|
EA Imagine 2004 is the marketing gala of the year for EA
GAMES and EA SPORTS Australasia. It is the time to showcase the forthcoming
games of the summer season to all the media and retailers, and we here at
Mousedroid were lucky enough to get an invite to the event.
Held at Luna Park, on the foreshore of Sydney harbor and
right near the 'old coat hanger' (ie Harbor Bridge) the event was two stories of
video games, gaming consoles, pc cubes, LCD and of course, Plasma screens.
The list of games on show was enormous. Sports, driving, and first person
shooters were wall to wall. Of course drinks and nibblies were on offer but it
was the games that had people vying for the best position.
In the EA Sports Locker Room they had all the 2005
sporting game series on show; Rugby 2005, NBA Live 2005, FIFA
2005, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 and that 'throw the pig skin' game of
Madden 2005. The nitro was flowing over at the pit area with Burnout
3: Takedown and Need for Speed: Underground 2 in a race to see whom
would take the car simulator crown. The sounds of machine guns echoed from both the Medal
of Honor: Pacific Assault bunker and the casino room that hosted Goldeneye:
Rogue Agent, as did a host of lovely Bond girls.
The clash of steel and the roar of a Balrog drew us to the Lord
of the Rings booth, which had not one but two new games on offer. The roleplaying
eye candy game of Lord of the Rings: The Third Age, which was fun to
play, but was overshadowed by the two PC's running the epic of Lord of
the Rings: The battle for Middle Earth. This will be a huge hit with all the
gamers, be they LOTR fans or not, it is just that darn good.
Other games on show included Timesplitters, Def Jam II:
Fight for NY, The Sims2, Ty2: Bush Rescue, and Oddworld Stranger. But onto
the games we came to cover... the Lucasarts Section.
Going up stairs to the Lucasarts
Area you are greeted by 6 stands. Each stand hosting either a PS2 or
the preferred XBox with 2 controllers and hooked up to their own plasma play
screens. They had 1 stand for the non-SW game, Mercenaries, a further 2
stands for Knight of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, then 2 more
stands for Star Wars: Battlefront and a solo station for an alpha build
of Star Wars: Republic Commando.
Below are some photo and EA Imagine Exclusive screen
shots. Have a read, click a pic and come back soon for a detailed review.
|
