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Posted
Oct 17 2009, 07:41 PM
Earlier this week, we made an
announcement that may have barely even made your radar, but I think is
extremely meaningful during National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. We
have launched two initiatives that we hope in some small way will help support
the goal of curing breast cancer.
- We've launched
an exclusive breast cancer awareness apparel package for EA SPORTS Complex
on PlayStation Home. The limited edition apparel sells for $2, it will be
available through November 11 and all proceeds will go to Drew Brees's Dream
Foundation charity.
- Meanwhile, our EA
SPORTS Active team has partnered
with Susan G. Komen for The Cure to sponsor various Race for the Cure events
around the United States this month and has launched a special edition EA
SPORTS Active "Pink" package, available throughout October.
As someone who has been
personally impacted by this terrible disease, I would urge all of us to learn
more about how we can help contribute to learning more about early detection
and treatment. Go to www.komen.org for more
information.
I thought of both of these
initiatives this past Tuesday night when I joined nearly a thousand others from
our industry here in San Francisco for the annual Nite to Unite black tie
event. While making and selling great games is our core mission in being
a successful company, I'm also grateful to the people at EA and throughout the
industry who recognize the need to give back, and in particular to children's
causes. As a past co-chair of the event, I take great pride in what the
industry has accomplished philanthropically over the past years.
For those of you not familiar
with it, Nite to Unite - for Kids (NTU) is an annual dinner hosted by the ESA
and supported by members of the association (companies like ourselves at EA and
other publishers and related companies) and the interactive entertainment
industry to raise funds for the ESA Foundation, which helps to make a
difference in the lives of America's kids. To date, NTU has raised more than
$10 million benefiting various organizations, and from the look of the activity
around the auctions this year, it seems like we will be adding handsomely to
that amount with this year's contribution.
Both the work our teams are
doing to support breast cancer awareness as well as the support shown across
the industry for NTU are proud examples for an industry that is all-too-often
the brunt of unfair and unwarranted criticism surrounding the supposed negative
impact we have on the social lives of young people here in the US and around
the world.
On a lighter note, we've been
thrilled with the launch of FIFA in Europe and I'm obviously anxious to see how
the North American launch goes next week (Nov. 20). As we have throughout
this summer and early fall, we continue to learn a lot about the changing
habits of EA SPORTS fans and their voracious appetite for online content - so
much so that sometimes it threatens the integrity of our robust online
servers. We asked "How Big Can Football Get?" throughout our FIFA 10
marketing campaign, and consumers in Europe quickly overwhelmed even our most
optimistic projections, shattering online records that we had just set two
months ago with Madden. We're thrilled with the interest and I'm glad our
teams have solved many of the capacity issues that plagued some of you in the
first few days out of the gate.
Heading to London next week to
support the NFL's continued international expansion program. New England
Patriots vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Wembley. Go Pats!!!
Posted
Jun 19 2009, 04:17 PM
My ears perked up earlier this week when I read some of the news reports following President Obama’s remarks at the annual meeting of the American Medical Association in Chicago. During the President’s speech on health care reform, he said: "It means going for a run or hitting the gym, and raising our children to step away from the video games and spend more time playing outside."
As a father of three and someone who spends many a morning or lunch hour out on a run and/or in the gym, I applaud the President urging Americans to get off the couch and get active. Of course, I can’t resist pointing out that while I’ve always wholeheartedly endorsed moderation in anything you do, including playing games, it may be time for the President and his family to put their Wii to good use and fire up the 30-Day Challenge with EA SPORTS Active. This is a “game” even the President may not want to “step away” from.
To be clear, there has always been an big place in the lives of my entire family for spending time outside and staying fit. But I continue to be excited about what EA SPORTS Active is bringing to the world of physical fitness and the way it is changing people’s lives in the process – whether you’re someone who hasn’t broken a sweat in 10 years or someone who hits the gym six days a week. In fact, I know he’s in pretty good shape, but I guarantee the President wouldn’t look quite so smooth walking across the White House lawn to Marine One the morning after his first session with EA SPORTS Active (especially if he does those pesky lunges)!
You’ve heard me say it so many times before, but it’s refreshing to see the opportunities we have now on the Wii and what some of the new motion control technologies in development at Microsoft and Sony may bring to enhance an at-home fitness experience like EA SPORTS Active. In fact, I’d be willing to bet there are more consoles getting far more use in American homes than there is exercise equipment, so it’s up to us to continue to use the platform for good.
Mr. President, here is my challenge to you: Try EA SPORTS Active and I guarantee you’ll need aides saying “Yes You Can!” to finish your first workout.
Shifting gears, I mentioned last week that it was great to be back at E3 this year to feel the energy and excitement that is always swirling around this industry, particularly after my well-publicized complaints of the previous year. Of course, the days after the show are always fun as we watch for all the awards that are announced by so many of the news outlets who covered the show.
While it’s tough for EA SPORTS since all of our products are pitted against each other in the “Best Sports Game” category (don’t even get me started about whether I think any of our games should be considered beyond just the sports category), I was pleased to see more than 40 nominations for EA SPORTS, including at least one nomination for every award-eligible title we had at the show. Four different titles were also named winners, including Madden, Fight Night, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR and NHL.
In the case of Madden, kudos to the team at Tiburon for getting the nod for Best Technical Achievement by G4 on top of its multiple wins for Best Sports Game. The new Online Franchise mode in Madden didn’t just beat out other worthy contenders in sports, but bested G4’s other finalists like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, The Beatles: Rock Band, and Mass Effect 2 (among others). It’s further evidence of sports games being leaders in innovation, particularly with online where we’re connecting sports fans from around the world and throughout the season with experiences we could have only dreamed about a few years ago.
One of the highlights of our press conference was the video for Madden Online Franchise. MOF is a football fan’s dream come true and if you didn’t see the video, we have it for you here. Enjoy!
Posted
Jun 10 2009, 11:07 AM
I'm back from a great week at E3 in Los Angeles and pleased to see the feedback we got on our product lineup at the show. As you might have seen this week, Madden NFL 10 won The Technical Achievement - Software Award from G4 and Sports Game of the Show 1Up. Fight Night Round 4 also received Best Sports Game of the Show from G4.
We went from workouts to tap-outs last Monday at EA's press conference - with news about EA SPORTS Active, a great live demo of Fight Night Round 4, and of course the announcement of EA SPORTS MMA in development at Tiburon. With top fighters and fighting styles from around the world, and our typical authenticity to the real sport, I'm telling you this will be the most intense MMA game to date.
It was also quite a thrill to spend time with Pete Sampras as part of our Grand Slam Tennis demo. Pete was a blast onstage, and even more fun down in the Green Room, where he and Alison Sweeney battled it out on Grand Slam Tennis for a good hour before the show started. Once Pistol Pete got the hang of the Wii Motion Plus controls, that serve and volley game kicked in for him just like the old days...
When you add in our announcements of TeamBuilder in NCAA Football (which has now spawned more than 55,000 created teams since last Monday) and Online Franchise in Madden, I think you got a good sense why I'm so excited about this year's new games and think fans will share my optimism when they get their hands on our new titles over the coming months. And of course we're off to a great start with the recent launch of EA SPORTS Active and this week's Grand Slam Tennis and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR launches. 2009 is shaping up to be a great year for EA SPORTS, driven in no small part by the feedback we receive from you our core customers.
Finally, I was glad to be a part of the "new and improved E3", a show that felt like it had the excitement of years past and provided a perfect platform for showcasing the great work of this industry without the unmanageable crowds and booths that had begun to overrun the show and left us with the underwhelming E3s of the past two years. Both Sony and Microsoft shared exciting news about their respective motion control technologies, something that we at EA SPORTS believe can be a major driving force towards mass market adoption.
Cheers,
Peter
Posted
Apr 07 2009, 03:41 PM
Been a few days since my last post. It's a busy time for sports and marketing conferences. After presenting at the World Congress of Sports in Miami last week, I am closer to home in San Francisco this Wednesday at MI6, the annual video game marketing summit, which over the past four years has emerged as the pre-eminent marketing conference for the industry. I'll be speaking on some of the opportunities and challenges we face at EA SPORTS in this new era of interactive entertainment, including a demo of EA SPORTS Active for the crowd. If you're going to be in attendance, please stop by and say hello.
Let me also try to address the ongoing cricket "issue" once again. Despite whatever you may have read online, we have absolutely nothing to announce about a cricket game. As per my previous posts on this issue, if and when we have an announcement to make about a title, we will do so in a timely and structured manner. But in this case, no amount of persistent pushing can create a game that does not exist...sorry.
Could the Premier League games over the weekend involving Liverpool and Manchester United ended anymore dramatically? On Saturday, after rattling the Fulham woodwork four times in the first half alone, it took a last gasp Yossi Benayoun winner to allow my Mighty Reds to go top. Short lived, however, with the Mancs scoring two late goals against Aston Villa, courtesy of Ronaldo and 17-year Italian debutant Marcheda, the latter deep into injury time. I think that was our best, last chance to make up ground on them, unfortunately. And having just watched United huff and puff yet again against Porto, they just look like a team running out of steam as the demands of competing for 5 trophies are clearly taking their toll. Couldn't happen to a better team :)!
Posted
Mar 05 2009, 01:45 PM
As I mentioned last week, I’ve ramped up my fitness regiment by starting the 30 Day Challenge last week on EA SPORTS Active. The team up in Vancouver has been doing a tremendous job in taking feedback on the tuning and the polishing of the experience (I am loath to describe it as a “game” in the traditional sense), and it’s exciting to see how far it has progressed in the past 6 months.
I am feeling OK for the most part, but it’s certainly challenging and there are certain parts of my body that have been put to the test in ways that have left their “mark”. Like the lunges and squats…
As a former PE teacher and someone who made a living for many years in athletic performance marketing, I tend to have a critical eye regarding fitness products and programs. With EA SPORTS Active, I have been impressed with the originality and variety of exercises, as well as the deep level of personalization. Hopefully I can keep up the good rhythm.
In other news, Liverpool finally put paid to any real chance of Premiership glory at Middlesborough this past Saturday, with what was probably their worst performance of the season. With Man Utd winning at Newcastle on Wednesday, all we have left is the Champions League. Interesting to see Robbie Keane score on Wednesday night for Spurs against…Middlesborough.
And for all you interactive football fans, be sure to check out the results from this week’s FIFA Interactive World Cup qualifiers in the UK . Our team was there covering all the action. The U.S. qualifiers are this weekend in San Diego and we expect equally good competition. Would love to have you come by if you’re in the area .
Cheers,
Peter
Posted
Feb 23 2009, 08:16 PM
As we eagerly anticipate the May launch of EA SPORTS Active, and with my 54th birthday less than a month away, I've convinced our development team to let me start the 30 Day Challenge.
For those of you not yet familiar with EA SPORTS Active, this is a fitness project you've heard me talk about for nearly a year now, and something we're very excited to be bringing to market in less than 3 months, just in time for spring "toning" season with the warm dog days of summer approaching.
So what's the 30 Day Challenge you ask? I'd invite you to read more on our EA SPORTS Active website, but here's what you need to know:
- EA SPORTS Active features a wide variety of fitness activities that target upper body, lower body, as well as cardio.
- The product will track your progress as you embark on a full 30-day workout regiment called the "30 Day Challenge". In it, you can tailor workouts that are about 20 minutes each.
- Each daily workout will feel different then the last and the circuits will change as you progress each day.
- Here's the part I like best ... It's basically like having a virtual personal trainer from your living room, that will track calories, intensity and progress throughout the journey.
Essentially, the 30 Day Challenge will give you a road map to reach your goals, and I'm fired up to get started and hope you will be in a few months.
Given the recent healthy debates as to the relative merits of various interactive products on the market currently, it will be interesting to see the impact of my fitness level after 30 consecutive days with EA SPORTS Active. Although relatively fit and healthy for my age (in my humble opinion, anyway...), I, maybe like many of you, could stand to lose a few remnant pounds from the holiday overhang. Time to go through the whole workout routine is often my biggest enemy (or excuse). With EA SPORTS Active I can get my workout in at home or even in the office - wherever I have a Wii connected to a monitor. So no excuses now...
As with any fitness regime, I also need to watch what I eat more carefully. Challenging, when you are on the road as frequently as I am, but nothing that a good old dose of willpower can't solve.
So keep an eye out over the next month. I'll be keeping you up to date with my progress every step of the way.
Cheers,
Peter