EA Sports standardizes Wii All-Play

In a handful of Electronic Arts' sports titles for the Wii last year, the publisher included an exclusive "family play" mode, wherein the games' control schemes were simplified to accommodate the platform's nontraditional gaming crowd. For this year's lineup, EA is bringing this family-friendly mode to the fore in a number of its most popular sports titles, as the publisher has announced Madden NFL, NCAA Football, Tiger Woods PGA Tour, NBA Live, and FIFA Soccer will fall under the newly established All-Play label.

According to EA, All-Play sports titles have been designed to more evenly balance player skill levels, and will offer both traditional control schemes for experienced gamers as well as pick-up-and-play options for novice players. The games will offer distinct, stylized visuals, as well as a variety of modes that won't be found in other versions of the games.

New to the Wii this year, NCAA Football 09 features more than 200 schools and is due out July 15. New to Madden NFL on the Wii this year will be the Call Your Shots feature, where players use the Wii Remote to define a receiver's route on the fly. The game will also include a 5-on-5 big-head mode. It will launch alongside other console counterparts on August 12.

As for games where no pigs are harmed, Tiger Woods PGA Tour returns with true-to-life motion-controlled swings, as well as an online play mode for up to four, and is due August 26. NBA Live is also being designed to highlight the Wii's control scheme, and EA promises more responsive controls over last year's critically lambasted hoops sim when it launches October 7. Lastly, this year's FIFA Soccer features Mii integration as well as a variety of "Footii Party Games." FIFA's annual installment takes to the pitch October 14.