EA Sports

EA Sports is a brand name used by Electronic Arts since 1993 to distribute games based on sports. Formerly a gimmick inside Electronic Arts sports games, that tried to mimic real-life sports networks, calling themselves "EA Sports Network" (EASN) with pictures or endorsements of real comentators such as Ron Barr and John Madden, soon grew up to become a sub-label on its own, releasing games such as FIFA, NHL, Madden NFL, and NCAA Football. EA Sports' early motto, If it's in the game, it's in the game reflects the aim of the early games to portrait reality as best as the technology would allow.

Series and games

Most EA Sports games are distinguished by year, as most games are released on a yearly basis. However, as EA Sports is the leading purchaser of official licenses, it's not uncommon that in a short span several games of the same sport but with different licenses are released: FIFA 98 was shortly followed by World Cup 98 (as EA has the license for the FIFA World Cup and the European Football Championship, it happens regularly in two-year intervals) and college football or basketball games based on both NBA Live and Madden NFL. The earlier titles released until 1996 are referred by fans as the classic series.

Related Topics:
FIFA World Cup - European Football Championship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Madden NFL series, 1988 (games prior to 1993 did not have an NFL license)
• NCAA Football series, 1996 (prior to 1996 the name of the franchise was Bill Walsh College Football)
• NBA Live series, 1994

:preceded by The NBA Playoffs (1989-1993), and NBA Showdown (1993).

Related Topics:
1989 - 1993

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Triple Play series, 1996, discontinued in 2002, giving place to the MVP Baseball series
• FIFA series, 1993

:EA Sports also released several other games, most notably the games with World Cup and European Championship licenses.

Related Topics:
World Cup - European Championship

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• NHL series, 1991

:Three Elitserien titles were also released in Sweden

Related Topics:
Elitserien - Sweden

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

:Three SM-liiga titles were released in Finland

Related Topics:
SM-liiga - Finland

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• PGA Tour series, 1990, renamed to Tiger Woods PGA Tour in 1999
• NASCAR Thunder series (later renamed to , however, beginning with the 2006 version, the game will be titled NASCAR: Total Team Control)
• NCAA March Madness series
• Knockout Kings series, which was composed of five titles (between 1998 and 2002) and then discontinued when Fight Night 2004 was released. In the past, Toughman Contest was also released.
• Total Club Manager

:Preceded by FIFA Soccer Manager (1996) and the Premier League Manager series.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Rugby series

:Although Rugby World Cup 95 and Australian Rugby League (one for Genisis/Mega Drive and PC 95 and 96 respectivly) were released still during the 16-bit era, the series would only turn regular in 2003. The official game of the 1999 Rugby Union World Cup was delayed, and was only released many months after as Rugby 2001.

Related Topics:
2003 - 1999 Rugby Union World Cup

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Arena Football

:First version due out in February 2006

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

• Cricket Series

:Cricket was a biannual series but is a annual series now.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

There are other series, including F1 Championship (discontinued after Sony acquired the exclusive license for the Formula 1 championship), Superbike and others with a limited distribution such as AFL.

Related Topics:
Sony - Formula 1 - AFL

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~