EA names NFL Head Coach

Gamers may not have a choice in who makes their NFL games in the wake of Electronic Arts' five-year exclusive rights deal with the league, but they still have a choice when it comes to the style of gameplay. The publisher is already well known for its traditional simluation football Madden series and the arcade-styled Street franchise, but today the company introduced a third pillar for release next year: the strategy-centric sim NFL Head Coach (working title).

Departing from the traditional sports sim game in a couple key ways, NFL Head Coach will not only bring 3D graphics to the traditionally static and spreadsheet-based genre, but also it will also appear on consoles. EA has announced that Head Coach is in development at EA Tiburon for a spring 2006 release on the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and PC. It also appears that EA is making a conscious effort to make the game more accessible than the average sports strategy title, beyond just giving it a coat of polygonal paint and releasing it for new platforms.

"NFL Head Coach is an entirely new football experience that every level of football gamer can play," according to EA Tiburon executive producer Dale Jackson. "It provides the strategy that the hardcore fan will demand, but with very easy-to-use controls and assistance for more-casual fans. Football will no longer be intimidating for the casual user."

Players will take control of every facet of the coaching position, pushing pencils, running practices, and donning the headset each Sunday. From developing and executing a team strategy to building a winning organization year in and year out, players will have to excel at it all to become a coaching legend.