EA exec says PS3 dev on track

In a presentation at the Merril Lynch Media and Entertainment Conference this morning, Electronic Arts chief financial officer Warren Jenson talked to investors about the changing face of the game industry and how EA intends to position itself to succeed in the future.

Jenson laid out five changes in the industry that EA is looking to adapt to: increased online connectivity, more mobile gaming (including cell-phone gaming, handhelds, and now iPods), growth in user-generated content, the increasingly global development marketplace, and the transition to next-gen consoles.

In a postpresentation Q&A session, Jenson was asked to give an update on how the publisher's PlayStation 3 launch titles were shaping up relative to its Xbox 360 launch efforts from last year.

"We feel real good about where we are," Jenson said. "Relative to where we were with the Xbox [360], we're further along, but we're developing for a more complicated machine." Jenson's comments were likely in reference to the PlayStation 3's powerful central Cell processor, codeveloped by IBM and Toshiba, and its RSX graphics chip, designed by Nvidia.

Jenson isn't the only one feeling good about where EA is in regards to the PS3 launch. In a report on the industry's holiday outlook today, UBS Investments Research analyst Michael Wallace said the publisher was better suited to take advantage of the PS3 launch than its competitors.

"Of all the third parties, EA will have the most exposure to the PS3 launch in terms of its number of titles available," Wallace said, "but we feel it would be hurt less from a PS3 shortfall than other companies (i.e., Activision) would be, given that EA will have a more balanced lineup targeting both current-generation and next-generation platforms over the next two quarters."