EA makes their case for downloadable Marketplace content.
EA Sports announced new premium downloadable content which will hit Xbox Live’s Marketplace in the fall.
The downloadable goods kick off with Madden 07, and allows you to buy up classic stadiums like the LA Rams old stadium in Anaheim, and the Kingdome where the Seattle Seahawks used to play. Each will cost 300 MS points, and future stadium downloads are in the works.
There will also be 5-6 minute video strategy guides for both Madden and NCAA, focusing on passing, rushing, pass defense and run defense. Each of those will strip 160 MS points from your virtual wallet.
“Downloadable content is something we’ve been talking about for awhile,” said Chip Lane, EA’s VP of Online Commerce. “The first year of development on a new console is a real bear, but now that the development teams are onto their second year it allows us to explore more things.”
The exploration is something that will stretch across all sports titles in the future. On the horizon are NBA Live 07 strategy guides, throwback uniforms in both Madden NFL 07 and NCAA 07, and Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 07 courses, and pro shop items. There’s even talk of adding things like downloadable Madden mini-games, exclusively distributed on Marketplace. The creation of the Marketplace assets comes after the game goes gold, meaning it won’t steal time away from the game’s original production cycle.
“It’s great because with retail, we can’t go in and change things after the game’s released,” said Lange. “But with the Marketplace, we can respond the content people are interested in.”
Source: gametab.com