Madden Arcade touching down this year

EA Sports president Peter Moore reveals new downloadable football title; EA Sports Active expansion confirmed for holidays; 360/PS3 Grand Slam Tennis delayed, Madden NFL 10 preorders ahead of last year.

Following Electronic Arts' mixed quarterly earnings call today, its top executives took questions from financial analysts in a conference call. Among those assembled was EA Sports' outspoken president Peter Moore, who revealed two upcoming projects from his department.

EA Sports Active is apparently working out many consumers' wallets.

After saying Madden NFL 10 preorders were tracking "slightly ahead" of last year's tally, the former Xbox evangelist revealed a new arcade-style game, Madden Arcade, would be released via digital download this fall.

"Earlier this year, we took the award-winning NHL game energy and developed [NHL] 3 on 3 Arcade," said Moore. "It was simple to pick up and play at launch as a fully downloadable game. We will follow this approach with Madden Arcade later this year." He did not offer an exact date, price, or platforms for Madden Arcade.

Prior to the call, EA revealed the decently reviewed EA Sports Active has sold 1.8 million copies since its May 19 release, making it the best-selling EA Wii game ever. Little surprise, then, that Moore later confirmed that the workout title would be receiving its first expansion in the very near future.

"EA Sports Active has captured a whole new segment of consumers," Moore declared. "We have done this with an unconventional campaign in outlets popular to this consumer. In addition, we expanded our distribution beyond our traditional retail outlet, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Costco, and Sam's Club. Given the success, we have decided to launch an expansion pack this holiday." In an interview with GameSpot last year, he said the EA Sports brand would cover several genres, with a soccer and abdominal workout-focused games already being planned.

In fact, EA Sports Active has been so popular that the publisher has moved staff off another project to work on it. "We are using development resources from our Grand Slam Tennis team on our EA Sports Active franchise," Moore continued. "As a result, we are delaying the 360 and PS3 tennis SKUs." The Wii version of the game, released on June 8, has sold only 54,000 units in the US through June according to the NPD Group.

34 Comments

  • trw534

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 9:49 pm GMT

    that sounds like a good game

  • DrKill09

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 11:02 am GMT

    There actually was a Madden arcade game. I played it. It was way better than the home versions have been in a long time. Was actually FUN.

    Anyway, this sounds promising. I LOVED Madden back on the Genesis, and even on the PS1 and Saturn, but after that, the gameplay got way too stiff. I don't really understand why Madden plays so bad. NHL 09, Fight Night Round 4, Skate 2, and NBA Street Homecourt all play great, but Madden feels really clunky. Hopefully Madden Arcade comes to the PSN.

  • dortega120

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 9:40 am GMT

    Madden Arcade? Hopefully its reminiscient of one of my all time favorite games, NFL Blitz.

  • Hvac0120

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 9:33 am GMT

    If Madden Arcade is under $15 and releases on PSN, I will likely buy it. I've considered purchasing Madden 10, but there are other $60 games I would rather have that are coming out soon. I'm still on the fence and I don't think that the Arcade will make up my mind.

    I don't really care about all the extra features in Madden. I just want a fun football game to play. Madden Arcade could hit that sweet spot of price and gameplay.

    BTW - this would be my first Madden purchase since the Dreamcast.
    _

  • -Celeste-

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 9:09 am GMT

    @Rozik_Ritclave

    YESSSS!! Along with the hockey game!! I remember my friend having those and we had a blast playing it. You still needed a little bit of strat to win but it was fun with all the stuff that you could do, could have done to you, or "accidents" on the field.

    EA should definately look at releasing a new game based on those types of games.

  • zakkess

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:58 am GMT

    atleast they do it right with nhl still

  • ldonyo

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:48 am GMT

    Oh, boy! Yet another in a long line of lackluster Madden titles. The reason EA is losing money hand over fist is because they refuse to do anything truly original anymore. If it isn't a sequel, they don't want to publish it.

  • Rozik_Ritclave

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:44 am GMT

    @-Celeste-
    You're thinking of Mutant League Football. I'm with you on this one; I'd love to see them come out with an updated version of that game. On the rare occasion, I've been known to dust of the Genesis and get some play time in with that title. What a great game!

  • -Celeste-

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:38 am GMT

    What was the old school genesis games where you had all sorts of crazy monsters and ogres for football players? They had a hockey game like it too. THOSE games were fun as heck; they should bring something like that back. Simulation games are all fun, but buying a new one every year is worthless unless you're a sports fan and need an updated roster ...then again, they should update those now via DLC.

  • flazzle

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:13 am GMT

    "cjasko94:
    You'd be dumb to skip the real madden 2010 for some 3 on 3 football game..

    You know, you are most likely correct. However, I still prefer super bowl tecmo above all. If EA did something like that, I'd love it!
    (but then again, EA is not Tecmo) (and Tecmo of the today,sadly, is not tecmo of the past)

  • ZedX-14Pilot

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:01 am GMT

    BTW, do we really need a downloadable madden game?

  • ZedX-14Pilot

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 8:00 am GMT

    I gotta agree with Harerazer, I just HATE spending sixty bucks on sports games every year. I bought madden AND live 09 on Black Friday for $30 EACH! I was kinda pissed that the new tiger was brought out LESS THAN A YEAR after 09 was released. I too love the madden 10 demo, but I can wait til the price drops also. Unlike Harerazer, I STOMP on those giants with my Boyz!

  • Harerazer

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 7:44 am GMT

    Like bottomdollar I bought the Madden XX collector's edition last year hoping that they would make the giants a decent team having won the Super Bowl and all that. But the actual game just wasn't there. The last Madden I paid for was Madden 2000 and I can't believe that they've stepped backwards from what they had out 9 years ago. The Madden 10 demo is cool (as I get to stomp on The 'Boys yet again!) but I'll wait for a good deal to pop up or a price drop. Madden seems to drop in price by Week 4 anyway.

  • Axcel_94

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 7:31 am GMT

    idk i havent gotten a Madden in a few years, but i wouldnt mind a downloadable game.

  • KaoSXFACTOR

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 6:52 am GMT

    Madden Arcade? We have ENOUGH Madden games. How bout Road Rash Arcade?

  • bottomdollar

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 6:09 am GMT

    I'm skipping Madden 2010 this year, I bought the collector's edition of 09 and I think EA is trying to squeeze every penny out of us every year. I mean only 2 player co-op online when their NHL and NBA game you can play way more than that online. Just wait, they will use that as a selling point in 2011. On the other hand, I have come to admire the use of EA Active, actually priding over Wii Fit by a long shot. Finally, if the Madden is ANYTHING like the 2 on 2 experince you can get on the Wii or ANYTHING like the Blitz of old (NOT LIKE NFL TOUR, PLEASE NO), it will worth a download.

  • Cparow

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 6:06 am GMT

    o and ill pass on the arcade game i got nhl 3 on 3 its fun but ihvnt played it in forever

  • Cparow

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 6:06 am GMT

    madden 10s pre orders are deffinitly up cuz of the exclusive demo lol. But it is a good madden this year so ill give em that lol.

  • jonzilla_basic

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 4:04 am GMT

    Just another Madden game. Thats all.

  • AZisBack

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 3:44 am GMT

    I thing the reason why Madden 10 pre-orders are up is because of Gamestop's exclusive demo. I pre-ordered the game just for the exclusive demo. I have never pre-ordered madden before this year.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Aug 5, 2009 1:40 am GMT

    if its like the first blitz, then i will get it. if its like these new blitz games... pass.

  • Zoomer30

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 11:17 pm GMT

    Hope no one was really looking foreward to tennis

  • Excedra

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 11:14 pm GMT

    i dont think im gonna get this

  • korn62586

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 11:12 pm GMT

    grand slam tennis is selling well based on worldwide numbers though.

  • truantjohnny

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 8:58 pm GMT

    ea active is no joke. I got some heavy resistance bands for it and it is a serious workout. It's good to hear they're working on an expansion. There are a couple faults but for the most part it's getting me to workout every day. That's more than i can say about any gym membership ive ever had.

  • BigBacon87

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 8:34 pm GMT

    Patch NHL 3 on 3 arcade so it's not so hard to play online and I will buy this day 1.

  • Wunderkid7

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 8:25 pm GMT

    good idea but not something I would buy

  • JCASHUFL

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 8:07 pm GMT

    @ streetsweeperz,
    ad non existent field/line judges and umpires to that list, what simulation football game would omit those?

  • cjasko94

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 7:32 pm GMT

    @gnbfd Your just not a true fan..haha lmao enjoy your $10 arcade game.

  • gnbfd

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 6:58 pm GMT

    I enjoyed NHL 3 on 3. Maybe I'll get the arcade Madden and skip the real one for the first time in 5 years. Think of what I could do with that $50 I'd save...

  • streetsweeperz

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 6:43 pm GMT

    madden already has a version of madden arcade it was madden 06-09 and by the looks of the demo with missed blocks and so on you can add 10 to the list

  • Sins-of-Mosin

    Posted Aug 4, 2009 5:16 pm GMT

    Shoot, if 3rd party can put out a decent but still very casual game for the Wii then they should see good sales. Not exactly a lot to choose from.

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