will ea sports go ftw at e3?

After weeks of preparing to show off their studio’s best, developers from around the world descent on Los Angeles for this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo, where gaming press will be ready to share with the public the latest news at a moment’s notice. Teams at EA SPORTS have put together videos, gamed hours on demos, and are ready for the massive questions that are bound to come from the hungry appetites of those lucky enough to get an invite to the expo.

The EA SPORTS stable will be in full force at E3 this year but not every game there will be fully accessible to those in attendance. EA Canada’s NHL 09, the winner of no less than twelve Sports Game of the Year Awards, will be inviting an even luckier few press inside closed doors with Producer David Littman and the upcoming NHL 10 game. For the rest of us, we’ll have to keep our eyes peeled for an upcoming blog on physical play from Producer Sean Ramjagsingh and new news about the upcoming EA SPORTS Hockey League Invitational Tournament to that will start later in June. Follow @NHL10 and myself, @sk88z, for when the latest news drops.

There will be many channels for our community to follow us at E3. I’ll be working with fellow EA SPORTS Community Managers @easports @raczilla, @dochowser, @dewiel, and @EARom relaying video, pics, and stories from our team of @The_Eric_Gray and @CLOSPHOTO on the ground at the LA Convention Center. I just hope the two Magic fans aren’t going to get themselves into any trouble running around downtown LA with their Orlando jerseys on. Also down there from our team will be @Active_Girl who will be busy getting people Active and started on the 30-Day Challenge that many are starting today.

I’m not going to let anything out of the bag before Peter Moore gets on stage Monday, though I will let you know that if you’re a Fight Night Round 4 fan, you’re going to want to tune in to http://ea.com/e3 at 2PM PST. Along with some news about one of the most anticipated games of the year, there will also be a few surprises and special guests.

We will also be posting video from press conferences and surrounding mayhem on http://insideblog.easports.com and don’t forget to tune in everyday at 12PM PST to EA SPORTS Live with the Thompson Brothers @PrimeTimeSA and @mamboking to get the latest sports gaming news from E3.

On the heels of this year’s biggest upset in the French Open as Rafael Nadal loses his first sets since 2007 and first match ever in Roland Garros, EA SPORTS will be hitting some hard baseline shots of its own with the launch of EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis later this week. Check out a recent blog and video from Producer Thomas Singleton talking about all four Grand Slam venues including the French Open’s Roland Garros and the historic Wimbledon, making its first ever appearance in a tennis video game.

Not to be outdone, EA Tiburon will be rolling out the red carpet putting the driver in the hands of the press in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10. Along with Grand Slam Tennis, the Wii version will be compatible with the new Wii Motion Plus and will be really taking the game to the next level. On the PC side, check out Peter Moore’s most recent blog on Tiger Woods PGA Tour Online that will allow gamers to pick up and play anytime they’ve got to get their swing on.

With football season right around the corner, mainstays Madden NFL 10 and NCAA Football 10 will be put through the paces in the hands of the press. Check out one of the latest NCAA Football 10 videos with Producer Ben Haumiller and Game Designer Russ Kiniry on the game’s Season Showdown feature. For you looking to see more on the senior title, watch and listen to Producer Phil Frazier and other devs talk about Online Co-Op, new to the game and something the community has been craving for years, in this installment of the Developer Series.

So you’ve noticed those videos on the new EA SPORTS Beta site? Just this past week, the online web teams from both studios have launched a new look for EA SPORTS fans which now incorporates a freshly skinned EA SPORTS World to match into the new EA SPORTS Beta site. Check out the EA SPORTS Beta FAQ here and feel free to leave your feedback on the site in our forums.

Over the past six months as an EA SPORTS Community Manager here at EA Canada, it’s been a pleasure to bring our fans behind the scenes action from producer blogs and Q&A’s to athlete interviews to the ultimate in community participation hosting game fans at our Community Events. We’ve made some huge strides not only listening to the EA SPORTS community but bringing you into the mix and having you all take part in the design and creation of our titles. Check out last week’s FIFA 10 Community Day hosted by Rom Broad and our other FIFA Community Managers from around the world.

I recall a time when I started at EA Canada over five years ago as QA Tester and I made a comment on the forums that was taken down because it came from someone within the company and wasn’t an ‘official comment’ on the game. I am glad to say, those days are no longer as we continue to thin the veil between our fans and the developers. Over the next months we’ll continue to try new things and continue to break down the barriers with hopes of involving our community, and of improving and making better titles year in and year out.

Here’s hoping EA SPORTS goes FTW at E3 this week!

Live with The Williams Sisters

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TYSON - A Review

For those of you that are itching for more on the game, stay tuned to IGN who will be revealing more boxers from the roster.

When I was a kid, I watched Mike Tyson knock out Michael Spinks and it blew my mind. I had no idea who this guy was and he took society by storm in and out of the ring. My memories of him consisted of fast KO's and celebrity appearances whether it was in a Fresh Prince music video, a video boxing game, or even in a wrestling ring. In the film TYSON though, you will see none of those memories other than the knockouts and you will see a side of him that you might not be too familiar with.

Here is my personal review of the film that I had the pleasure of watching during last Monday's NYC premiere screening with Mike and his guests.

TYSON

He is the most feared boxer ever.

After the red-carpet screening in New York, even Mike himself said that after watching the documentary as objectively as possible, he found himself scared of this person on the screen. It is not something that he’s used to even though, during a period of his life, he would call himself God and feel capable of anything. This, in fact, was something totally new to him and, for most in the audience, it too was a very different way to see Mike express himself.

Some were used to seeing the Tyson that won the heavyweight championship at a tender age of twenty growing up with him during his storied boxing career. Some were used to seeing the Tyson whose drama outside the ring constantly put him in the spotlight. While some were used to seeing him as the introverted kid he describes himself as on a windy path just like a lot of people we are likely to already know in our own lives.

You do not hear the questions being asked, you only hear Mike. In his words, and you listen and hear a truth about Mike you haven’t heard from him before. Gone is the fear in the words that sometimes had no meaning and were only said to entice fear in his opponents whether they be in or outside the ring. Gone are the attempts of his ego trying to win another battle, for fear of loss is the worst fear of them all especially for a competitor such as Iron Mike. What is left is just Mike and a look back at one of the greatest boxers that we will ever know.

This film will remind you of why he became so feared in the ring at such an early age. Watching the clips from those fights you see the intensity in his eyes when he walks to the ring. He walks with purpose and electrifies audiences just by entering it. Every fight is the culmination of years of training with one of the most skilled boxing minds in the game, Cus D’Amato. He was the man Mike describes as one of the only persons he ever trusted, raising him from the age of twelve to become a defensive master who would bob and weave and lean and punch in combinations that nobody had ever seen before. Power punches with remarkable speed that came from places they shouldn’t, and with accuracy and precision that only years of training could provide. Kid Dynamite, as he was first nicknamed, was the post-Muhammad Ali fighter the world dreamed of.

This film will challenge what you think you know about Mike. You will need to let go of what you have seen in the media during some of that time. In today’s social media, truth is as prevalent as ever, and this will be one truth you will never forget as Mike takes you within and bears it all for the world to see.

Do some people still long for Iron Mike? The adored God of the ring who couldn’t be stopped; who travelled all over the world, and was greeted by millions of adoring fans wherever he went? If I want to re-live Iron Mike, I’ll pop in my copy of Fight Night Round 4 when it comes out and watch old fights on youtube.

I now understand that for Mike, it isn’t about going back, it’s about moving forward and accepting everything he’s done, without any need to ask for forgiveness. As one of the most influential beings on this planet, when he does this, just as we followed him in his boxing career, we will follow him in his film career and, forgive him anyway, because he’s only a man who is not anymore a God than you or I am.

And I don’t believe that is taking anything away from him at all. He talked afterwards that he’s still in awe of how people are responding to the film and how he’s not used to not having to train hard for this type of approval that he would normally receive from winning a fight. Here he was, letting it all hang out, take it or leave it, and people were accepting it. People were looking beyond it and accepting him.

The question was asked from the audience of what he would do now. He mentioned he is working with Jamie Foxx on a feature movie on his life. After watching the documentary about it, I am intrigued how Foxx will portray Tyson as I’m sure this film will have much influence on the making of that one.

In the end, I learned more about Mike than I ever thought I knew about him. I was always a fan since the first time my father and I watched him KO Michael Spinks in 1988. And now, I’ve gained a level of respect for the man after what I’ve seen of him in this film.

He is one of the most influential people in the world today.

Welcome Back, Tiger

From the madness of the NCAA Basketball tournament to the stretch run of both NBA and NHL playoffs, this weekend had no shortage of team sports’ magic and mayhem. You’ve got Villanova and Michigan State downing #1 seeds to go the Final Four, the ‘Nucks in a brawl with the ‘Hawks in a potential first-round preview, and the Raptors with a last-shot OT win over the Bulls. To be honest though, it was the DVR for a lot of those games as it was the individual play of one player that had me shaking my head in disbelief and glued to my HD most of Sunday.



With his finest red with white pin-striped shirt on, Tiger Woods once again reminded the sports world of what we’ve been missing for the past nine months. At the Arnold Palmer Invitational this past weekend, down by five strokes to Sean O’Hair after the third round, the buzz began as people wondered if Tiger would be able to make up the difference going into Sunday’s final round.

This was probably the most pressure he’s faced in a long time. Sure there was the Accenture match play event last month where he lost to Tim Clark who hadn’t made a bogey that entire round; though who could blame Tiger after making only one bad shot on the 15th? Prior to that, the only time he had gone FTW in the last nine months was during his victory over Guillermo at the EA SPORTS Gillette Champions of Gaming tournament in January.

I remember watching him at last year’s US Open cringing with every shot as he went FTW after a 19-hole playoff. I had no idea that it would be his last tournament for such a long period of time. For most athletes, the absence away from the sport would bring about some rust that would take some time to brush off. For most athletes, it would take a few weeks or a few games or a few tournaments to get back into the swing of things. Though as we’ve seen time and time again from the 14-time major champion, Tiger is not like most athletes.

On Sunday, following a mid-morning morning rain-delay, Woods would need 15 holes to reduce the five-stroke deficit and pull in to a tie with O’Hair playing in the final group. O’Hair could muster only one birdie all day and though he played with the lead, when you’re grouped with Tiger who was on fire on the final day, it must’ve felt as if it were only a matter of time before O’Hair would become one of many that would succumb to the pressure by Sunday evening.

On the 16th hole with Woods in the rough after gaining a share of the lead on 15, O’Hair would all but seal his destiny going for the pin with a 7-iron and coming short and wet to bogey the hole. On his swings, Tiger would go up and down for par to take his first lead of the tournament. On the ensuring hole, Woods would make it interesting with a bogey while O’Hair would make par setting it up for yet another dramatic Bay Hill finish.

With the night looming, the magic continued as Tiger would make two perfect shots to set himself up for a birdie putt no less than 12 feet away. O’Hair, who had been hitting right most of the day, just didn’t seem to get into a rhythm (could you blame him?) though he would par 17 to tie Woods and really did nothing wrong on 18 other than miss his birdie putt.

Though that was all that Tiger would need and in all too familiar position, as he did a year ago with O’Hair in the final group again and for the third time at Arnie’s tournament, Woods would drain the putt on 18th at Bay Hill FTW and pump-fist his way to his first victory since the US Open. It was his 9th victory in his last 14 PGA Tour starts.

"It feels good to be back in contention, to feel the rush," Woods said. "It's been awhile, but God, it felt good."

It’s a feeling that many, including myself, felt through each hole and every stroke on Sunday as well.

Welcome back to the rush of the winner’s circle, Tiger.

EA Football World's 1 Millionth Video

EA SPORTS™ Football World: The Millionth Video