is never enough to actually determine the outcome of the game being played out, but users can hope to be hit on by their favorite NFL players who even had their most successful pickup lines recorded for the game.
Michael Vick’s Chaos in the Peachtree State
As the spiritual successor to Michael Jordan’s Chaos in the Windy City, Vick’s new action platformer has seen several improvements over last decade’s game. Chief among them is EA’s use of next gen hardware to enlarge the environment from simply the windy city to the entirety of the peachtree state. This should give gamers a veritable panoply of environs in which to live out their fantasies of being Michael Vick in a postapocalyptic Georgia armed only with elementally themed footballs, such as the fireball and the iceball, to throw at enemies.
Gridiron Saga: Ikkaisen to Jikkai (First and Ten)
The NFL sees this game as their best chance at becoming a huge hit in the Japanese Market. Players guide a party of up to 4 of their favorite super deformed NFL players through an epic tale of love, hope, dragons and really big offensive linemen in this Japanese produced RPG. This game was initially being developed under the title Far East of Eden Ziria – Tales From Distant Jipang. EA saw an opportunity and struck, buying the development house and tweaking the engine to fit the NFL’s vision of what an RPG should be.
