Electronic Arts is getting ready to launch the most anticipated soccer related game of the year, FIFA 2009, and they are preparing gamers for the shock by releasing a demo. If you want to see what's new in this iteration of the franchise, you can download the demo from Xbox Live, get it on the PlayStation Network and even play it on the PC.

The demo features no less than six playable teams, which are Marseille, Schalke, Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan and Toronto FC, that will face off against each other on one pitch. You can also perform a bit of training before the match or take care of the setup of the team by accessing the team options. All the downloads are about 1 GB big and matches are limited to the length of four real time minutes. It's a big download for such limited gameplay, but at least it should show us what FIFA 2009 is all about.One of the most interesting things in the new game, apart from new players and better graphics, is the wealth of tactical options that you can play around with to make the team you manage take on your style of play. There are also more options for passing and for shooting, while the development team says that it's easier to control the players on consoles and that moves like dribbling and tackling are now more intuitive.

Electronic Arts will also include a new subscription based service, called Adidas Live Season, which is designed to track the real time states of players and modify them accordingly in the game. The stats will be provided by the same experts that created the initial player database.

FIFA 09 is set to launch on October 3 for the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the Nintendo Wii, the PC, the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation Portable.source : softpedia.com

We’ve known its existence for a while now but EA only just officially announced Need for Speed Undercover for the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, Nintendo DS, PSP, PC and mobile.
Black Box, a studio of Electronic Arts Inc. today announced Need for Speed Undercover, the intense action racing title scheduled for release this holiday. The new game will feature international movie star, Maggie Q, as the lead character in the big-budget live-action sequences that propel the original story forward as players get behind the wheel. EA’s Need for Speed Undercover takes the franchise back to its roots and re-introduces break-neck cop chases, the world’s hottest cars and spectacular highway battles."Need for Speed Undercover features a deep and engaging story of spectacular Hollywood-style live-action that will transport players into the fictional world of the Tri-City Bay Area," said Bill Harrison, Need for Speed Undercover Executive Producer.

The game will also feature Asian actress Maggie Q (Mission Impossible III, Live Free or Die Hard) as a Federal Agent who recruits players as they go undercover. And just so you know, going undercover generally involves "infiltrating and taking down a ruthless international crime syndicate"... obviously!

The game is being developed by EA’s Black Box studios and will be released in North America on November 18 and in Europe on November 21.

In what's turning into a cat and mouse game of legalese and fine print -- the Calcutta bros. behind Scrabulous have just relaunched their Facebook game as Wordscraper. Changes made include using circle tiles, customizable boards, and different point values for letters.Our take on this mess is this: can't the two just get along? Surely Hasbro can license the Scrabble name to what is an able game engine? The why-not here could be that Hasbro had entered into a deal with Electronic Arts to produce a Scrabble online game; also available on Facebook. This was incidentally, just before Hasbro sued the boys behind Scrabulous.
Meanwhile, Scrabulous can still be played on scrabulous.com.

Electronic Arts (EA) CEO, John Riccitiello, doesn't want gamers to resist burning rubber for too long. He's announced the next installment of "Need for Speed" called "Need for Speed Undercover". This -- despite all the rants about how the earlier "Need for Speed ProStreet" sucked.

Gamers apart, even Riccitiello was disappointed with the earlier iteration. So much so that he reportedly said, "I thought it was an okay game, in terms of game play. It'snot good."By contrast, Riccitiello seems very positive about the new installment. The missions and the narrative story line cater to the sensitivities of a B-movie audience, he said. EA hasn't specified the release date for "NFS Undercover" or the platforms it will see the light of day on.

Ubisoft has confirmed that the next game in the popular franchise "Prince of Persia" will launch by December '08. The game will be available on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC.

The publisher said that the game will open a new chapter in the "Prince of Persia" universe, featuring a new breed of game play. That the game is poised to rejuvenate the action-adventure genre in addition to introducing a brand-new illustrative art style. Ubisoft also said that it intends to release a new "Prince of Persia" for the Nintendo DS, with an entirely new storyline and characters."Prince of Persia" Next is being developed by the Ubisoft Montreal team who worked on the "Sands of Time" trilogy and more recently the blockbuster "Assassin's Creed".

EA Mobile, a unit of EA's Casual Entertainment Label, has announced that they have launched 5 new mobile games. The games include 2 new SIMs games - Sims 2 Castaway and The Sims Pool. Board games have also made their way to the handset and EA has brought us Monopoly Here and Now, Yahtzee Adventure and a mobile version of a popular American TV show - Merv Griffin’s Crossword.
"EA Mobile continues to create and distribute games that compel potential customers to download and play games on mobile devices," said Travis Boatman, Vice President of Worldwide Studios, EA Mobile. "The wide range of handsets, from everyday devices to sophisticated 3G phones, and the iPod, provide great platforms that foster and satisfy consumer demand for anytime entertainment."The games are available as of now only through American carriers but hopefully that will change soon. However, Yahtzee is available worldwide through iTunes as well.

Video game maker Electronic Arts Inc. said Thursday that it has launched a hostile $2 billion tender offer for rival Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the publisher of ''Grand Theft Auto'' and other video games.

The move takes the offer directly to Take-Two's shareholders after Take-Two rejected the offer late last month.

At the time, Take Two had said it was open to talks with Electronic Arts but wanted to wait until April 30, the day after the latest version of Grand Theft Auto hits store shelves.The $26 per share cash tender offer from an Electronic Arts' subsidiary represents a 4 percent premium to Take-Two's closing stock price of $24.91 on Wednesday and a 64 percent premium to the company's Feb. 15 closing stock price, which was the last trading day prior to Electronic Arts' revised offer.

The tender offer, which is not contingent on financing, is set to expire at midnight on April 11, unless extended. Take-Two's annual shareholders' meeting is expected to take place on April 10.