EA Introduces New Games and Innovations at Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3)

EA Casual Entertainment Label President Kathy Vrabeck to Showcase New Games at Wednesday Press Briefing

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ:ERTS) today revealed the games it will showcase at the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Le Merigot Hotel and Barker Hangar from July 11-13th in Santa Monica, CA. EA’s showcase underscores the company’s new change agenda focused on driving gameplay innovation across core franchises, innovating in new categories and growing the segment through the introduction of new mainstream casual games for mobile phones, handheld devices and the Wii™ from Nintendo.

“In the next six months, EA will launch the most exciting line up of games in our 25 year history," said EA Games Label President Frank Gibeau. “We’re publishing brand new games like Boogie, Skate and Army of Two, introducing Rock Band and The Simpsons and delivering innovations in blockbuster franchises like Medal of Honor and Need for Speed."

The Wednesday press briefing, hosted by Kathy Vrabeck, President EA Casual Entertainment, will reveal the strategic direction for this newly formed Label and highlight titles that will appeal across genres and consumer demographics.

EA’s titles at Barker Hangar include the EA SPORTS™ stalwarts Madden NFL 08, NBA LIVE 08, NASCAR® 08 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 08. Visitors to Barker Hangar can also play Burnout™ Paradise which drives the racing category into a new direction, SimCity™ Societies the highly-anticipated PC title that marks the return of the beloved city simulation franchise as well as The Orange Box by Valve, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames™, Crysis™ and Hellgate™: London from EA Partners. At Le Merigot Hotel, EA will demonstrate The Simpsons on three platforms and will showcase close to a dozen original intellectual properties; Army of Two™, Boogie™, MySims™, The Sims™ 2 Castaway, Medal of Honor Airborne™, Need for Speed™ ProStreet, EA Playground™, Skate, Rock Band™ and an EA Casual trivia game for the Wii.

The complete line-up of titles on display at E3 by location includes:

Titles showcased at Le Merigot Hotel

Army of Two

Never go into battle alone! The deadliest two-man private military outfit a government can buy is hitting retail shelves this winter. Delivering a groundbreaking strategic 3rd person co-op shooter unparalleled in the action genre, EA Montreal’s ARMY OF TWO focuses on gameplay centered around TWO man missions, TWO man strategies, TWO man tactics and a TWO man advantage. The breakthrough gameplay in ARMY OF TWO, with a live or adaptive AI partner, enables you to take advantage of two-man strategies like customizable weapons, vehicles, and tactical shooting. ARMY OF TWO is launching this winter on the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment systems and the Xbox 360™ videogame and entertainment system.

Boogie

Shake it. Sing it. Create it. This summer, gamers will dance, sing and create music videos with this ultimate videogame party package that get players off their couch and playing to a new beat. Not only will gamers be belting out their favorite tunes or dancing to hit songs made popular by bands like The Jackson 5, Britney Spears and Red Hot Chili Peppers, players can capture their best dance moves, record their own voice and make music videos using the intuitive video music creator. Boogie is shipping for the Wii on August 7, 2007 in North America and August 31, 2007 in Europe.

Bejeweled® (mobile)

Be dazzled by the latest Bejeweled! The definitive gem-swapping puzzle game features dynamic animations and sound effects, single and multiplayer modes, tutorials, and voiceover sounds to congratulate you on noteworthy moves. Compete against a friend, or match with a random opponent and hit the mines for endless fun. Launch Zero-Gravity bombs and Cave-ins against your Bejeweled partner as you try to make and clear rows. With post-game chat, Bejeweled delivers fun, social, networked gaming.

EA Playground

Rain or shine, the fun doesn’t have to stop! EA Playground captures the exuberance and nostalgia of your neighborhood playground, turning your gaming space into an arena of interactive fun with immersive activities designed for kids, and the kid inside all of us. This is the definitive all-ages video game. Kids can bring the excitement of the playground home, and parents or even grandparents can re-experience their childhood thrills. EA Playground is your playground favorites smartly delivered on the Wii and Nintendo DS™. Every game is easy to pick-up-and-play and uniquely capitalizes on the control mechanics of each platform. EA Playground is scheduled to ship this Fall.

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™ (mobile)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for mobile is a faithful recreation that lets fans relive the magic of the movie. Harry is tasked to help fellow students in “Dumbledore’s Army" fight against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle which lies ahead. Play as Harry and interact with Hermoine, Ron, Dumbledore and more. Mobile consumers will not only be able to download the game, but will also have access to personalized content based on the fifth book and film, including ringtones, wallpapers and ringback tones. The mobile game will be available from major wireless carriers in the U.S. and Europe in June.

Madden NFL 08 (Wii)

Anyone can play like a pro in Madden NFL 08, whether a new user or a long time fan. Play with only the Wii remote with EA SPORTS™ Family Play or use the Wii remote and nunchuck for more advanced controls; the decision is yours. Featuring an all-new Party Mode, play trivia or chose from 22 different mini-games. Break down plays and highlight key moments with all-new Madden NFL 08 telestrator. Bring the game online, play head to head with friends and keep up to date with the live sports ticker for the ultimate online experience.

Madden NFL 08 (mobile)

Experience all the fun and excitement of real football action with Madden NFL 08. With new features such as Field Vision Passing, players can read and react to their opponent by making the proper throwing decisions for a crucial first down or the game-winning touchdown! Madden NFL 08 features over 75 plays from the real Madden playbook, team-specific offensive and defensive formations, and with Al Michaels and John Madden calling the action Madden NFL 08 is more entertaining than ever before!

Medal of Honor Airborne

Medal of Honor Airborne is set to redefine the series and will change the way shooters are played. For the first time in an FPS, players airdrop into combat and land anywhere in an open battlefield. Conflict on the ground offers unprecedented tactical choice in open battle spaces with a wealth of attack routes and flanking opportunities. Medal of Honor Airborne is the newest installment in EA’s critically acclaimed Medal of Honor franchise, credited with pioneering the WWII FPS genre when it debuted in 1999. Developed at EA Los Angeles under the EA™ brand, Medal of Honor Airborne will be available August 24, 2007 in Europe and August 28, 2007 in North America for the Xbox 360™ system and PC and in November for the PLAYSTATION®3 system.

MySims

MySims, the first game in a revolutionary new line from the developers of the The Sims Label, allows players to build a town, grow a community and discover a world of their own! Designed especially for the Wii and Nintendo DS platforms, MySims introduces a charming cast of whimsical characters while delivering the creative, customizable and classic open-ended gameplay that has enchanted Sims players worldwide. Players begin by creating their own toy-like Sim that reflects their personal style and attitudes. From pig-tails and baseball caps to dreadlocks and Mohawks, the options are endless and the style is unlike any Sims game to date. By creating and customizing unique buildings constructed of blocks that are collected by the player, each experience is one-of-a-kind!

NBA LIVE 08 (Wii)

When the game is on the line and the ball is in your hands, what will you do? Will you penetrate the lane and rise above the rim for a monster slam, or find an opening around the perimeter and sink the game-winning basket? NBA LIVE 08 is fun for all on the Wii with a flick of the wrist with 2 ways to play. Jump in on the action with EA SPORTS Family Play that gives every user the opportunity to enjoy success. You control your team’s shooting, passing, and steals on defense with the Wii remote, and leave the rest up to the AI. If you’re already a pro, use both the Wii remote and nunchuck for more complex controls.

NBA LIVE 08 (mobile)

NBA Live 08 is slam-dunk NBA action! Featuring real players, real teams and real NBA intensity, it’s easy to pick up and play one game or a thrilling season. Players control offense and defense and make highlight reel moves – thundering slam dunks, driving lay-ups and in-your-face blocks. Color commentary by Marv Albert puts players courtside for fun, exciting NBA action – anytime!

Need for Speed ProStreet

Compete at the highest level of street racing with Need for Speed ProStreet. It’s no longer good enough to simply rule your local neighborhood you need to dominate on a global stage. Build the ultimate battle machine, take it to multi-disciplinary showdowns and pit your skills and reputation against the world’s best street racers. This is your chance to prove that you have what it takes to be crowned the next Street King. ProStreet is your ultimate taste of the chaos and unbridled adrenaline of street racing. Every dent, every scratch and every crumpled body panel is a battle scar, proof of your commitment and competitive mettle. The atmosphere is electric – complete with energetic crowds, photo-realistic cars and billowing smoke – all designed to embody the pressure and intensity of the gladiatorial challenge known as Show Down. Need for Speed ProStreet is the realization of the raw power, visceral aggression and intense rivalry that embodies street racing culture. Need for Speed ProStreet races into stores October 31, 2007.

Rock Band

Rock Band is an all-new platform for music fans and gamers to experience music, giving them the chance to rock in the shoes of the biggest guitarists, bassists, drummers and singers of all time -- as a solo superstar or as part of a hard rocking band. Offering four games in one -- Rock Band challenges rockers to master the lead/bass guitar, drums, vocals or play in a cooperative band experience. Built on unprecedented deals with top record labels and music publishers, the music featured in Rock Band spans all genres of rock and includes many master recordings from legendary, previously untouchable artists. Rock Band is developed by Harmonix, published by MTV Games, distributed by EA Partners and will be available for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 system for Holiday 2007.

SKATE

SKATE is the closest thing to skateboarding without actually putting your feet on a board. With innovative Flickit controls that take advantage of the dual analog sticks, SKATE delivers an authentic boarding experience like no other videogame. Players will explore, find and skate the best spots in the fictitious city of San Vanelona. This enormous environment will provide gamers with hours and hours of skating bliss. Players can skate it their way; from finding and owning the hottest spots in the city to downhill racing to entering big contest including the X Games. Players will meet and skate with legends like Danny Way and Mark Gonzales as well as up-and-coming pros including Chris Cole and P.J. Ladd. Along the way, players can capture video footage of their skate sessions at any time to share or brag with their friends across the country via the game’s innovative skate reel feature. Without footage, it’s fiction. SKATE is shipping in September for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3.

The Sims 2 Castaway

EA is excited to announce The Sims 2 Castaway, a brand new game from The Sims Label that challenges your Sims to survive and prosper on an uncharted tropical island. Available on the Wii, Nintendo DS, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and the PSP® (PlayStation® Portable) system this Fall, the journey in The Sims 2 Castaway begins when your Sims are washed ashore and must overcome the forces of nature, craft tools for survival, and explore their surroundings to unravel the island’s mysteries. They’ll learn to build a life from scratch in an undiscovered paradise while unearthing clues that will lead them back to civilization. By discovering the many useful treasures and ancient mysteries hidden deep within a diverse jungle, your Sims will discover all the things a tropical island has to offer, including plants, fruits, wildlife and more! From tattered clothing to sunburned skin, your Sims will change as they take on the many challenges of tropical island life and learn to survive in style. Other titles from The Sims Label at E3 include MySims (Wii, Nintendo DS) and SimCity Societies (PC).

The Simpsons™ Game

THE SIMPSONS GAME features a hilarious, sprawling, and mind-busting storyline crafted by the TV show’s Emmy Award-winning writers. The action-comedy will also feature the full cast of voice actors from the TV show who will reprise their roles for the game. In THE SIMPSONS GAME, Homer, Marge, Bart, and Lisa use exciting, all-new powers to save the world from rising chaos. To help the Simpsons, gamers at home must journey through all of Springfield (as well as vast worlds beyond!), vanquish an amazing array of villains, and fight their way through parodies of popular games.

The Simpsons: Minutes to Meltdown (mobile)

An entirely new version of The Simpsons will also be available this summer for play on mobile phones. Following a unique story line for mobile, players will have yet another experience as Homer Simpson, racing against the clock to prevent a major meltdown at the nuclear power plant. Players will cross paths with some of Springfield’s finest residents, including The Simpson family, Mr. Burns, Barney, Moe, Apu, Krusty the Clown, Officer Lou and more.

Tetris® (mobile)

Captivating, fun, addicting. See why more than 60 million players worldwide have made Tetris one of the most popular games ever! The latest mobile Tetris adds multiplayer to the fun. Play against a friend over a wireless network, or battle the computer in your phone. Block your opponent’s efforts to clear lines. Race a two-minute clock in Ultra and try Forty Line, clearing 40 lines as fast as you can. Plus, enjoy the famous single-player Marathon mode that made Tetris a phenomenon.

Titles showcased at Barker Hangar

Burnout Paradise

Players will be able to take their dangerous driving experience to a whole new level when Burnout Paradise is unleashed this winter. Reborn for the next generation of consoles, Burnout Paradise takes its unique mix of Speed, Aggression, Crashing and Destruction into the open world. With groundbreaking technology and gameplay innovations such as Free Burning and Mugshots, it will smash racing conventions and turn the Driving Category on its head. Next generation technology has enabled an unprecedented level of crash deformation allowing you to experience the most explosive pile-ups in the series’ history. Burnout Paradise delivers the fastest and most destructive racing experience ever seen.

Crysis

Get ready to break out your Nanosuits. From Crytek, the award-winning developers of Far Cry, comes one of the year's most anticipated PC games and first person shooters Crysis. Powered by Crytek's CryENGINETM 2, Crysis is a technical achievement featuring stunning visuals, cunning gameplay and an epic storyline. A mysterious artifact found on an island in the South China Sea leads to a power struggle between the US and North Korea. An elite squad of Special Forces operatives is sent on what turns out to be more than just a standard search and rescue mission when it is discovered the artifact is a Trojan Horse for a massive alien invasion. Both global super powers will have to unite to battle this mysterious, menacing threat amidst a dynamic, ever-changing environment including frightening zero gravity conditions. To defeat the aliens, players will have to change their tactics on the fly, fully utilizing a revolutionary Nanosuit that enhances their ability to use strength, speed, armor or cloak to their advantage, and an arsenal of highly customizable weaponry. The planet's fate will be determined by your ability to adapt to survive. Crysis is slated to ship for the PC in 2007.

Hellgate: London

It’s 2038 and London has been decimated by hordes of horrifying demons. You are the only thing standing between them and the extinction of mankind. Developed by Flagship Studios, the core team behind the global blockbuster Diablo series, comes Hellgate: London, the next benchmark for the action RPG genre. Combining classic hack-and-slash gameplay with first-person shooter and MMO elements, Hellgate provides gamers with a deep, story-driven experience that is infinitely replayable due to dynamic, randomly generated levels and instances. With six distinct character classes that suit different play styles, highly customizable appearances, massive quantities of randomly generated equipment and a robust skill system, players will truly be able to create their own unique hero they can use to fight alone or online. And for those who want to continue the extermination of the demon threat, Flagship will offer ongoing content to subscribers including everything from new character classes, demon types, quests and more.

Mercenaries 2: World in Flames

When a power-hungry tyrant messes with Venezuela's oil supply he sparks an invasion that turns the country into a warzone. But for you, international crisis is all upside: You are a mercenary, and you profit from chaos. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames features a slew of potential clients, all willing to pay you to do their dirty work. These are world powers with deep pockets, deep grudges, and enough arms and ammo to start World War III. Everyone will try and screw you, given the chance. They think they can get away with it, but they don't know rule #1 for mercenaries: EVERYBODY PAYS. Mercenaries 2: World in Flames is developed by Pandemic Studios and will be available Fall 2007 for PLAYSTATION 3, Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 2.

Madden NFL 08

Feel what it’s like to be an on the field general making key personnel decisions on both sides of the ball during the game’s biggest moments in Madden NFL 08. Quickly identify your strongest players on the field before every snap then move them into position to make game-changing, momentum altering plays. Create mismatches and exploit weaknesses as you read and react with Madden NFL 08.

NASCAR 08

Take the wheel of the NASCAR revolutionary car and drive your way to the NEXTEL Cup championship in NASCAR 08. As the new rookie driver on the circuit, develop your racing skills to gain licenses and contracts from hungry owners and unlock legendary top performing cars from the biggest stars of NASCAR. Gain new experiences as you race the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series, and NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, then modify your car’s handling to fit your driving style. Share your setups with the NASCAR online community, then challenge the field in live races with up to 15 other drivers. Experience tomorrow’s racing today in NASCAR 08.

NBA LIVE 08

When the game is on the line and the ball is in your hands, what will you do? Will you penetrate, drive the lane and rise above the rim for a monster dunk, or find an opening on the perimeter and sink a game-winning three? Take control of the game with a full arsenal to win the one-on-one match-up from every spot on the floor. Building upon a solid foundation of 5-on-5 gameplay, NBA LIVE 08 introduces a set of 4 all-new features – Quickstrike Ballhandling, own the paint, hot spots and signature go-to moves to increase user control, while providing an unrivaled level of authenticity to the sport of basketball. Now you can dominate with your Go-To Move with NBA LIVE 08.

The Orange Box

The Orange Box delivers five innovative action games from Valve – creators of the blockbuster Half Life franchise, in one box. The Orange Box includes Half Life 2: Episode Two, Portal and Team Fortress 2 in addition to full versions of award-winning Half Life 2 and Half Life 2: Episode One for the most complete first-person action experience anywhere. The Orange Box will be available for Xbox 360, PLAYSTATION 3 and PC in October 2007.

SimCity™ Societies

The return of one of PC gaming’s most popular series – SimCity – is back! SimCity Societies is in development and is scheduled to hit retail stores this holiday season. Featuring an all-new, revolutionary feature set, SimCity Societies allows players to construct not only the cities they desire, but create their cultures, societal behaviors and environments as well. Build an artistic city, haunted town, green city, spiritual community or most any society you want! Using the accessible, innovative and versatile city-builder, players can create their own kind of city in SimCity Societies. Players start by choosing from a variety of more than 350 building types, each of which allows them to combine, connect and re-arrange structures freely. As each city evolves, players will be able to unlock new buildings that can help advance – or regress – their society. SimCity Societies is coming out Holiday 2007.

Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08 for the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION 3 is brimming with new features that will excite the fans of the game, fans of golf and fans of video games in general. There is an emphasis this year of user created content, which includes created characters, highlights or playable scenarios. Challenge your fellow golfers in an exciting new form of competition with EA SPORTS™ GamerNet. Save replays of a shot, hole, front nine, back nine, or entire round and post it online for other players to challenge. EA SPORTS GamerNet gives you the chance to share your greatest golf moments whenever they happen with other golfers around the world. Using Photo Game Face, gamers can easily create realistic faces for their created characters using digital photography. Photo Game Face takes user customization in video games to the next level.