Kotaku: Freestyle

Wii Sports Suspected In NBA Street Killing

Michael McWhertor — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 18:20:53 MDT

According to ESPN, the NBA Street series is officially "on hiatus." Yes, we know. The trail of tears forms to the left. The NBA licensed street ball series, once part of the EA Sports BIG label and kind of a big deal, looks to have gone the way of the dinosaur, thanks in part to Wii Sports.

EA Sportsman Peter Moore explains the decision — which, it sounds like, could possibly affect the SSX series as well — to ESPN.

"In the old days we had things like SSX that were our own intellectual property, but since then we've kind of moved away from that." This gen, EA has released only a handful of games under the BIG label, NBA Street Homecourt, FIFA Street 3 and SSX Blur.

"But if Wii Sports has taught us anything," Moore added "it's that people will sit there and play big head tennis all day long. We need to be able to tap into that audience." To wit, the creation EA Sports Freestyle and All-Play.

You know, in my day, when we wanted big heads, we played NBA Jam in the arcade and we LIKED IT! You kids don't know how good you got it.

GAMER BUZZ: STREET BALL IS DEAD [ESPN via Shacknews]

EA Sports Are All About That Wii Sports

Luke Plunkett — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:30:00 MDT

It's easy to crack jokes about EA Sports' new "Freestyle" brand - as well as their "All-Play" tags for their Wii games - because jokes either EA Sports or the casual end of the gaming spectrum are a dime a dozen. Get past those, though, and you see new boss Peter Moore's being driven by a single, steely purpose: take what made Wii Sports such a hit, and apply it to every EA Sports brand you can think of. That's what he said at a conference in Vancouver yesterday, telling journalists:

We learned some hard lessons. That was the type of sports experience they were looking for and we saw that and decided we needed to redefine what our sports games were about.

You can fault them for copying Nintendo, maybe, but not for giving EA Sports games what they've needed for years now: an entry level.
Electronic Arts looks to Wii to drive sports growth [Reuters]

EA Sports Kicks It Freestyle

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 06 May 2008 16:40:00 MDT

Electronic Arts announced today the latest "sub-brand" of its EA Sports label, a division it calls EA Sports Freestyle. Freestyle is described as representing the "lighter side" of sports, with "no rules, just fun." Yes, I know what you're thinking, "I liked it the first time, when it was called EA Sports BIG." But this is slightly different!

Freestyle is pitched as a more casual, more inclusive, pick up and play brand, one that Peter Moore says is "an easier entry point into EA Sports." Brilliant! Look at Peter shakin' things up!

The first title to fall under the EA Sports Freestyle sub-brand will be Facebreaker, EA's take on Punch-Out!! and Ready 2 Rumble. Two more titles are planned as Freestyle releases in the next year. Press release proof is right after this.

EA Unveils New 'EA SPORTS Freestyle' Sub-Brand
EA SPORTS Freestyle to Represent the Lighter Side of Sports: No Rules, Just Fun.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.—(BUSINESS WIRE)—Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq:ERTS) today launched EA SPORTS Freestyle™, a new sub-brand aimed at a growing, more casual sports gaming audience. EA SPORTS Freestyle games, while based in sports, will be playful, inclusive, casual, and easy to pick up and play for kids and parents, women and men, and casual and hardcore sports fans of all ages.

"The launch of EA SPORTS Freestyle is an exciting milestone in the evolution of the EA SPORTS brand," said Peter Moore, president, EA SPORTS. "EA SPORTS Freestyle will be a perfect complement to our core portfolio of games that our loyal fans are deeply passionate about, and will provide compelling opportunities for new audiences looking for a lighter gaming experience and an easier entry point into EA SPORTS."

EA SPORTS Freestyle will be the home for innovative new intellectual properties from the EA SPORTS label, including three new games in development and slated for release in the next 12 months. The first title to launch under the new sub-brand will be FaceBreaker™, an arcade-style boxing title set for release in September 2008 and the first new console IP from EA SPORTS since 2002.

EA SPORTS™ is the leading interactive sports software brand in the world, with top-selling titles and franchises including Madden NFL Football, FIFA Soccer, NHL® hockey, NBA LIVE basketball, NCAA® Football, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® and NASCAR® racing.

Media can find the new EA SPORTS Freestyle logo and the latest screenshots from FaceBreaker™ at info.ea.com.

About Electronic Arts

Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA™, EA SPORTS Freestyle™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.