EA Sports to learn from World of Goo

By Robert Purchese Published 20 January, 2009

Peter Moore quite addicted to indie title.

EA Sports captain Peter Moore reckons World of Goo creator 2D Boy can teach his team a thing or two about creating approachable yet unique games on a budget.

"By every admission, I am more of a sports guy and this isn't my default cup of tea, but there's a ton to admire in something so simple, yet full of impressive physics that make for an elegant and somewhat addictive experience," writes Moore on his blog.

"There's a lot to learn from the EA alumni who started 2D Boy and built something as creative and unique as World of Goo with such a small team and little money.

"It's that type of creativity and entrepreneurial spirit that can really drive innovation, and I'd like to think we're setting the right priorities and taking the right steps to deliver more experiences in this vein from EA Sports," he adds.

The first of these will be 3 on 3 NHL Arcade for Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network early this year.

This costs 800 MSP (GBP 6.80 / EUR 9.60) or USD 10, and quickly puts players in control of lively hockey matches presented in a stylised heads-too-big-for-bodies way.

And that's just the start; Moore says 3 on 3 NHL Arcade will be a "blueprint for many more inexpensive, approachable, and downloadable experiences" in the year ahead.

On the Wii, Moore has the cartoon NASCAR Kart Racing ready: "The first of at least three EA Sports products that will be either exclusive to, or lead with, the Wii in 2009."

Finally, there will be a free EA Sports Complex launched for PlayStation Home this spring, plus plenty of unnamed PC projects for people to get excited about.

Peter Moore sounds happy and creative. So much so, in fact, that he offered a little prediction ahead of the Merseyside derby last night.

"I have not seen the team selection yet, but if Rafa [Benitez] does not play both Torres and Keane together up front then I fear we are tempting fate against what will be a very determined Everton team who have had a tremendous run of late," professed Moore, presumably now wishing he hadn't. [You're fired. - Ed]

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About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (11) Latest comment 3 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • the_dudefather #1 3 years ago

    like the idea of '3 on 3 NHL Arcade', i wouldn't buy a sports title for full price, but might be worth a punt for a stripped down version on XBLA that I can play multiplayer with

    hope it turns out good

  • Raz76 #2 3 years ago

    Timmy, Timmy, the blue kangaroo!

  • secombe #3 3 years ago

    Hopefully EA in general will learn something from World of Goo. If two guys can easily blow the whole of EAs Wii output of the water with one WiiWare game, they really should be thinking about what they can do that is innovative yet still marketable.

    I'm assuming the cost of developing something at a similar level would be negligible for EA, WiiWare could be a good way for them to dip their toes in the water...hopefully if something is successful enough they can turn it into a retail release franchise.

  • HuggyAtHome #4 3 years ago

    How long before we get World of Goo rip-off 2009...2010....every year thereafter...live Goo updates, create your own Goo etc. All with a thumping fully licensed soundtrack.

    EA have started to chnage their ways in 2008 but it's all about NEW ideas rather than churning out annual updates of the same old franchises. I thought the awful Facebreaker was meant to be the start of a big new creative push by EA?

  • HermitArcader #5 3 years ago

    Post deleted at 09:17:39 22-12-2011

  • spekkeh #6 3 years ago

    Like I said, it looks & plays like a ten-a-penny flash puzzle game.

    You must go to very different sites than me. It's an awful lot better than fl0w, which was already quite a remarkable flash game.

  • oerhoert #7 3 years ago

    Mogs: Yeah, you are missing something. :)

  • Raz76 #8 3 years ago

    I think you are all missing the most disturbing news, which is that the leader of EA Sports figures that fielding Robbie Keane is the way to success for his team.
    Edited by 1 at 20/01/09 @ 14:35

  • robg #9 3 years ago

    Is this what it takes for EA's management to see some sense? Developers to leave and get the freedom they need to make something good? HOW EA's top brass can't see that they or their subordinates have broken the development process is beyond me.

  • BM #10 3 years ago

    What's a wirte?

  • Oh-Bollox #11 3 years ago

    World of Goo? I'm sure it's fun, and the reviewers certainly loved it, but surprised to see up so high.

    So if you're surprised to see it so high, Peter, then obviously you think it should have been lower. So what exactly do you have to learn from it, this game that you don't even think is very good?