THE EA SPORTS NATION DEBUTS
ONLINE FOR THE PLAYSTATION 2 250K New Accounts Since August; Madden NFL Hosts 7K
Simultaneous Players
REDWOOD CITY, CALIF., September 15,
2003 – Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS) today announced the launch of the ultimate
online sports gaming destination, the EA SPORTS Nation. The service features
head-to-head online competition with tournaments, ladders, leaderboards,
downloadable rosters, rankings, team updates, instant messaging and voice chat.
EA SPORTS Nation is available exclusively to players who enter from the
PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system.
Since August, more than 250,000
players have registered to compete on Madden NFL 2004 and NCAA® Football 2004.
The number of players is expected to grow dramatically in the next week when EA
adds Tiger Woods PGA TOUR® 2004, NASCAR Thunder™ 2004 and NHL® 2004. In October,
EA will introduce NBA Live 2004 and FIFA Soccer 2004. NCAA® March Madness™ 2004
college basketball and MVP Baseball™ 2004 will follow.
"Last year, more than 500,000
players registered to be matched on EA SPORTS titles," said Senior Vice
President of Marketing Frank Gibeau. "Registering an additional 250,000 players
on just two additional games demonstrates the extraordinary potential of the EA
SPORTS Nation. "
On September 14, peak simultaneous
users on Madden NFL 2004 alone reached 7000. Peak Simultaneous Users is a vital
statistic because it measures the number of players available to compete on a
given game. No other console-based sports title can boast 7000 players at one
time.
EA SPORTS Nation Features include:
Downloadable Content: Keep your
teams current with downloadable roster updates for all team-based pro sports so
that rosters reflect the latest signings and trades.
EA SPORTS Nation Rankings: Sports
gaming is all about proving your skills. Leader boards sort player standings in
multiple categories based on skill level. Check out the leaderboard for Madden
NFL 2004 — REALISTEBC Rules!
Intuitive Matchmaking: Find
opponents of your skill level with lobbies, chat, automated Quick Match
matchmaking, game rooms that can be password-protected to set up a meeting place
for friends, user blocking, and the ability to choose ranked or unranked
opponents. (Some matchmaking features vary by title.)
EA SPORTS Tournaments: Compete in
laddered organized competitions.
EA SPORTS Talk: With voice chat over
IP, you can talk trash or discuss strategy over a hands-free headset (USB
headset and broadband connection required).
"The competition never sleeps – you
can get a game on EA SPORTS Nation anytime from anyplace," said Gibeau. "Right
now, the world’s number one Madden player is REALISTEBC – but several thousand
competitors are fighting up the ladder to knock him off. You can follow the
action at:
http://www.easportsonline.com/games/madden2004/leaderboards/home.jsp?
start=1&range=25&page=1&ranking=0&rankingtype=0&rankingname=0&range=25
PlayStation 2 online play requires
an Internet connection, a network adaptor and memory card for the PlayStation 2.
What about Xbox™?
"Madden NFL 2004 is the number one
football title on the Xbox," said Gibeau. "Sales and market share for the Xbox
version of Madden have grown dramatically this year."
About Electronic Arts Electronic
Arts, headquartered in Redwood City, Calif., is the world’s leading interactive
entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, Electronic Arts posted revenues
of $2.5 billion for fiscal 2003. The company develops, publishes, and
distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal
computers and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under three
brand names: EA SPORTS™, EA GAMES™, and EA SPORTS BIG™. 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 .
Electronic Arts, EA SPORTS, EA
GAMES, EA SPORTS BIG and MVP Baseball are trademarks or registered trademarks of
Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S. and/or other countries. NFL, NCAA, March
Madness, NBA, NHL, Tiger Woods PGA TOUR, NASCAR, NASCAR Thunder and FIFA are
trademarks of their respective owners and used with permission. PlayStation is a
registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox is either a
trademark or registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States
and/or other countries.
