Dispite the not so impressive lineup from EA’s shooters and other respective genres, probably the biggest event from the Press Conference was their sports games. It was clear that EA Sports has put a lot of time and effort into their sports games to really leave a mark this year at E3.

First, EA announced Madden 13. Powered by the Infinity Engine, Madden 13 shoots for the most realistic physics engine to date. Madden 13 also introduces Connected Career, which combines various career modes from past games and integrates them into an expansive social network career campaign. In Connected Career, the player chooses between a variety of players, from the current roster to popular legends, and works to level them up by completing various tasks to earn experience (XP). Players also have the option to retire their player if they feel they want to change their position, where players will still retain their XP and status.

Players can also manage their team via PC, tablet, or iPad, and can keep up to date on events, status updates, or high scores through the direct twitter feed built into the game. Madden 13 really seems to bring a new life into the sports genre. Also for the Madden series, EA announced Madden Social, a free-to-play Madden game for facebook and various mobile devices. Madden Social is set to launch in the fall.

EA Sports also announced their next game in the FIFA franchise with FIFA 13. The FIFA series promises a new, more in-depth feel to the world of soccer (football outside the US) by incorporating the moves and reflexes of Lionel Messi, one of the world’s greatest soccer players. By incorporating Messi’s playing style, FIFA 13 promises to be one of the most realistic soccer games to date. As for returning fans, those who have FIFA 12 data retain their XP and recieve bonus supplies upon installing FIFA 13. FIFA 13 offers a connection to FIFA games on iPhone, iPad, and Android devices.

EA announced that EA Sports and the UFC will be coming together to release future UFC games through EA Sports, a big break for the UFC in the gaming industry. The future looks bright for the UFC for breaking away from THQ (Toy Headquarters) and joining up with one of the biggest sports game developers of all time.

This year is going to be a hard act for EA to follow, because EA has recently been announced as the worst company in the United States next to previous winners such as AIG and BP. More details about EA’s worst company award can be found here. This year does seem to be the year for EA Sports. With so much involvement in the social aspect of their sports games, and the recent acquisition of the UFC franchise, this year’s lineup of EA Sports games may finally be more than just a glorified DLC expansion of the sports genre.

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About the author

David Sklepko
I am a Student of Anthropology at the University of South Florida. I have many interests in arts and entertainment as well as the culture of societies and how they influence various forms of entertainment.

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