Play It: A look at electronic games
Published 5:00 pm Tuesday, August 24, 2004
- Purchasers of Madden will be given free access to the EA Sports Premium Pass, a new feature set for Xbox Live users or PlayStation 2 gamers who play online.
With the budget-priced ESPN NFL 2K5 topping the charts, Electronic Arts is adding another incentive for gamers to pick up its own footballer, Madden NFL 2005.
Purchasers of Madden will be given free access to the EA Sports Premium Pass, a new feature set for Xbox Live users or PlayStation 2 gamers who play online.
Despite its name, the Premium Pass is free, thanks to a sponsorship by Dodge. In exchange, the Dodge brand will be heavily promoted on the Premium Pass’s various features.
Foremost among those features will be a league system similar to that of ESPN NFL 2K5.
Although it won’t be available until later in the year, the league system will allow online Premium Pass subscribers to create their own version of the NFL, by creating their own leagues and teams and scheduling their own playoffs and championship.
Subscribers will also have access to Madden University, an updated library of Madden tips and tactics and expanded customer support.
They will also be able to register early for the Madden Challenge, the 32-city competition that determines the best Madden NFL player in the country.
The game was set to ship Aug. 9 for the Xbox, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, and PC.
LucasArts has launched the official Web site for its upcoming action game Star Wars: Battlefront, in development at Pandemic Studios.
For now, the Web site features a slew of screenshots from the Xbox, PlayStation 2, and PC versions of the game, video trailers, and information on the units and vehicles to be featured in the game. Downloads and community sections are coming soon.
Star Wars: Battlefront is a tactical action game that lets players take part in some of the most famous battles from the Star Wars movies and lore. Players can also take the battles online for some Battlefield 1942-style action.
All three versions of the game are due Sept. 21. For more information, see GameSpot’s recent planet guide preview of the game.
