General

FirstCuts: EA to Introduce Rock Band-Style Peripherals to Sports Titles

Jun 25, 2008, 7:45 PM UTC

Because clearly, the Rock Band drum set, guitar and microphone don’t present enough clutter in my apartment, EA Sports executive producer and vice president David McCarthy says a line of peripheral devices for sports titles can be expected in the next 12 months. Perhaps even as soon as E3 in July.â†µ

â†µâ†µ

â†µâ†µNext-Gen caught up with McCarthy at the Paris GDC and got these little nuggets:â†µ

â†µâ†µ“Anything we put out for sports would enhance the experience. I can tease you a little bit. One of the things we’re doing is looking at just playing with the Wii remote in a different way, using a whole new peripheral that’s out there, kind of thing. So, basically enabling control for the user in a much different way.”â†µ

â†µ

â†µHe teased some more: "We are prototyping stuff that really does allow us to play with the Wii remote differently."â†µ

â†µâ†µMcCarthy added, “You could see something around E3. Definitely something in the next few months, for sure.” â†µ

â†µâ†µTo this point, almost everything in the realm of Wii sports games trying to make a thoughtful attempt at a real sports sim has only felt gimmicky and forced. MLB 2K8 felt like the best implementation to this point, but the depth in gameplay and subpar graphics made it a pretender to its nex-gen console brethren. â†µ

â†µâ†µAnd as far as implementing Rock Band or Guitar Hero styled peripherals in sports games ... I guess you can count me as skeptical. They have to work almost flawlessly in the way the rhythm game accessories work, or they’ll just serve as something that frustrates gamers into not playing the title anymore.â†µ

â†µâ†µPeripherals that simulate the action could be a welcome change in some ways, because as I experience while playing Prizefighter, remembering endless button combinations to perform various actions becomes tedious for every single game you play.â†µ

â†µâ†µFor those of you waiting to see what EA has in store for E3, you’ll have to wait just a few more weeks. E3 will be held July 15-17.â†µ

â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

See More: