EA-branded 'sporting goods' en route

By Tor Thorsen, GameSpotPosted Feb 17, 2009 2:07 pm PT

Megapublisher signs deal with Toy Island to make EA Sports-branded athletic playthings for all ages.

When EA Sports president Peter Moore announced EA Sports Active last year, he said the Wii fitness game would be compatible with a series of real-world accessories. This week, the planet's second-largest third-party publisher announced a deal to release "a unique new line of sports equipment that will bring the excitement of video game simulation outside onto the fields of play."

The agreement with manufacturer Toy Island Partners will see a new line of EA Sports-branded toys aimed at children launch this fall. The toys will use such high-tech bells and whistles as infrared, motion, and balance sensors to help youths hone their technique, speed, and power in five sports: baseball, basketball, soccer, hockey, and football. EA Sports currently develops and publishes games related to four of those pastimes, including the NBA Live, FIFA, NHL, and Madden NFL franchises.

So far, four unnamed EA Sports toy types have been revealed. The first will be a series of "interactive training tools," which will act as virtual coaches and will even issue and receive voice commands. Another line will offer encouragement by providing cheers when players use good form, and yet another will feature a series of Nerf-like high-density foam balls to teach younger children basic motor skills. Lastly, EA and Toy Island will offer all-in-one starter kits, which will feature all the equipment youths will need to start training for a sport.

"Our goal is to take the EA Sports brand deeper into the fabric of sports, and into new markets that allow more people to unleash their inner spirit of sports and competition," said Moore in a statement.

20 Comments

  • NoseWeed619

    Posted Oct 17, 2009 8:54 pm PT

    Wow. Ummm. Ok. Basic Motor Skills are good and all...

  • Superdude475

    Posted Feb 19, 2009 6:12 pm PT

    No. Simply No.

  • Hedfix

    Posted Feb 18, 2009 9:25 pm PT

    I support this 100%: It'll make it easier to tell who's an idiot and who isn't.

  • enoslives7

    Posted Feb 18, 2009 9:56 am PT

    make room in the bargain-bin for more crappy EA products

  • Gamer_4_Fun

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 11:30 pm PT

    Cool, nice job in FIFA 09!

  • jrabbit99

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 6:37 pm PT

    It doesn't matter what you do EA Sports, I will always hate you for buying all the exclusive licenses and then ruining the games

  • VolcanoMan001

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 5:37 pm PT

    Oh come on.

  • FelixTheGreat15

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 5:23 pm PT

    Wow. I remember when EA just started, they were such a little company, and now look how big they are! Good job EA for engineering such a massive empire.

  • kkkkknaruto

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 5:07 pm PT

    ea wants #1 back and u cud tell competition from activison blizzard is actually making ea a better company

  • PhilWil92

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 4:23 pm PT

    This reminds me of the Philip Morris move. Make a website against smoking, but still sell cigarettes. In this case EA makes real sport equipment, but still sells vidoegames. Not that vidoegames are as much as a problem as cigarettes lol. EA is thinking ahead here when that arguement does come up in the future.

  • ldonyo

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 4:17 pm PT

    Great, more lead-painted junk from China on the horizon.

  • SoNin360

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 4:08 pm PT

    I lost interest at "aimed at young children"
    we don't need any more balance-board-like accessories anyways.

  • Starcraft012694

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:53 pm PT

    "help youths hone their technique, speed, and power in five sports well if it's as much help as EA sports are sims then those kids are getting ripped off"

    What are you talking about?? FIFA 09 hands down most realisti soccer game, ever made, ever, not only in the graphics, but in the feel of the controls and gameplay.

  • rsox07

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:50 pm PT

    this is cool

  • darknferno12

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:32 pm PT

    help youths hone their technique, speed, and power in five sports well if it's as much help as EA sports are sims then those kids are getting ripped off

  • enix165

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:22 pm PT

    Ooh, yay, now the childerkins can raise their Stamina, Speed and Strength levels! XD

  • EllisSpice

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 3:06 pm PT

    I think it looks good.
    So stop moaning you lot.

  • FoxExecutive

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 2:55 pm PT

    I wonder if there stuff will come with secuROM and you can only wear those items a certain number of times?

  • snipeshot11

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 2:50 pm PT

    Maybe they should worry about staying committed to their games before they start thinking about this sh*t. Any money says EASHL playoffs will be a complete flop, everyone in this league has found a glitch to make themselves 99 overall. Way to go EA, you failed again!

  • Skyline5

    Posted Feb 17, 2009 2:39 pm PT

    dont they have other tthings to invest in like i dont know themselves. They layoff tons of employees then do this. All in an attempt to imbed ea into real sports lives for better sales. make better products and you wont have to worry about it

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