Hey guys, it's Allan here. I've just returned (Okay, fine, it's been a while since this event. It was several days back. But I blame <another GA writer> for the delay.) from a long journey into the savage heart of... wait, no, it's just an EA Preview Screening of some upcoming holiday release games. That's right, I was at EA Play. It may not be the Tokyo Game Show, but at least it's something.

So down to the titles, the showcase had such games as: Need for Speed Carbon, Sims 2: Pets, Battlefield 2142, and EA Sports titles, such as Cricket 07, Hockey, and NBA. So follow the jump to hear more...

EA held this preview at the Waterview Convention Center in Bicentennial Park. Bicentennial is right next to Olympic Park, where the 2000 Olympic games were held. The Center was actually quite large, and the show floor was divided into four sections to coincide with the Big 4. Need for Speed Carbon was the showcase title, for which they put up a projector screen and compete in Time Trial challenges to win free stuff (a copy of Carbon on a platform of your choosing).

Around the section of the showcase title were several LG TVs with NFS: Carbon playing on the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360. The picture on the televisions were quite horrible, and did not do the games any justice. However, this was compensated by the multitudes of cocktails and drinks supplied to attendees.

But yes, apart from NFS: Carbon, EA Sports had showing NHL 07, Tiger Woods 07, and Cricket 07 on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 2 platforms. Beyond that, several computers were set up for people to join in on a match of Battlefield 2142. In another corner of the Center sat Sims: Pets on the PC & PlayStation 2. Oddly enough, right next to the Sims display was a copy of The Godfather playing on the Xbox 360. I have to say, I quite enjoyed mindlessly choking, beating, and running people over.

So now to my impressions of the game. First up, Need for Speed Carbon. EA stated the version of the game they had running was only 60% complete. The framerate was atrocious and the graphics looked like someone had gotten dirt and wiped it across the screen. The TVs didn't help the situation. Fortunately, EA once again compensated by handing out free demos for the PS2 version of Carbon was we left the Center. I gave it a decent once over before doing this article and, yes, the graphics were a lot more polished in the demo and the entire title was rounded off very nicely. Not only that, the load times were quite fast and this was on a PS2. This leaves me very excited to how the Xbox 360 version will play.

That said, it's all about the gameplay with NFS Carbon. How does Carbon set itself apart from Underground and Most Wanted series? Well, it brings a new race to play, called "Canyon Run". Canyon Run is basically an Initial D type mountain-side run. You go against a rival driver for the right to claim the mountain pass. Canyon Run has three modes. One of the modes is Canyon Duel, which has two stages to it. Stage One has the player racing down the mountain, following the rival as close as possible without hitting their car. Getting closer and closer without hitting your rival will net you more and more points.

Stage Two has the player driving down the mountain, with the rival trying to follow them. As the rival gains points, your points from the first stage are lowered. If your score goes below 0, you lose. Personally, I actually liked Canyon Run. It was fun, excited, and slightly challenging to get into. If you have ever seen an episode of Initial D, it's very much the same style of racing down a mountain/canyon, drifting corners, following your opponent, and trying to avoid flying off the mountain side. Yep, that's right, flying off the edge of the cliff. No boundaries. Sometimes, I'd just fly my car off the cliff cause it all looks really damn cool. Kudos to EA Sports for no boundaries.

I didn't get to play the two other modes, but one was Canyon Drift, which tests your drifting ability as you drive down the mountain/canyon at top speed. The last mode of the three was Canyon Race, a straight head to head race down the mountain/canyon. Playing Canyon Run was similar to the Most Wanted Rival Challenges. You win some races to unlock the next race. The other two races I got to play were Circuit and Drift. Circuit is standard racing, but with the addition of the takedown icons from the Most Wanted series scattered along the Circuit road, allowing you to hinder an opponent by doing things such as causing explosions to disrupt your rival's driving.

Drift was similar to previous NFS drift modes. You go along a track, earning points as you defeat your opponents, and the only difference was a lot more space to maneuver in.

Now for some of the other features of Carbon. There are three categories of cars and customizations: Import Tuner, European Exotic, and American Muscle. All customizable with the show stopper: Autosculpt. Autosculpt let you fabricate your own parts from body kits, wheels, hoods, exhaust tips, spoilers, roof scoops... you can create a totally unique car using Autosculpt. It really had me thinking of Oblivion's character creation, except on a car. I expect people to spend hours building their cars just how they want them. In the demo alone, I spent 20 minutes building up my Camaro SS with Autosculpt. EA was pushing Carbon like crack at this event, and honestly, I'm impressed so far with the new features.

Next up was Battlefield 2142. I didn't want to spend too much time on this, as I know several staff members and GAL listeners were involved with the beta a while ago, but my overall opinion: WHY IS DRIVING A MECH SO BLOODY DIFFICULT? The controls were so horrible, and the mechs spawned in a small area between buildings, making mobility almost impossible. However, once I got my head around the controls and got through the learning curve, I started to rack in the kills with the Titan death machine. But, FPS-wise, it was the standard Battlefield you have come to know and love. I was leading the kill count while playing, "representin' GA", but yeah, overall, it was a very addictive killfest. As always with Battlefield.

Next was the Sims 2: Pets. I know, it's the Sims. But Pets was actually pretty cool. The pet creator let you change a short, pudgy dog to a Dalmatian. The creation screen had endless possibilities and items to use. Pet stripes, curly or straight fur, or different sized snouts, endless possibilities. You can also breed your pets (yes, the pets get it on!), and crossbreed your creations into a new breed. It was actually pretty cool, especially if you're into the Sims scene. It was also on the PS2, but it felt awkward trying to play the Sims on a console. I don't think it was the best conversion ever, although they did put in a lot of time in the menu system ease of use. The Sims: Pets will also be getting a DS counterpart, which looks like it may take a page out of Nintendogs. All I got to see was a trailer, but some of the information I was given had features such as uploading pets, setting up a blog, trading pets, and the multiplayer modes. The modes listed were Live Mode, Build Mode, Activity Mode, and Trade Mode. I think it'd be interesting to see how EA tries to improve on Nintendogs.

Finally, EA Sports titles. This was the biggest letdown of the show. EA was churning out another years worth of sports titles, and although EA is trying to make them more innovative with Athlete Movement, Procedural Movement, and Foot Planting to give characters more human-like movements and abilities, it's still another EA roster update. The line up for EA Sports was as follows: Fifa 07, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07, Cricket 07, Madden 07, NBA 07, Fight Night Round 3, and NHL 07.

On the floor was FIFA, Tiger Woods, NHL, and Cricket. I tried my hand at NHL 07 and I liked it. The controls were comfortable and EA seems to have been sorting out what does and doesn't work in NHL games. I'm not a golfer, so Tiger Woods bored the hell out of me. Finally, the most important sports title for Australia, Cricket 07. Apparently, it's getting released just before the Ashes, so if you're a cricket fan you can get some good hours of gameplay before it starts. The new commentary team has Mark Nicholas and the voice of Australian Cricket player Richie Benaud, which should keep fans happy. As I've said before, I'm no cricketer fan, and I can't stand the sport. But as a gamer, I can tell you right now that this game is gonna be a hit, and perhaps a best selling title down here. Fans are gonna lap it up.

In the lead up to Christmas, EA's Big 4 really has a selling lineup on their hands. Your mom and sister'll buy the Sims games, the shooter fans will buy Battlefield 2142, sports fanatics will buy all the Sports titles, and the car enthusiast has Need for Speed Carbon to look forward to. EA has the bases covered for the holiday rush, and I can definitely see a lot of these titles as chart toppers.

There ya go, a roundup on EA's next few months. That pretty much is everything I can think of from the event. Hope you enjoyed reading.