Electronic Arts pledges to support Macs.....we've heard this before

by: Chuck - posted: 6/11/2007 5:41:00 PM

Over the weekend my girlfriend and I hit the Apple store here in Columbus so that she could look for more over priced stuff for her iPod.  While exiting the store we walked through the game section of the store where they were selling Tiger Woods 2005.  I looked at the girlfriend (a newly minted Mac fanatic) and mentioned "Wow, 2005...EA is really stepping up".  Little did I know that EA would be making an appearance at the WWDC conference today and announcing they would be releasing somewhat current games (C&C3, Battlefield 2142, and Need for Speed Carbon) and the new Harry Potter for the platform later this year.

While the Mac folk will be quick to point this out as a turning point for the platform it's important to note that Apple plays this card every few years (they even got John Carmack to show off new stuff on the Mac again) but it never amounts to anything.  Sure the Macs are now Intel based but it's a bit of a hard sell to get a company to develop a game for a platform that makes up less than 4% of the market.

EA BRINGS HIT PORTFOLIO TO APPLE MAC OS X

 

New Releases Demonstrate EA’s Commitment to Deliver

Key Titles on Apple’s Mac OS X

 

Redwood Shores, Calif., – June 11, 2007 – Electronic Arts Inc., (NASDAQ: ERTS) today announced a commitment to bring its portfolio of hit games to Mac OS X. The first EA Mac titles slated to ship this summer include the wizarding adventure Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix™, racing sensation Need for Speed™ Carbon, military action thriller Battlefield 2142 and the real-time strategy hit Command &Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars™. Being the first Mac OS X games published by EA, these blockbuster titles are being ported to take advantage of the Mac’s performance to run with stunning visuals and signature gameplay at blistering speeds. Later this year, EA will ship Madden NFL 08 and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 08 in sync with their worldwide launches.

 

Frank Gibeau, EA’s Executive Vice President of Publishing commented, “These four games are just the beginning. We’re excited to deliver key EA franchises such as Harry Potter, Madden Football and Need for Speed to Mac gamers.” 

 

"We're thrilled that the world's number one games company is making this major commitment to the Mac," said Philip Schiller, Apple's senior vice president of Worldwide Product Marketing. "Game fans are going to love playing these new EA titles on a Mac."

 

The four Mac games set for release this summer include:

 

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, licensed by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Harry returns for his fifth year of study at Hogwarts only to discover that much of the wizarding community has been led to believe that the story of the teenager’s recent encounter with the evil Lord Voldemort is a lie, putting Harry’s integrity in question.  Worse, the Minister for Magic, Cornelius Fudge, has appointed a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, the duplicitous Professor Dolores Umbridge. But Professor Umbridge’s “Ministry-approved” course of defensive magic leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared to defend themselves against the Dark Forces threatening them, so at the prompting of his friends Hermione and Ron, Harry is convinced to take matters into his own hands. Meeting secretly with a small group of students who name themselves “Dumbledore’s Army,” Harry teaches them how to defend themselves against the Dark Arts, preparing the courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that lies ahead. With the ability to play multiple characters, including Harry Potter, Dumbledore and Sirius Black, the videogame of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix offers fans the opportunity to wield a wand, explore all around Hogwarts, and experience one of the most exciting and dangerous years in the life of the Boy Who Lived.

 

Need for Speed Carbon – The battle for the city is won in the canyon as Need for Speed Carbon immerses you in the world's most dangerous and adrenaline-filled form of street racing. As the police turn up the heat and force the races to the outskirts of the city, the battle ultimately shifts to Carbon Canyon, where territories and reputations can be lost on every perilous curve. Racing has never felt so dangerous where every turn is a matter of life or death. For the first time in a Need for Speed game, build a crew and race in an all-out war for your city against rival crews and opposing car classes. You'll risk everything to take over rival neighborhoods one street at a time.  With online racing and the most advanced graphics and car customization tools ever, Need for Speed Carbon is the ultimate Mac racing game.

 

Battlefield 2142 – The year is 2142, and the dawn of a new Ice age has thrown the world into a panic. The math is simple and brutal: The soil not covered by ice can only feed a fraction of the Earth's population. Some will live, most will die. In Battlefield 2142, players will choose to fight for one of two military superpowers in an epic battle for survival, the European Union or the newly formed Pan Asian Coalition. Armed with a devastating arsenal of hi-tech assault rifles, cloaking devices and sentry guns, players will also do battle using some of the most imposing vehicles known to man. Massive battle Mechs wage fierce combat on the ground, while futuristic aircraft rule the skies. When facing one of these new behemoths, players will need to use their wits and an arsenal of new countermeasures like EMP grenades to level the playing field. Team play features allow up to 64 players to enter the action on the front lines as part of a formal squad, or work behind the scenes in Commander Mode to direct the strategic assaults of their teammates.

 

Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars – The critically-acclaimed Command & Conquer™ series returns with Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars. This highly-anticipated next chapter takes the popular series back to its roots in the Tiberium Universe and features the fast, fluid gameplay that Command & Conquer is known for and an epic story that will redefine storytelling and set the standard for the single player experience for Real-time Strategy games. It is 2047 and the stakes could not be higher. Tiberium-a self-replicating alien substance that has infected the Earth-is spreading like a radioactive ice age. The Global Defense Initiative, a high-tech alliance of the world's most advanced nations, is fighting to contain Tiberium, but Kane, the megalomaniacal leader of the Brotherhood of Nod has other plans for Earth. Kane's secret society turned superpower is bent on using Tiberium to take control and transform humanity into his twisted vision of the future. All-out war rages over Tiberium and the fate of the planet rests in the balance.

 

Screenshots from the games can be found at http://www.info.ea.com.

 

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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 BIG™ 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.

 

EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, POGO, Need for Speed, Command & Conquer and Command & Conquer 3 Tiberium Wars are trademarks or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or other countries. Battlefield 2142 is a trademark or registered trademark of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. John Madden, NFL, Tiger Woods & PGA TOUR are trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission.  HARRY POTTER characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. Harry Potter Publishing Rights © JKR.  Apple, Mac and Mac OS are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.All rights reserved.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.