EA Talks the Future

Check out GameSpot's lengthy interview with EA marketing VP Frank Gibeau as he talks about his company's recent fifteen-year licensing deal with ESPN. While many of Gibeau's answers as to what EA Sports plans to do with the ESPN license are little more than speculative possibilities at this point, there were several choice items to highlight:

• Gamers being able to set the rosters for a game played on a particular day based on that night's actual lineup (using ESPN as the source). While this sounds like a great idea, it seems like it would require some hefty manpower to put into action. After all, there's a reason both EA and Sega had only a handful of online roster updates between them in their latest sports titles. Still, the idea of consistently updated rosters, even when teams head into the playoffs, is exciting.
• Pumping up the presentation value of future iterations of Madden and NCAA Football using ESPN mainstay broadcasts such as College Game Day and NFL Tonight. Again a great idea on the surface but it begs the question: How much Lee Corso and Mike Golic is too much?
• The rumors of John Madden's demise from the EA Sports football franchise have been greatly exaggerated, at least according to Gibeau. From the interview: "I'm not sure where those stories are coming from. I think the simple fact is, we've had a long-term great relationship with John Madden. And he's in our games next year. And we're talking about the future with him. And by the way, he works for ESPN."