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EA Imagine 2005 is the EA GAMES
and EA SPORTS Australasia showcase of their upcoming titles for
Summer Downunder. Time to rub shoulders with media, retailers and marketing. So
what better time to send in some Mousedroid reporters to get the holonews direct
from the Lucasarts. But this event is not just Star Wars, as EA has an enormous
schedule of Sports, movie, racing and FPS to keep Australian video gamers happy
well into 2006.
This year EA jumped to the opposite side
of 'old coat hanger' (ie Harbor Bridge) and held the event in OPT at Circular
Quay on the foreshore of Sydney Harbor. Wall to wall 'encounter' areas of video
games, gaming consoles, pc cubes, LCD/Plasma screens for guests to get their
fingers into each of the new titles on the list. Of note was the special PSP
Chill-out Lounge. Grab a new PlayStationPortable (PSP), drop into a bean bag
and spend the afternoon taking the latest game for a spin. But we had our eyes
firmly fixed on the Lucasarts Booth and their detailed presentations in the EA
Theatre.
In order to get to the Star Wars Section, we just
'had to' try each and every game on our walk thru to the Star Wars Quadrant.
It was a tough job but someone had to do it. Battlefield II: Modern Combat
was set up in a dug-out with a large cannon guarding the entry. We played
god in Black&White II, burnt rubber with Burnout Legends/Revenge
plus Need for Speed Most Wanted, and then got scorched by dragons from
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Tried out our best Sean Connery voice
whilst playing From Russia with Love, cut up the action with Marvel
Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects (this game is great), all before finally
fighting our way thru several
Storm, Snow and Clone Troopers from the 501TAG Garrison in order to get to
the Lucasarts Play Arena. We would return to the EA Sport Stadium and sample titles such as
FIFA Soccer 06, Madden NFL 06, NBA Live 06, NHL 06,
and Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 later in the day.
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