Though no surprise to anyone, EA formally announced FIFA 14 today, and detailed the features for this year's iteration of the soccer game. It is in development at EA Canada, and coming this fall for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. The announcement mentions that "additional platforms" will be revealed in the next few months, so we'd expect it to hit the PlayStation 4 and the next Xbox as well.
The announcement of a new entry in an annual sports franchises is never a surprise so what matters is, what's new? EA today parted its luxurious red velvet curtains to reveal NHL 14, with shiny newness including using tech from the Fight Night boxing games in enforcer scraps.
Electronic Arts is apparently feeling out another entry in its NBA offerings. The company is holding playtest sessions for a "new NBA concept" later this week at EA Canada. This could be the next NBA Live title, or another basketball game altogether.
Though the female teams of gender-segregated sports may be far less popular unless they wear skimpy outfits, it's a shame that they're so often entirely excluded from sports video games. Huzzah, then, that EA is continuing its ladyfication of ice hockey in NHL 13 with a pair of female Olympic ice hockey medalists.
Read more: A 'more representative experience' for female hockey fans »
The summer Olympics are underway, providing hours upon hours of summer sports that you almost never watch outside the context of the Olympics. If you're still in the mood for something a little colder and more "xtreme," you can play some of the new modes in the latest SSX update.
The 3.0 update adds one of the most-requested features for the game: simultaneous multiplayer. 3-2-1-Go! is a six-rider multiplayer mode that puts you in simultaneous Trick It and Race It heats.
It's been a light winter for most of the country, but you can get a little downhill powder time in virtually next week. A demo of SSX will be coming next week for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, creative director Todd Batty has announced.
As the origin of "Project Ten Dollar," EA has been dabbling in different ways of implementing its online pass systems. For example, the publisher recently locked single-player content in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Online multiplayer is usually completely locked in most of EA's sports and shooter titles. However, for the upcoming SSX, the company is trying a radical new idea: letting you play online even without the online pass.
Read more: Credits barred off, waiting for you when you register »
EA Sports would like you to give it money for the new FIFA Street long before the game launches, the lunatics! But wait, it's not all take-take-take. You will actually get something in return, bonus content in the form of a football super-team starring professional ball-kicking man Lionel Messi.
Read more: Plus an exclusive venue on the streets of Barcelona »
A developer diary for the upcoming revival of EA's SSX franchise reveals the game's ability to remix music in real-time based on character actions. Whether you're getting big air, grinding, or bailing out, the music in the game will react. According to SSX music producer Freddy Ouano, even music played import into the game from their console will be able to remix on the fly.
As for the game's licensed tracks, the trailer only mentions SSX will include a wide variety ranging from dubstep all the way to metal.
My last experience with SSX was the third game in the series for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox, but easing into EA's new game was as smooth as cutting through fresh snow. It feels great and was easy to get back into the flow.
The marquee feature for this generation's SSX revival is EA Canada's use of NASA satellite topographical data to develop real-world mountains within the game. That is stage one of each level's development, gameplay producer Connor Dugan told me. The next stage was "SSX-ifying" each of the locales by adding big jumps, rails, and adding environmental items to differentiate each location at first sight. Alaska, for example, features the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System.
"Really excited for this... will probably wait for reviews though."
- GoldfishInAJarOfPickles
See all 8 comments
Is there a better way to celebrate affection for your significant other than barreling down a mountain on little more than a plank of wood while being pursued by avalanches? Probably. But that's just what folks will be able to this Valentine's Day when EA Canada's SSX finally hits store shelves. A new trailer for the game, called 'Survive It,' accompanies the announcement.
A new trailer for EA Canada's upcoming extreme snowboarding game SSX has hit the slopes, detailing a few of the game's exotic locales and explaining how the game's mountains have been created using a combination of NASA topographical data and the developer's proprietary 'Mountain Man' technology. According to creative director Todd Batty, 'Mountain Man' allows the team to input the latitude and longitude of any real-life mountain range, and the software will render a 3D topographical model of the location in less than 30 seconds.
It's not quite 'jumpers for goalposts,' but EA has announced at Gamescom that it's bringing back its bare-knuckle street football series FIFA Street next year. The new game, named simply FIFA Street, is being made by FIFA 12 developer EA Canada upon the same engine.
A handful of new trailers have been released for NHL 12, featuring a few bullet-points that outline some of the newest features in the game: enhancements to the "Be A Pro" mode, dynamic goalies, goalie fights, and more.
According to the videos, developer EA Canada is looking to add a slew of new elements to the game's "Be A Pro" mode. Players kick-start their career in the CHL and play for four seasons before being drafted, make a name for themselves in the AHL, and play through "18 levels" in an effort to become one of the league's most pivotal players.
There's a legal document that accompanied my Canadian birth certificate that plainly states in no uncertain terms that, if I were to one day write about video game for a living, I would be legally required to write about any NHL-based game franchise.
Since I am a law-abiding citizen--both back home in Canada and now here in Los Angeles--I offer you a new sizzle trailer for NHL 12, from developer EA Canada.
Joking aside, the trailer features a few enhancements coming to the series, including NHL 12's new "full contact physics" engine. NHL 12 launches on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 13.
Comment on this story