EA Sports: Hardcore sports fans shouldn't fear

by David Hinkle { May 23rd 2008 at 10:15AM }

With all the talk about the EA Sports division creating more accessible sports titles for Wii gamers, many of the fans who've enjoyed the respective sports franchise's innovations over the years might have gotten a tad bit scared. With all this focus on catering to the needs of the Wii's casual crowd, which is where the money is, would the more hardcore sports nuts be left in the dust? The senior director of brand marketing at EA Sports, Reg Hamlett, says the company hasn't forgotten about those folks.

"Hardcore fans are our base and our biggest fans," commented Hamlett. "Their opinions and seal of approval are of extreme importance to us. That said, the All-Play brand is aimed at those consumers who seek to leverage the unique attributes of the Wii and play a sports game that utilizes these unique features." So, it would seem, those of you looking forward to the option of playing with more casual controls, yet immersed in the same tried-and-true form of the respective sport, can rest assured. Apparently, EA Sports won't be dumbing down any of its big sports titles. But, with the introduction of Facebreaker, the opportunity for EA Sports to develop spin-off titles in that tone might be one too great for the company to ignore.

Tags: casual, ea, ea-sports, electronic-arts, hardcore, sports

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

THe Shit @ May 23rd 2008 11:05AM

I just want some goddamn Hockey.

Justin @ May 23rd 2008 11:55AM

Give us Goddamn hockey, I totally agree with that.

Darnell @ May 23rd 2008 11:11AM

How many hardcore madden players are playing the wii version over the 360 or PS3 version. Unless the wii is their only console, I don't think that many.

Joe Cart @ May 23rd 2008 12:01PM

I play Madden on the Wii. I made the conversion from like 7 years of PS2 Maddening to Wii for Madden 08, and I do like the wii verison better. I play online and am ranked in the top 100. Its innovative, fun, and everything else, I just hope that the wii version of will make the conversion so that 09 will be similar to the 360 and PS3 versions as far as visuals and presentation is concerned.

Now, with that, i'm not totally crediting the 360 and PS3 visuals of Madden because some of the players look too big for thier real size, and some of them dont look like the real person at all, and they look blocky, but its getting better.

The motion controls are awesome, though there are some minor adjustments that should be made. And maybe the options (for all you whiners out there) to use the classic controller could be useful to some.

TwhiT @ May 23rd 2008 11:35AM

Screw EA. Other companies make better games now

Co @ May 23rd 2008 11:45AM

Can't wait for NCAA 09. Tebow and Company gonna be runnin shit in the SEC!!

Matt @ May 23rd 2008 12:44PM

They better make NHL 09 for the Wii.

Is it too much to ask for a hockey game on the Wii? Every other sport is on there. I don't care if it's EA or 2kSports, but I've been waiting a long time for someone to release a hockey game. I'm not going to buy a 360 or PS3 just for that, though.

There hasn't been a real hockey game on any Nintendo platform since NHL 06 on the Gamecube. That's a travesty.