David Gardner, chief operating officer of games publishing giant Electronic Arts, has lashed out at the games industry for "failing women" at a conference in Edinburgh. Gardner said "We have all been talking about this for a long, long time." EA's own research has found that 40% of teenage girls played video games versus 90% of teenage boys and most girls lost interest in games within a year.

He also said that women are somewhat an undiscovered market and that if EA cracked the problem they "could add a billion dollars to its sales." Mr Gardner said one of the biggest problems was that the content aimed at women gamers was not appealing. "They don't want 'pink games. Thy are not trying to play girly games where Paris Hilton and Britney Spears go shopping and put make-up on. Those kind of things have not been that successful."

As you may know, Sony have just announced the Pink PSP and PS2 for European gamers. If EA's David Gardner is correct, their new move into the female gaming market will fail. If EA's figures are correct, this undiscovered market could double the gaming economy, boosting sales for all. Let's see how Sony's pink additions to their console line-up go when they are released; the PSP in October and PS2 in November.

EA has a couple of announcements about its highly anticipated game for the PSP, Madden NFL 07. About the game itself, Madden NFL 07 for the PSP will feature a PSP-only mini-game. Gamers can also transfer an entire season in Franchise mode back and forth between PSP and PS2. The new season of the football game also has all-new Running Controls which gives level defenders in the open field elusive, tackle-breaking Truck moves.

The other thing is you get free shipping (US and Canada) when you pre-order Madden NFL 07 ($39.95) before August 31 from EA's on-line store. Madden NFL 07 will also be released for the NDS and is already available for the Xbox 360.

Anticipation continues to build as the release of yet another expansion pack from the Sims franchise comes near. The Sims 2: Pet is expected to ship this October 17 for PC, PS2, GBA and the Nintendo DS. The PSP version will come out a bit later in November. Seems like Electronic Arts (EA) is releasing it on every console available. And what's amazing is that every version has something to boast about.

In a related article here on QJ, it was mentioned that the DS version will have a "Manage a Pet Care Center" feature where you can pamper, preen and nurse your pet at your very own Pet Care Center. The PSP, PS2, and GameCube versions on the other hand allow you to take your pet for a stroll at the Central Town Park.

But have we said that the PC version allows your pets to have their own careers? You heard right! Your dogs, cats, or guinea pigs can be anything from movie stars to a member of an elite security pets corps. Also, the Game Boy Advance version offers a mode in which your pet can join pet shows and your Sim can be a pet train or or a veterinarian.

While waiting for our soon-to-love new pets, here are a few now-to-love screens.

If this latest listing for Gamestop is any indication, it seems that EA is reviving a few of their classics for the PSP in a retro-compilation titled EA Replay. This probably does not come as a big surprise, as other big name publishers such as Capcom, Sega, Midway, Taito and Namco has released compilations for years on other platforms, and it seems that only now is EA jumping on the bandwagon.

According to Gamestop, EA Replay is slated for a October 3 release date with a retail price of US$29.99 and will feature 14 of EA's blasts from the past including:

• B.O.B. : First released 1993
• Budokan : First released 1990
• Desert Strike : First released 1993
• Jungle Strike : First released 1993
  
• Haunting Starring Polterguy : First released 1993
• Mutant League Football : First released 1993
• Road Rash : First released 1992
• Road Rash II : First released 1993
• Road Rash III : First released 1995
• Syndicate : First released 1995
• Ultima - The Black Gate : First released 1994
• Virtual Pinball : First released 1993
• Wing Commander : First released 1993
  
• Wing Commander - The Secret Missions : First released 1993

They sure dont make games like that anymore! Be sure to stay tuned to QJ.net for any further details.

FIFA fans will be pleased to hear that Electronic Arts have extended their liscencing agreement with the Football Association (FA) Premier League for another 4 years, meaning more and more EA FIFA titles up to the 2010/11 season. This deal gives EA exclusive rights to feature all Premier League clubs in the games, along with current kits, squads and player likenesses up to the 2010/11 season.

EA are "delighted" to have extended the deal, with EA UK marketing manager Dan Holman saying "Our continuing relationship will enable us to maintain the high standards fans have come to expect. Our continuing relationship will enable us to maintain the high standards fans have come to expect." The next installment in EA's FIFA series, FIFA 07 will be released for Nintendo DS, PSP, Xbox, PC, PS2 and GBA on September 29th this year.

England international star Wayne Rooney, who is featured on the box of the UK version along with Ronaldinho, said that

"FIFA is always the game I play with my team mates when we travel or get together for international duty, so it’s great to return for a second year on the cover. I feel this is the season for both the game and for me professionally to go on to achieve even greater success." In other words, thanks putting me on the cover of your game, EA!

It's no surprise to many PSP owners that EA has told Sony to pick up the performance and delivery of the Playstation Portable. The handheld was seen as success early on, but after the Nintendo has stolen the thunder from Sony with the NDSL, they are in their worst position yet. The PSP doesn't even know what it is from the recent announcements of a camera attachment, GPS capability and even more non-gaming features. The PSP is not just a gaming system anymore and as a result - lost some of it's gaming power as a system.

EA's executive VP and COO of worldwide studios, David Gardner, has stated that Sony needs to address some issues with the PSP immediately if they wish for EA's support. After seeing the success of the NDS over the PSP, David Gardner said that "EA is putting more effort behind DS games – and creative ones that really take advantage of the hardware.” So, with their focus on the NDS now, will the PSP dig deeper into its grave? That is something that only Sony can decide as they have been told to address their issues.

Electronic Arts announced its line-up of players for FIFA 07 Dream Team featuring seven of the world's best football players with Ronaldinho, Brazilian International and two-time FIFA World Player of the Year, on the cover. Ronaldinho will be joined by other superstars for location-specific covers and they are:

• UK: Wayne Rooney (Manchester United, England)
  
• North America: Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy,US) and Francisco “Kikin” Fonseca (SL Benfica, Portugal)
• Germany: Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich, Germany)
• Spain: David Villa (Valencia, Spain)
  
• France: Juninho Pernambucano (Olympique Lyonnais, France)
  

“FIFA is always the game I play with my team mates when we travel or get together for international duty, so it’s great to return for a second year on the cover of FIFA alongside Ronaldinho" said PFA Young Player of the Year Wayne Rooney.

EA also revealed it has secured exclusive rights to the FA Premier League for another  four years including the 2010/11 season. The deal allows EA SPORTS  to include every Premier League club and allows the FIFA franchise to deliver the most realistic and up-to-date game with current kits, squads and player likenesses.

FIFA 07 is set to be released this September 29, 2006.

  

We know how much you want this game, so we're bringing you more details about the upcoming Medal of Honor: Heroes for the PSP.

Controls are completely customizable for both online and offline play (online play can be on user-hosted or EA-Nation servers), and even though there's no second analog stick on the PSP, the developers still assure us that controls are still fluid and easy to use. Here's a good move on their part: the online mode lets you join a party any time, and a party can have up to 32 players (local games can have up to 8 players). Also, there are 20 unlockable Medal of Honor characters to use in multiplayer games.

For mulitplayer online gaming, there are 15 maps to choose from. There are also 6 different modes of gameplay. In "Battlelines," teams try to control certain places on a map. In "Hold the Line," a team tries to defend a place while the other team attacks it. In "Demolition," Allied forces attempt to demolish (obvious by the name of the mode) enemy targets while the Axis forces try to defend those targets. In "Infiltration" mode, each team needs to sneak into the other team's base to steal the flag and bring it back to home base. And "Deathmatch" is just a lot of death.

EA had two goals for this game: better graphics and more enemies on the screen. And it looks like they got both done. That means the missions should be more fun (and a real killer on the higher difficulty level). By the way, how long a mission lasts depends on how good you are and on the difficulty level, but most areas should take the average player a few hours to finish (or in my case, a few days because I'm such a wimp).

Medal of Honor: Heroes has the word "heroes" in it because you'll play 3 heroes:

• Lieutenant Jimmy Patterson (from Medal of Honor and Medal of Honor: Frontline) in the Netherlands as part of Operation Market Garden.
• Sergeant John Baker (from Medal of Honor: Allied Assault Breakthrough) on the Italian coastline.
• Lieutenant William Holt (from Medal of Honor: European Assault) in the Ardennes Forest during the Battle of the Bulge.

Universal Capture or UCAP is EA's latest facial imaging technology that combines head scanning, motion capture, and video capture to create life-like characters you see in video games. This, according to Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 producer Steve Arnold, is how they transformed Tiger Woods from flesh-and-blood to pure pixels. And from the looks of it, Tiger worked a lot harder at this than on actual golf tournaments! Anyways, it's a great video to watch. Even if you're no golf fan, you may want to see how its done. You never know when you might become a video game character yourself.

Download: [Tiger Woods 07: UCAP Technology and Game Trailer]

Come September 29, football fans will be hurled back into the action and drama of the football season with FIFA 07. You probably know by now that the game is packed with new intelligent AI that ensures each man on the team make realistic decisions and not go on a crotch-kicking and headbutting spree.
 
But what would really make you want to buy FIFA 07 is its intriguing networking options. So, if you own a PS2 and a PSP, you might want to try out the new connectivity options wherein you can switch your career between consoles for a "home and away play." But that could also mean you'd have to have two copies of the game.

What's more, you can compete in "online matches that run in tandem with the real world fixtures." This means you can play the same match your team is playing via EA Sports Interactive Leagues. Playing in these matches could also influence the overall virtual result - the total scores of all the videogame match-ups.

So, if you want to revive your virtual football career, then this FIFA 07 feature should come in very handy.