Focusing on actual traditional gaming and showcasing true gameplay, EA's conference left me blown away and there was really nothing dull about the experience.
At the top of the show, a trailer for "Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit" was revealed, followed by live gameplay footage. A franchise thought to be pretty much dead is being revived by EA and will go back to its roots with racer/cop gameplay. It looks fun and will certainly excite Need for Speed fans.
"Dead Space 2", the official sequel to the original, was shown to an excited crowd and the gameplay and graphics look stunning and terrifying. That's just how it should be. It is set for release on Jan. 25.
The new "Medal of Honor" game was shown next and became one of the best moments of the conference when a 24 person live gameplay took place. This next entry in the series, the first set in Afghanistan, will be released on Oct. 12, while the multiplayer beta version will be launched June 21 for Xbox360, PS3 and PC.
A bit of a boring stretch followed those three big games. Next on the lineup was "Battlefield Bad Company 2: Vietnam", an expansion pack for the Xbox360 and PC, to be released this winter.
That was followed by "MMA", a fighting game based on mixed martial arts. Announced in conjunction with "MMA" was EA Sports' "Live Broadcast", which will allow players of the game to customize their fighter and take part in fights to win real-life prizes. Seemed interesting enough, but it is definitely something strictly for MMA fans.
Yet another fitness game was revelaed. "Active 2" will be available for Xbox's Kinect on Nov. 16.
NFL legend Joe Montana was brought out to help introduce "Madden NFL 11". It is being described as a game changer, quite literally, for the series with the option to create full game plans. It is set for release in August.
"Sims 3" and "Crysis 2" were shown next. Nothing too special here, both were pretty well expected, and both will be released this holiday season.
"Bulletstorm", by Epic Games, was given gameplay treatment. Besides the overuse of the word "sh*t", it looks kind of fun. But who knows, among all the other great shooters coming out, it could turn out to be the expletive it loves to use so much. Get ready for it on Feb. 11, 2011.
Finally, some more footage from "Star Wars: The Old Republic" was shown and, like the Star Wars game shown at Microsoft's Conference, this game looks awesome, especially if you're into MMO's.
EA had a top-notch conference and exceeded expectations. With such great upcoming releases, gaming fans have a lot to look forward to.
-Brian Russell
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