Our Reactions to the EA Play Press Conference

Yesterday, EA Spilled the beans on FIFA 19, NBA Live 19, and Madden NFL 19 in their EA Play Press Conference.

So after you head to the above link and read up on ALL THREE games, welcome back! Here’s our reactions to yesterday’s info dump:

Matt Llewellyn

Each year I try to temper my expectations with the EA presser at EA Play/E3. They are such a giant company that, much like a giant naval vessel, any change in direction would take a long time to pull off. They came out and presented almost beat for beat how they normally do it at this time of year. However, there is one thing that stuck out to me, especially in regards to the Madden.

Whereas last year, we didn’t see any Madden footage until the month before launch and had to look at bootleg videos on YouTube, or scour google for a stray screenshot or tidbit of information, Madden 19 info was churning out left and right. Deep dives into gameplay changes, a video of the new RPM feature in action, and even a really good article about franchise all came out on day one of EA Play.

Madden isn’t the only franchise to do this either as both NBA Live 19 and FIFA 19 have also dropped a vast amount of information. It seems the developers at EA Sports are going for a more transparent approach going forward, and I think it’s a step in the right direction to rebuild the goodwill from their consumers by showing pride in the upcoming game releases.

Josh Houtz

Every year, I dish out money without question for games like Madden and FIFA. So I was excited to see what EA would do at EA Play/E3 this weekend. I was extremely impressed by EA’s presentation yesterday because like Matt said, we saw more from Madden than we did most of last year leading up to its release. Several Madden 19 articles released after EA’s presentation, and most of the information has me excited for this year’s installment.

Franchise mode seems to be getting some love (finally), and I’m surprisingly excited for the next chapter in Madden’s Longshot story. The video of the new RPM feature was drool worthy, and should give player’s more control than ever before.

FIFA finally adding a “Champion’s League” mode is a welcomed addition, and should keep the soccer juggernaut on top of its competition. NBA Live looks to be bringing the heat this year, and could give NBA 2K a run for its money, at least in some regards. EA did all the right things at E3. Now let’s just hope Madden, FIFA and NBA Live can live up to their expectations.

Chris Sanner

Just going off what we learned from the press conferences means you had very little info and some pretty average to even counter-productive trailers. I also came away from the press conference with the distinct feeling that unless you are into esports or the card modes, you really weren’t being marketed to.

But the info we’ve learned in the ensuing hours after the press conference has broadened our knowledge of what’s to come a bit. Madden’s franchise mode additions do sound good, but I’m not sure it’s going to help the game come alive, which is what that mode needs more than anything.

Otherwise, the single-player experiences are centered on story and building a character sort of modes. Really, it’s just another wake up call that the traditional single-player experiences we’re more bent towards here at OS at times are on the back burner as experiences that market your ability to try to be the best among millions take center stage. I’m not sure I’d choose that path for game development as it seems like long term the realization that you probably aren’t going to win any of those events sets in for most, and all you have left are experiences that feel fruitless otherwise.

The overall quality of EA’s titles is only going up, which is a source of conflict for me. These games only continue to get better overall, but I really do wish the old bread and butter Franchise type of modes were improving at the same pace.

Joel Smith

After watching EA Play this year, there seems to be a new feel to what the company is doing this year. FIFA and NBA Live look to be releasing earlier this year. Madden, FIFA and NBA Live all gave us a surprisingly good amount of information early and all three games look like they’re going to be at least good this year.

We obviously need to wait for even more details and gameplay footage for us to truly be able to tell where we’re going this year with EA’s AAA sports titles, but as the rest of the gang mentioned there’s a new sense of transparency that the company is showing. I can’t say that I was really impressed with NBA Live and Madden’s trailers, but those looked to be a light wipe off of what we should see in the upcoming weeks and months before we start to get the real hype trains rolling.

That being said…that FIFA trailer had me feeling a type of way; I’m a FIFA lifer, and (unfortunately) it doesn’t take much for me to get sucked into FIFA hype, but the way that the trailer gave us nice glimpses of the newly added Champion’s League and whatever that remix of the Champion’s League anthem was really had me almost fall right into overloaded excitement. I’m tempering my joy until we get to see actual gameplay footage of all three games, but it looks like EA is looking to move forward in a way that keeps its communities informed along the way right until their products drop.

This is a VERY welcomed approach and I hope that Madden, FIFA and NBA Live give us something to really talk about this year.