I was invited to sit in on a conference call with lead producer Anthony DeLuca of 2K Sports’ Top Spin 3 who talked all about the game which is scheduled to release on Tuesday June 24th. This will represent the second game in the franchise to come to the Xbox 360 and the first time it’ll be out on the PS3 and Wii. The general features and improvements of the game were discussed while answering questions that were submitted in advance. Continue on for a recap of the the notes that were taken.

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Through an interview with producers Justin Withers and Ronnie Morales I was able to get a good idea of everything involved with the setup/procedures and new features that are being rolled out this year with EA Fantasy Football. The confusion created by the previews that have been released on it should be taken care of thanks to this discussion.

First of all the website based leagues remain. Drafting through the websites will function as normal. They are still completely free including the live web-based drafts and even the live stat tracking. The exporting of teams into Madden 09 will work for all types of leagues regardless of whether they use the website or live console draft.

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Earlier this morning I reacted to the info provided by IGN regarding EA’s Fantasy Football leagues. It turns out the details they provided weren’t accurate (or at the very least weren’t explained properly).

It turns out that not only has the pricing not been finalized, but the $15 that was cited by IGN for the 360/PS3 draft application would be per league and not per owner. The optional live stats would be on an individual basis which is the norm with most league offerings.

I have an interview later today with the lead producer for EA Fantasy Football. Any questions that you feel would be worth asking drop in the comments.

Update: Full details on EA Fantasy Football from the interview can be read here.

Update: Specific details coming soon. The IGN info isn’t completely accurate.

Update #2: Full details on EA Fantasy Football thanks to an interview conducted with the producers can be read here.

While the details on EA Sports Fantasy Football were somewhat vague they sounded great. There would be drafting and live stats via the PS3 and 360 and importing of your teams into Madden 09. The leagues and teams would be free. Apparently they specifically mention those being free because the actual drafting and live stats won’t be.

The Fantasy Football download will be available for 1200 Microsoft Points (or $15 on PSN) with live stat tracking available for an additional 400 MP ($5). While drafting your fantasy squad isn’t possible online just yet, you and your friends can sit in your living room, pick your squads the same as you’ve done in the past and then upload them to EA’s online fantasy website. There are video clips that will play after picking the top 60 or so players with stat summaries from the previous season to let you know what you can expect in the coming year. You can also load that team into Madden and use it as a standard fantasy draft squad. (Via IGN)

Originally I had imagined the drafting and stats would be accessed through Madden but it looks as though it’ll be a standalone program. It’s understandable that they would want to charge for this considering the amount of work that has been put into it. I just don’t see many people utilizing these services given the prices no matter how cool they may be. The majority doesn’t spend money on league services and can live with their current Yahoo (or wherever) experience. Good luck getting a group of friends together that are all willing to pay $15-20 towards this when that money could’ve been pooled for the league winner.

There are also some important questions that need to be answered around the importing of teams into Madden. Those include how the teams are filled out at positions not utilized in the fantasy league, the customization options, and whether they’ll be playable online.

One thing that has started to become more common is the comparison being displayed of the upcoming release to the previous one. In many cases the initial reaction to seeing screenshots and videos is that the changes are minimal. This was the case with the first player model screenshots for NCAA Football 09, that was until they were compared directly with 08’s.

The first screenshots from Tiger Woods 09 weren’t really all that exciting. They practically looked identical to what was seen in 08. And it could very well be the case that not much has been done with what they specifically showed. However EA has now released a comparison video displaying the drastic enhancement to the courses with the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes at Sawgrass as the focus. The lighting in particular is much better, something that seems to be the case with all of the upcoming releases. Continue on to view the video or check it out in larger form at the Tiger Woods 09 website which launched today.

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The EA Sports Fantasy Football website now contains a trailer that details some of what to expect from their league system. It will officially be launching on June 11th.

• Leagues/teams are free
• Manage league drafts through the 360 and PS3
• Live scoring on the 360 and PS3
• Import your fantasy team into Madden 09
• Advanced commissioner scoring and setup

Back at the end of February EA was actively looking for suggestions on how to integrate fantasy football into the Madden experience. It looks like they’ve taken some of those ideas and implemented them such as the importing of your fantasy team into the game along with also offering the live drafts and live scoring via the PS3 or 360. For the importing of teams I’ll be interested to find out how they are filled at positions that aren’t being utilized in the fantasy league.

I’d still like to see something along the lines of fantasy football “achievements” on the website and a ticker in the game that would display league stats, scores, and news (such as transactions) throughout the week.

Hopefully you’ll be able to play with your fantasy teams in unranked online games. You basically could do that last year but it was a lengthy (and at first confusing) process to put together a custom team and play online with them.

Taking a page out of the wildly successful customization aspect in Forza 2, EA Sports is bringing the “Paint Booth” feature to Nascar 09. This will give players a way to completely customize their cars and race with them in the game. They’ll even transfer into online racing.

Utilizing the all-new Paint Booth feature, NASCAR fans can now take in-game personalization to the next level by giving users the ability to completely customize their car from start to finish. In addition, for the first time in franchise history, a car customization template is available online which creates endless possibilities for personalization. Players will be able to see their friends custom designed car skins when racing against them online.

The online connectivity of Paint Booth allows players to download a car template from easports.com and import it into editing programs, such as Photoshop, giving users a multitude of design options. They can then upload those images into the game and show off their dream machine on the track.

You can check out demos of the feature here at the game’s official website.

EA will be announcing the creation of a new label which will go by “EA Sports Freestyle”. This sub-brand of EA Sports will encompass the non-sim sports titles. Essentially “Freestyle” will be replacing the “EA BIG” brand.

EA Sports Freestyle games will be “about fun, inclusiveness, cooperation and suspending the normal rules associated with sports video games,” according to the company. The first title, FaceBreaker — a boxing game that offers cartoon violence — will debut in September.

With the news that Facebreaker will sell for less than the standard ($50) it seems as though that might become a staple of the “Freestyle” brand. Recent releases such as NFL Tour and FIFA Street 3 (which would’ve fit under “Freestyle”) have released a lower price points as well.

Also noted is that two unannounced games will be “Freestyle” titles along with a fitness game. That means the two new unannounced IPs that have been mentioned and speculated on likely will be along the lines of the arcade style (or at least non-conventional) sports offerings. My money is still on some variation of an NHL Street game to be one of them.

Recently EA Sports revealed the first features for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09. This year will bring about the addition of Tiger’s real life personal coach Hank Haney along with improvements to Gamernet and online play. This features trailer includes a look at those as well as tuning your clubs, new courses, and dynamic golfer skills.

I especially like how they’ve streamlined the online play experience while still including visual indications of how your opponents are doing. Continue on to view the trailer.

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This morning’s press release announcing Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 included some details of what to expect this year. Tiger Woods’ personal coach Hank Haney will assist gamers and contribute to dynamic personalized gameplay along with enhancements to Gamernet and online play. The game will be releasing on Tuesday August 26th.

Looking to drive the ball long and straight? Trying to nail the pin with the approach shot? An all-new addition to this year’s game, Haney will assist gamers as they hit the links and try to advance their career to win the FedExCup. In Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09, a player’s skill level is dynamic, constantly adjusting throughout the round just as it would during a real afternoon out on the links. Following each round, Haney will deliver customized feedback on a player’s performance. This feedback system allows all gamers, rookies or PGA TOUR pros, to compete and enjoy the game at any level.

This seems to be a trend in the 09 titles. From the QB challenge after interceptions in NCAA, to Madden 09’s backtrack feature, to this EA is attempting to assist players in learning how to play the games and improve their skills the right way.

EA SPORTS GamerNet is a ground-breaking online innovation that features a refined, easy-to-use interface in Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 09. EA SPORTS GamerNet challenges, such as long drive, approach shots and putting will be delivered instantly throughout all game modes and players will have the ability to post their challenges from the fairways. EA SPORTS GamerNet also features an all-new daily leaderboard and challenges customized to fit an individual’s playing style.

I don’t remember specifically the issues people had with Gamernet last year, outside of the frustration of knowing most of the shots that were up could not be replicated.

Online play has also been enhanced with Simultaneous Play. This all-new online engine gives up to four players the ability to play each hole at the same time, allowing players to get in a rhythm, swing when they are ready and make one round of golf even faster and more competitive than ever before possible.

This is certainly a positive change. No one wants to sit around doing nothing for half the time. Keeping the pace and action up will make online games much more enjoyable.