EA Announces First 3D Sports Strategy Game -- NFL Head Coach
 

Sorry if it has already been posted:

http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/051017/175423.html?.v=1

Become a Coaching Legend in a New Strategy-Based Football Franchise from the Makers of Madden NFL Football


REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2005--Electronic Arts (NASDAQ:ERTS - News) announced today that NFL Head Coach ((1) working title) will be available in stores in spring 2006, under the EA SPORTS(TM) brand. NFL Head Coach is in development in Orlando, Fla. by EA Tiburon, makers of other NFL properties including Madden NFL Football and NFL STREET. The new exclusive deal with the NFL has allowed EA to build this franchise and work with all coaches in the NFL Coaches Club.

"NFL Head Coach, the third pillar in our NFL portfolio, was developed to satiate all those Monday morning quarterbacks and fantasy football fanatics," said Dale Jackson, Executive Producer, EA Tiburon. "NFL Head Coach is an entirely new football experience that every level of football gamer can play. It provides the strategy that the hardcore fan will demand, but with very easy-to-use controls and assistance for more casual fans. Football will no longer be intimidating for the casual user."

NFL Head Coach reinvents football gaming by introducing the first 3D strategy sports game that challenges gamers to build and manage every aspect of a football team from the ground up. A simple conversation system and an engaging 3D graphical interface allow users to immerse themselves into the lives of an NFL head coach. As head coach, you develop a team strategy, execute it on and off the field, and try to build a winning organization year after year. Your status as a coaching legend will rise and fall based on all of your actions as you strive to become the greatest head coach of all time. Behind the desk, on the practice field, or while wearing the headset on game days, take the reins of your favorite NFL team and lead it to victory.

NFL Head Coach will be available for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Xbox® videogame system from Microsoft, and PC-CD. This product is not yet rated by the ESRB.

I wonder if this is what Joe Stallings is working on.

The coutdown begins.

Interesting news, I know there had been rumors of an EA sim, but this announcement brings some official weight to that gossip. I hope the "fantasy football fanatic" verbiage is for marketing purposes only, and the game itself will be geared more towards those around here, but that might be too much to ask from the evil empire. I think a serious sim would sell well (see FM), I'm just not sure I buy that EA thinks that.

*Very* intriguing news.

Ill watch this with cautious optimism...

How good can the interface be if it's being developed for the PS2 and XBox as well.

For some reason, I just had Cinemaware flashbacks...

Well, at least there will be a football sim this fall for sure.

Close enough.

I don't want to sound negative ... but prepare to be disappointed.

How did JB get scooped on this story, also. Must have been out partying all night or somesuch.

While I don't have much hope for this edition I am hopeful that a couple years down the road this could be a fun product.

Sounds like junk to me, I mean they're making to for the PS2....

Available for PC-CD, THANK GOD. I hate playing strategy games on consoles.

Now, will the PC version be a port of the console version (like almost all EA Sports titles), or will they PC version have it's own sense of being!? :D

They are just gonna repack FOF2002 with 3D glasses.

Would that be a bad thing?

I want me some fake commercials before each game...

so what comes out first....This game, BBCF, or the new FOF game everyone is convinced is just around the corner :p

I don't get the 3D aspect...does it just refer to the games being played out in 3D after the coaching strategies are set? Or does it have a console-style player control element?

Are there any other details behind it, screenshots, demo's, etc or is it just a "Hey, look what we are doing...." press release?

Mmm... Let's hope... I'm not too optimistic about it, but...

A simple conversation system? Not a complicated Sim engine?


So will it be:

Do you want to trade with me? Circle yes or no.

But it will be heavily influenced by how many relationship points you have built up with each GM. Or how about those fabulous dinner dates you can bring those in demand free agents on?

I think that's the market EA shoots for.

Not at all - Cinemaware games were fantastic.

(and I didn't actually ever play TV Sports Football, but the dialogue line had me thinking of trying to woo the scientist's daughter when you meet here in the zeppelin in Rocket Ranger. :) )

I always wondered myself why EA didn't publish a football or NBA GM game knowing the sales success they have with Total Club Manager at least in Europe (the soccer manager game based on the FIFA 3D engine).

Of course the game will be crap if you're looking for deep, but it will be a top seller for the ocasional joystick fan who wants to become a manager without needing to think a lot. That is exactly TCM for soccer, a bunch of awesome ideas to try to compete with Sigames and their FM but that ends being a joke year by year. Their only selling point for TCM is that it uses the 3D engine from FIFA but at the end, the players play as they want and the manager options don't work at all, something that a casual fan won't notice while hypnoticed by the 3D graphs, but that a text simmer would hate.

My guess...Arlie will announce BBCF abouth two weeks in advance of release. Jim will show up a week before that and announce TCY2 has been released. The EA game will get delayed and then cancelled.

Icy hit the nail on the head. Although I haven't tried TCM in the last couple of iterations, I returned the version I got a few years back as it was complete rubbish. The 3D engine worked okay, but got really repetitive after a few games.

I think that's the problem with any kind of management game that decides to head in the 3D direction at this point given our current technology. There simply can't be enough animations in the engine to make the games variable and still have a sensible statistical engine behind the eye candy.

I'm skeptical on this one given that EA has to go for the lowest common denominator to generate the most sales, but maybe a few generations down the road, EA might be onto something.

The Sims - "NFL"

I totally agree with Icy.

For some reason, I wouldn't be surprised if this came to be.

Have you known any "casual users" to be intimidated by Madden. Isn't a sports console game about the most comfortable, non-intimidating game out there?

I don't even know what they mean by that statement.

Madden is getting to the point that I would imagine that it would be hard to "pick up and play". I get this feeling every time I play a FPS. Everyone is so good that I just quit after a few minutes of not knowing who the hell killed me.

this is *interesting*.

1 - I like the fact EA sports looks into this field of football games.
2- Still, I worry about the "head-coach" terminology used here, as I'd be more comfortable if they would say something like "put yourself in the General Manager's seat" istead of Head-coach. Pretty significant difference in my opinion.
3- you have to be both intrigued and worried about EA making its own version of FOF (FOF for retarded ?)

This kind of hits on my thoughts...

but what I often wonder is do I WANT a 3d sim? I don't see myself sitting in front of an hour or two of watching a game and just staring at it..

The only way I see this being entertaining is if it was done in a "sportscenter" style, not watching the game from start to finish...

Either that or maybe the old x's and o's running around.. honestly, that would do it for me...

That's what I want -- the x's and o's, like 1985 NFL Challenge. Add that to FOF, let me call the plays -- that's what I want.

It's a console game, that will be ported for the PC. That's how they do.

I think the genre benefits from all additions, and perhaps there will be some joystick jockeys who find this intriguing enough to start them looking for a real management sim... but I rather doubt that's what this is going to be. This one will be on my "wait and see" list... but not even at the top.

Honestly, I tried Madden a few years ago for the Playstation (think it was the playstation), and I couldn't run the ball, couldn't complete a pass, and quickly gave up. I have Madden 2004 for the PC, but the only thing I do there is uniforms (and I've not done that for quite some time either).

I have confirmation that Joe Stallings is the producer for this one. At least they have someone on the point who is intimately familiar with the text sim genre. {shrug}

That is another great point. One of the great things about the text sim is the pace. You can get through a lot of games in a short amount of time. This advantage would obviously get lost in a 3d sim where you sit and watch an entire game for an hour or two. FM does the best job of keeping a solid pace of play while integrating managerial and player moves in a way that makes sense to the user.

I don't know about others, but I'm curious as to just how many gamers really use the franchise options on their console games. I wonder how many seasons on average a console sports game career goes for the normal player. If EA's NFL sim requires one to sit down for an hour or two watch a game at the same pace as Madden, I can't see it working for people who want a long career.

TCM has a quick sim option that allows you to bypass watching the whole game, but people have reported that the stat engine for quick sims is much different than for watching the whole game. I'm still not convinced it can be done given today's tech.

That's a generous description to say the least.

Hopefully EA's ownership of every license imaginable will allow him to avoid some of his earlier troubles with copyrighted material. :rolleyes:

Yeah, i bought 2005 the other day for 10 bucks, and thought that i could have a fun time with it. After trying to run any kind of semblance of an offense or defense for a couple quarters, i quickly put it on the shelf, and now use it for screenshots.

we're all familiar with the phrase "biting your tongue"?

well my fingers are chewed down to little nubs to avoid typing what I want to type here...

I would love to see an NBA version of this.

Correction: one of the producers.

Yeah, NBA games dont really play well on a console or computer, it invariably breaks down to you driving and dunking, or launching 3's. it would be cool to coach a team, to actually see how they execute on the floor, run your rotations, etc. I never played football organized, so i dont know many of the nuances(what to use vs different types of coverages, etc), whereas i played a ton of basketball, and know the game better.

Looking forward to druez's review...

:D

Does this mean we'll have a "Springtime for Hitler" endzone dance to look forward to? ;)

I refuse to let myself be hopefull on this. I have been burnt by EA too many times.

But...it's in the game.

I wonder if Dan Wasson is one of the others, since he was involved with the EA/Solecismic synergy back in the day.

How's this different from the NBA?

That name stirs up some ghosts around here, doesn't it?

As I recall, Dan Wasson was the guy who came onto this board and started going off on how the people who entered their credit card information and purchased the FOF 2001 game during what they later described as a live trial were "pirates" and "thieves." And that was before I started getting ominous phone messages from EA at my home.

Oh, the good old days.

I must say that this has actually looks interesting. This looks like something a number of people on the board was looking for. Since I was a long time player of FPS Football, I longed for the day when I could coach my team while seeing the action reveal itself through the use of graphics.

Yet I am very pessimistic that it will give solid stats. In fact, I don't know if there will be a emphasis on tracking a player's career since it seems to focus more on the lifespan of the head coach. Plus I doubt there will be an option where you can be both coach and GM which is what I am looking for.

If the reviews come out somewhat favorably, I will give it a try.

At least they can run a semblance of offense from time to time in the NBA. Like in the last version of Live i played, there is no such thing as having a "Post game"

You were all pirates and you know it. :D

If the AI is not good, it can ruin the game.

Anyone heard anything about the AI?

And I'm sure, once the game's out and those people are discovering its shortcomings, those of us who know the genre will be only too happy to give them a pointer in the right direction...

I think that a sim as an NFL Head Coach would actually be interesting -- just calling plays and running the team, while dealing with your general manager. I doubt the AI would be any good, then.

You know what I think would be really great - a 2d system like FM does for soccer. So I can see exactly whats happening - I don't need something too graphic intensive, but an overhead of the O and D would be awesome.

You nailed most of my thoughts. I'll likely give this a try, unless reviews are poor.

I guess I am in the camp that would love to see it as a 3D sim, as long as the stats remain realistic. FPS has proven that have graphics and stats can be a great combination. The only reason why I like graphics is that it is much easier to understand how well my offensive and defensive players are doing with graphics than it could ever be done with text.

As it currently stands, I don't know immediately in the game if my defensive lineman is getting dominated by the offensive in a one and one situation or if he is being double teamed. I don't know if the opposing wide reciever is having success because of my cornerback getting burnt, my saftey didn't provide help or the cornerback covered a completely different person due to stacking to one side of the field.

I understand why some people hate graphics if all you do is play the role of GM and don't care for playcalling at all, but if you want to take the reigns as a coach, I don't quite get it.
X's and O's won't do it for me. I would love to see immediately that there is a 6'2' receiver going against my 5'7" cornerback. I would love to see if my reciever ran a bad route or just tripped up on a muddy field.

I'm probably going to wait and see. If the AI is not good, I will not buy it. But I'm going to wait for the reviews to see.

Maybe Jim signed a deal with EA...

I can't wait.
But I hope beyond hope they can actually get the proper NFL rules this time, and not just invent rules as they feel like it as has been done in every single madden so far :)

It's pretty telling that nowhere in the release it mentions GM'ing or any aspect of signing, trading, drafting etc... I guess "building a team from the ground up" gives that impression but you'd have thought they'd have wanted to cater to the sports sim fan a bit more. Or am I reading too much into a first press release?

I can't imagine any way in a million years that this will ever be a game that I want to play. I'm envisaging some sort of Madden coach only game, with a slightly enhanced playbook editor, training camp and a sort of system like the latest NHL offerings whereby you spend points on different "areas" of your team. Maybe they can include the original Theme Park negotiations thrown in with the stretchy hands when you negotiate contract offers... come to think of it that would be pretty cool.

I would think its more likly to be a GM/Owner game rather than an actual OC/DC type of game :)

I LOVED TV Sports Football and I'm only a casual Football (American variety) fan ....

I think EA moving into this arena is great personally as it'll give more attention to the genre, especially if they're successful (ie. if they do well it'll give Jim, Arlie etc. a better chance of getting taken seriously by mainstream publishers if they want to head in that direction) ... main problem of course will be that EA have 'locked' the licence for the NFL down for at least a while.

and you have nothing to worry about from their FIFA Manager either... though I have to say, they have a very slick game, but its a bear to move through the game.

I was about to say that you must be new here, but after looking at your registration date I think you're probably just being facetious. :)

That's no problem. What they've done only makes it easier to display a Lanham disclaimer. If anything, their "exclusivity" makes life better for the competition.

Ok I tried a quick google search: What's a Lanham disclaimer?

A previous poster requested images.

the second one says make deion a slot reciever or keep him on offense only...lol

Ummm! NFL Head Coach.

I released a gridiron "management" game in 1986 called Head Coach. Any lawyers on this board tell me how to make some money out of this? ;)

While I'm certainly not holding my breath on this one, I will likely give it a look if it ever makes it to the open market.

I like what I am seeing so far, I would not be surprised if any one of these independent developers end up working with/for EA to develope these managerial games in the near future.

This got a chuckle out of me. Nice work.

:eek:

Maybe this is what Jim has been working on ;)




Just kidding but hey it would be nice to combine EA's graphics with Jim sim engine.

Lol. Do you want to tell him or I can?

I just hope the AI good

Been there, done that...

You never know EA's money can talk...... Even with past history

I don't want to talk for Jim, but it sounds like he was pretty disgusted with the way things happened there. I really doubt he would give them a second chance...

Nice...and the first one is just a stupid statue.

Although these look nice, they don't show me much. I want to see the playcalling screens, trading proposals, free agency screen. This looks like somebody created this in The Sims.

I was pretty disgusted with Gigawatt, not EA. I'd give them a second chance, but no way would I work with Joe Stallings. People like that don't belong in the business.

I will buy this game.......in 2008 when it's $9.99.

Is it me, or would this type of game be alot more appealing if it was a college game. Imagine having to set your offseason schedule and tour the different states to lock in the recruits, deal with the players during the season(we all know what kind of problems college kids can get into) and dealing with the media firestorm that comes with leading a major program. All this and the actual games.

Game looks good... but Joe Stallings... ugh... that's going to make it a tough buy, as he's one person I think should be dropped naked in the Amazon where he can be assraped by an anaconda while a python squeezes his balls till they explode and piranhas leap out of the water to chew him to bits at the rate of five skin cells a second.

At least you will be able to rent this for console before you buy it. If the football game, is popular maybe they will make it in college, etc.

2 weeks of fun game, nice graphics. No deep. Just like TCM :D

Also, the "First 3D Sports Strategy Game" claim is somewhat tenuous: hxxp://www.prorugbymanager.com/

Had many hours joy with Kim van Obendorf et al BTW Mac.

To succeed at that game, it looks like you have to MAKE WINNING PLAYS!

(also, does that say "defence"??)

Dag-gummit, now how I am I going to explain my erection to my wife? "No, honey, I was not looking at porn."