EA SPORTS NCAA Tournament Simulation Predicts Final Fours Teams Will Be Tennessee, Kansas, UCLA, Memphis
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 18, 2008--Electronic
Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) announced today that the authentic 65-team
NCAA® Tournament bracket and additional new in-game content is
available to download for its popular basketball videogame that is
available in stores now -- NCAA® March Madness® 08. This new
content has been developed exclusively for the Xbox 360™ video game
and entertainment system and is available now on Xbox LIVE®
Marketplace for 400 Microsoft Points.
EA SPORTS™ has created a Selection Sunday Bracket Pack that
will feature a downloadable 65-team NCAA® Tournament bracket,
allowing Xbox 360 users to update NCAA March Madness 08 with the
just-announced official Selection Sunday brackets, accurate seedings,
and updated team ratings. Fans can authentically replicate the entire
NCAA Tournament and play through the "virtual bracket" with their
favorite team under the same conditions they'll face throughout March
Madness®. EA SPORTS has also created more than 25 alternate/third
uniforms for a number of the top teams in the tournament, which will
be playable in the bracket download. In addition, the Selection Sunday
Bracket Pack will include the authentic Final Four® court from the
Alamodome in San Antonio, where one team will be crowned NCAA Division
I Men's Basketball National Champion on April 7, 2008.
In the new ratings developed for the NCAA March Madness 08
Selection Sunday Bracket Pack, the four No. 1 seeded teams in the
tournament are the University of North Carolina, the University of
Memphis, the University of California, Los Angeles, and the University
of Kansas, as determined by the NCAA selection committee. However,
according to a computerized simulation using the new team ratings and
seedings, EA SPORTS predicts the Final Four teams will be the
University of Tennessee and Kansas in one semifinal and Memphis
against UCLA in the other semifinal.
Also available in the bracket download is the winning arena, as
voted by fans, from the recent EA SPORTS NCAA March Madness 08 College
Campus Tour. The University of Oregon's McArthur Court has been
authentically re-created to accurately reflect the look and feel of
Oregon's hallowed arena.
Go to www.marchmadness08.com to view more info about the Selection
Sunday Bracket Pack that is available now, see the results of the EA
SPORTS NCAA Tournament simulation, and download a printable bracket to
track all the tournament action.
The market leader in basketball videogame sales, EA SPORTS
basketball franchises (NBA LIVE, NBA STREET and NCAA March Madness)
have combined generated more than $1 billion in retail sales over the
past 10 years#. NCAA March Madness is the No. 1 selling college
basketball franchise of all time.*
NCAA March Madness 08 was developed at EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C.
The game is rated "E" (Everyone) by the ESRB. Download screenshots at
http://info.ea.com.
# according to NPD Data.
* Based on total franchise unit sales in 2007 according to NPD
Data.
About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City,
California, is the world's leading interactive entertainment software
company. Founded in 1982, the company develops, publishes, and
distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems,
personal computers, cellular handsets and the Internet. Electronic
Arts markets its products under four brand names: EA SPORTS™,
EA™, EA SPORTS BIG™ and POGO™. In fiscal 2007, EA posted
revenue of $3.09 billion and had 24 titles that sold more than one
million copies. EA's homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More
information about EA's products and full text of press releases can be
found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.
About the NCAA
The NCAA is a membership-led nonprofit association of colleges and
universities committed to supporting academic and athletic
opportunities for more than 380,000 student-athletes at more than
1,000 member colleges and universities. Each year, more than 49,000
student-athletes compete in NCAA Championships in Division I, II and
III sports. For more information, go to www.ncaa.org.
EA, EA SPORTS, EA SPORTS BIG, POGO and Dynasty Mode are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. in the U.S and/or
other countries. All rights reserved. All names associated with the
NCAA, universities, and conferences are the exclusive property of the
respective institutions. NCAA and March Madness are trademarks or
registered trademark of the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
The "Officially Licensed Collegiate Products" label is the exclusive
property of The Collegiate Licensing Company. Microsoft, Xbox, Xbox
LIVE and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies.
NBA is the property of its respective owner and is used with
permission. All other trademarks are the property of their respective
owners.
CONTACT: Electronic Arts Inc.
John Gibson, 604-456-5151 (Public Relations Coordinator)
john.gibson@ea.com
David Tinson, 604-456-5167 (Director, Communications)
dtinson@ea.com
SOURCE: Electronic Arts Inc.