I am sorry that some news  posted these last two days was a bit late or a bit too short, but I had an outdoor mission, as I am sure you all underdstand. We reported some weeks ago about EA’s Sneek Peak for“Need For Speed Undercover” at the Soho Apple Store. For anyone that couldn’t make it, I was there first hand to check out the games and even had the pleasure of speaking with Patrick Gunn, Director of Marketing at EA.  He was nice enough to sit with me and discuss some details about the game, the industry, and the iphone.

Stephan: My first question for you is do you think that EA takes the iPhone as a very real and serious gaming handheld device? And will EA start developing games specifically made for the iPhone Platform or will we see mostly ported titles?

Patrick Gunn: This is an great question and a really important one too.  EA takes every platform really seriously, whether it is the  iPhone, X Box, Playstation, the Web… anywhere where there is an great gaming platform, EA will be there. But iPhone is really the first Platform that took everything together from the shopping experience, download to  billing and made it just so easy for the consumer. You’ve been using the device yourself and you know how easy it is to just find the game you want, download it and  start playing with it in minutes.

Stephan: I would agree with you and even say that it is not only easy for the consumer but much better for the developers as well who don’t have to worry about any shipping or packaging costs. So, considering that this makes it so you can get a PSP quality game for almost less than 50%  of the price or sometimes for only a few bucks; do you think that it makes more sense to import games?

Patrick Gunn: We love the platform and how easy it is for us as developers to take our intellectual game property and bring it to the iPhone… this may also answer your question if we will just keep importing and the answer is no! We are taking the key features that you have heard;  the demo touch, wifi, graphics, Multiplayer and  accelerometer  and think about how we can labor these features in our games.

Stephan: Another question I have…I don’t know if you have heard that Freeverse was able to play Moto Chaser on a TV 42-inch television. Is EA planning something in this direction?

Patrick Gunn: I can’t confirm what you are talking about because I haven’t seen anything like that, but there are many different aspects and  EA is valuing all of those things that could be a potential, but where we are focusing right now is  how can we enable our consumer to play across platforms,  so if somebody is in New York City on an Xbox Life and somebody else is in California on an iPhone on a bus stop we want these people to communicate with each other and find each other… so things like that are probably  what we are going to focus on.

After playing the game for a few minutes, the first thing I realized was the easy to understand and fun game-play that doesn’t need much explaining or direction.  The accelerometer works smoothly and is very realistic; you have two buttons on each site at the top off the screen ( see picture below) that change to your needs and situation. For example, when you hit a turn, the left button will change to a drift button, which like the name says, lets the car drift into curves.

The car always has an ground speed the more perfect you steer the car through the streets the faster the car will be, and if you really need some serious speed to get away from the cops you have the Nitro Button at the right top.

The gameplay is really well thought-out and the graphics are stunning and very polished and definitely close to PSP standards. If you take a look at the screenshots or the video you can even notice the cracks on the street!

Game Description:
Chase or be Chased in Need for Speed Undercover. The cops are back like never before in this action - packed game of pursuit and betrayal. Experience realistic 3D graphics, accelerometer steering, touch controls and explosive crash scenes! Go up against ruthless street racers out to win at any costs. Earn respect and fill your garage with the worlds fastest,customized cars. You're the hunter and hunted in Need for Speed Undercover

Key Features:

• 30 of the worlds fastest , sexiest cars including Porsche Cayman S, Lamborghini Gallardo, Ford Mustang, and the Lotus Elise


• Multiple car customization options such as suspension control, tires, and body paint


• Realistic accelerometer steering with high  responsiveness


• Touch controls such as nitro boost, car selection and carcustomization options


• Dynamically genareted impact animations for collidible / destructible  objects in the game world


• Intense cop combat with dramatic, animated crash scenes


• Authentic street racing with a in-depth storyline and progressively more difficult street challenges


• Eight high-impact race modes including Highway Battle, Sprint, and Cop takeout