EA Summer Showcase '06: Report & Media

We report from EA's Redwood City event as the company announces new titles and discusses upcoming projects. Detailed coverage including lots of new gameplay videos.

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The industry's biggest publisher held its annual summer event spectacle on Thursday, demonstrating arguably its most rounded and creatively impressive line-up ever - and leaving attendees in little doubt about the company's position as the next-gen console race starts to really heat up. Kikizo headed up to the event at EA's Redwood Shores office near San Jose to bring you this report...

The most well-received news of the event came by way of Gabe Newell, who announced that Half Life 2 would be coming for Xbox 360 and PS3, including Episode 1, 2, Counterstrike, Team Fortress 2 and what many considered the darling of the event, Portal (more on that later). This is all to release the same date as the PC version of Half Life 2: Episode 2 - surprising considering Newell's comments of past regarding the pointlessness of next-gen console chip architecture.

No matter, Valve has now hired a highly capable 'damage designer' from WETA digital, who will be overseeing the technical design of bridges being ripped in half and monsters coming out of buildings for Episode 2 and beyond.

Project Grey was also predictably revealed as a new Lord of the Rings action RPG title - Lord of the Rings: The White Council - boasting visuals aiming for pre-rendered CG levels of detail and brilliance. It's also a newly written prequel chapter in the story involving Bilbo Baggins and his search for the ring, 80 years before the movie plot.

The company is admirably keeping continuity within the film representation of the license, is using actors McKellen, Lee, Weaving and that woman with blonde hair. They appeared in likeness and voice in a stunning CG trailer that was shown, which teased us with hints about the story. The writer of this ambitious project was not announced, but we're confident EA's bank balance will source the right scribe for the job.

Battlefield 2142 was suitably impressive, and our 20-minute playtest in a 32-player battle left us very happy and confident the final product will deliver what fans desire. All the Battlefield staples are in place, though now in a future fictional setting featuring airborne aircraft hangers, mech robots and super-powered missile launchers.

The lack of futuristic handheld weaponry was disappointing, with a sniper-capable assault rifle, long range shotgun and handgun only present in the build we played, though perhaps these treats are being saved for later. Regardless, they were fun to use and worked within the context of the game.

Other games on show included the stars of the ever-celebrated EA Sports line-up. Madden '07 boasted an incredibly comprehensive career mode which now allows you to design a player from scratch, right from their family background through to their physical attributes, by way of dramatically implemented Fight Night-style training sections.

You can play through a full career mode as this character, a'la Namco's Libero Grande, with a bespoke camera system that allows you to focus on the action within the context of your player character. Very promising, and out on August 22nd this year.

Wii Madden was also shown off briefly, though many thought its control system looked convoluted and cumbersome. Those who tried it, found it inaccessible - always dropping the ball when trying to lob a pass for instance. Following on from complaints of some Wii games at E3, this possibly eludes to a design problem developers will no doubt learn through experience regarding the design of some types of game around the Wii controller perhaps not working. However, the feature where you can dance and pose as you run to a touchdown by flapping you arms like an idiot did win many fans, including us.

NBA fans will be pleased to know that a wealth of online content is being sourced from the sports pundit sections on ESPN for view within the game. Downloadable clips will be regularly uploaded to the game's online console, allowing sport fans to keep abreast of their favourite teams and players from within the game interface. We're certain this feature will spread throughout the sports lineup eventually, which will no doubt help create a more holistic sports experience.

Wii Need for Speed and Wii Harry Potter were announced in passing, and we'll wager our chocolate toads that Potter's next outing will feature use of the Wii remote as a spellcasting device befitting of its design.

Speaking of Need for Speed, Need for Speed Carbon was shown on next-gen, with the Fast and Furious-esque racer now boasting a breathtaking 'Auto Sculpt' feature, which will likely win praise from petrol heads and customization whores alike. The feature allows you to sculpt groves and shapes into your car, right down to scaling the rims and twirling them all in real-time, as if using a very sophisticated design program. Think Tiger Woods and Fight Night's create a character modes, but for a car, in next-gen-o-vision.

This time, the NFS plotline revolves around canyon racing. Thin, wavy roads are now your track, and dual canyon racing is your new challenge. It works in two stages; the first where you try and stay close to your opponent without passing them and the second, where you try and outrun them. You win races to claim ownership of parts of the city until you own all three major districts, which we assume you'll then get to race through.

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Video Coverage (Latest Videos & Video FAQ)
PLEASE DO NOT DIRECT LINK TO ANY MEDIA FILE ON KIKIZO
Description	Dur.	Size	Details
EA Summer Showcase 2006 Videos
Half-Life 2: Episode Two Trailer (standard quality)	1:00	10MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Gameplay footage 1 (standard quality)	1:45	27MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Gameplay footage 2 (standard quality)	1:45	27MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Superman Returns Trailer (standard quality)	1:03	15MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Battlefield 2142 Gameplay footage 1 (high quality)	1:22	22MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 2.2Mbps
Battlefield 2142 Gameplay footage 2 (high quality)	1:22	22MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 2.2Mbps
Madden 07 Gameplay footage (standard quality)	2:34	41MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
NASCAR 07 Gameplay footage (standard quality)	2:46	45MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 2.2Mbps
Tiger Woods 07 Gameplay footage 1 (standard quality)	1:18	20MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 2.2Mbps
Tiger Woods 07 Gameplay footage 2 (standard quality)	2:04	20MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 2.2Mbps
Tiger Woods 07 PSP gameplay 1 (standard quality)	2:01	26MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Tiger Woods 07 PSP gameplay 2 (standard quality)	1:42	25MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
NBA Live 07 Gameplay footage 1 (standard quality)	1:49	30MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 2.2Mbps
NBA Live 07 Gameplay footage 2 (standard quality)	2:51	46MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
NHL 07 Gameplay footage 1 (standard quality)	0:49	12MB	DF, SD, 4:3 640x480p30 2.2Mbps
NHL 07 Gameplay footage 2 (standard quality)	0:13	4MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
NCAA Football 07 Gameplay footage (standard quality)	1:53	28MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
Other Recent EA Videos
Need for Speed: Carbon Teaser trailer (high quality)	0:52	12MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Teaser trailer (high quality)	0:52	12MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 2.2Mbps
Need for Speed: Carbon Teaser trailer (norm quality)	0:52	9MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 1.7Mbps
Medal of Honor: Airborne Direct feed trailer   (Multi - EA)	01:44	78MB	DF, HD, 16:9 1280x720p30 8.0Mbps
Medal of Honor: Airborne Direct feed trailer (regular)   (Multi - EA)	01:44	23MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.3Mbps
Crysis Direct feed gameplay   (PC - EA)	03:48	137MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 5.2Mbps
Crysis Direct feed gameplay   (PC - EA)	00:38	13MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 3.0Mbps
Crysis Direct feed gameplay   (PC - EA)	02:29	42MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Spore Direct feed gameplay 1   (PC - EA)	03:36	51MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Spore Direct feed gameplay 2   (PC - EA)	03:06	48MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars Direct feed trailer   (PC - EA)	01:10	19MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p30 2.5Mbps
Battlefield 2142 Direct feed trailer   (PC - EA)	01:10	34MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.3Mbps
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 Direct feed tech demo   (Multi - EA)	02:05	58MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle Earth 2 Direct feed trailer   (PC, X360 - EA)	01:11	19MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Madden NFL 07 Direct feed gameplay   (Multi - EA)	01:03	22MB	DF, ED, 16:9 856x480p30 3.0Mbps
Madden NFL 07 Direct feed gameplay   (Multi - EA)	01:04	18MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
NBA 07 Direct feed gameplay   (PSP - EA)	02:09	33MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.2Mbps
NBA Live 07 Direct feed gameplay   (PS3, Multi - EA)	03:08	88MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps
NCAA Football 07 Direct feed gameplay   (Multi - EA)	01:57	34MB	DF, SD, 16:9 640x360p30 2.5Mbps
Electronic Arts Line-Up Direct feed montage including all the titles above as well as a snippet of Army of Two and the new Need for Speed   (Multi - EA)	01:01	29MB	DF, ED, 16:9 852x480p60 4.2Mbps