February 18th

petermoore — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 19:06:00 GMT

Some further color on the IMG announcement you all saw last Thursday. I am delighted that we now have the opportunity to expand EA SPORTS Nation with new product lines and services. I have been involved in business deals with IMG since the early nineties and my days at Reebok. They are a superb company that has phenomenal experience in representing athletes, events and companies like ourselves. I have always believed that the EA SPORTS brand has a broader potential reach beyond interactive entertainment, and by creating product lines and services such as camps and sports training aids, as well as the obvious sports apparel and equipment extensions, we intend to provide more ways for interested consumers to get involved with our brand.

As always, the EA SPORTS team is on the ground wherever there is a major sporting event. This past weekend was no exception, with the NBA All-Star Weekend taking place in New Orleans, and we kicked off the festivities with the NBA LIVE Challenge on Thursday evening. After a hard fought battle, the title was claimed by Tony Parker, the San Antonio Spurs superstar and an absolutely hard core gamer. He had great support from the lovely Mrs. Parker AKA Eva Longoria. As always it was a great event, with celebrities galore, including local hero Reggie Bush and his very good friend Kim Kardashian in attendance. Check out some of the photos from the event (attached).

I’m off to our studios in Vancouver and Orlando this week. Please rest assured I will be discussing the feedback that is accumulating on the blog. It is both enlightening and motivating for the teams to get such detailed suggestions. Truly shows the passion you have about our games. While I can’t guarantee we can incorporate everything you are looking for, we can certainly do our utmost to listen, learn, and make feature decisions accordingly.

Final note – tough weekend for me, as I had the misfortune of watching Liverpool going down to FA Cup defeat at Anfield against Barnsley (yes, Barnsley) in what was one of the most inept displays of poor finishing from a Liverpool team that I have seen in decades. Benitez is dead man walking, and unless there is a massive turn around against Inter Milan in the Champions League on Tuesday, this will be another season that began with high expectations for glory that will end in bitter disappointment. Benitez has never picked a full-strength team for FA Cup ties, and his decision to rest Reina in goal will have cost him his job as Itandje, who looked shaky all game, was beaten at the near post at the death. Hicks and Gillett, the American owners, are undoubtedly out of patience, and need to get on the phone to Klinsmann. Time for a new broom…

- Peter

Peter Moore Blog : nba live challenge

February 18th