[therizing02]

Is there really any reason to be upset about this announcement? It's a freaking name change people!!! Who cares what they name the game?

Regarding the physics and the new direction of the game, it's about time. The dev team is in the same house as the FIFA and NHL teams. Two of the most successful sports title at EA.

23's claim of the one dev cycle will be spot on. I'm not suspecting big things this year, but that doesn't mean the game will be unplayable and not fun.

FIFA 08 was the first of a three year plan to get the gameplay right. While they added new game play modes, the core focus was to improve the on the field game play. There were no "back of the box" gimmicky features added over the 3 dev cycle.

In the first year of the dev cycle, the player movement and physics were completely overhauled and changed. FIFA 08 was instantly light years better than anything they had ever put out. They stripped a few key things out like tactics, but the new physics model instantly increased the shelf life, playability, and fun factor of the game.

In the second year, the physical play, contact, and jostling for position were completely ripped out and replaced with a new system that was again light years better than before. They added Custom Team Tactics and online team play.

Finally in FIFA 10, the tackling, foul system were retuned for the better, some upgrades to Manager Mode, and retuning and refining other aspects of game play make FIFA 10 the best yet. It's debateable, but I think the slight changes made to FIFA World Cup make that game even better.

NHL probably has a similar time line. I would suspect the same from the NBA Elite title. Just because it seems that they are starting from scratch doesn't mean next year's game will be unplayable. Let's just sit back and be patient.