EA SPORTS NFL BLITZ DIGITAL COVER ATHLETE TO BE DETERMINED BY FANS
Atlanta Falcons Wide Receiver Roddy White, Baltimore Ravens Running Back Ray Rice, and San Francisco 49ers Linebacker Patrick Willis All Vying for the Honor
Voting To Take Place During The 2011 “Video Game Awards”
Telecasting LIVE On Spike TV, MTV 2 and Spike.com On
Saturday, December 10 At 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PM PT, With
Hall Of Famers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice On Hand To Declare The Winner
New York, NY, December 1, 2011 – While chasing their dreams of a Super Bowl championship, Pro Bowlers Roddy White, Ray Rice and Patrick Willis will vie for another honor – a spot on the first-ever digital cover from EA SPORTS™. The All-Pro appearing on the NFL Blitz™ digital cover will be determined by fans, who can cast their ballot at
VGA.spike.com beginning at 8:00 PM ET / 5:00 PT on
Saturday, December 10 during the 2011 Spike “Video Game Awards” (#VGA). The most prolific quarterback and wide receiver duo of all time, Hall of Famers Joe Montana and Jerry Rice, will be on hand to announce the winner at the end of the ceremonies. Telecasting from Los Angeles, CA and featuring some of the most notable names in video games, entertainment, music, sports and more, the “VGAs,” honoring the outstanding achievements within the video game industry over the past year, will premiere
LIVE on Spike TV, MTV 2 and
Spike.com on
Saturday, December 10 at 8:00 PM ET/5:00 PM PT.
“I can’t think of a better way to welcome back the beloved NFL Blitz franchise than by having two of the greatest athletes to ever put on a helmet announce which one of their contemporaries –Roddy White, Ray Rice or Patrick Willis – will represent the game when it hits the PLAYSTATION Network and Xbox LIVE Arcade in January,” said Geoff Keighley, executive in charge, publisher relations, Spike.
“Considering there are a multitude of fans of the legendary NFL Blitz games, we are thrilled to usher in a new era for the franchise with the all-new title, which is in high definition for the first time,” said EA SPORTS marketing director Anthony Stevenson. “Fittingly, this will also be the first time EA SPORTS will honor a digital cover athlete and we are excited that the fans will be such an integral part of this milestone.”
The new NFL Blitz from EA SPORTS includes the exciting tackles and over-the-top action of the legendary 1990’s arcade hit. Featuring the twitch gameplay and ultra-responsive controls of the original game, combined with all-new single-player and cooperative game modes, NFL Blitz hits the virtual gridiron in HD for the first time with blazing 60fps/60Hz gameplay. The recharged NFL Blitz offers fans the opportunity to battle rivals 7-on-7, fight their way through the Blitz Gauntlet, take over the online leaderboards in Blitz Battles, or create a true dream team by collecting player cards in Elite League. Challenging to master, yet easy to pick up and play, NFL Blitz is reborn as the ultimate HD arcade football experience for a new generation.
First released as an arcade game in 1997 by Midway Games, NFL Blitz quickly became one of the most memorable football titles in video game history. In 1998, the first console version became available for Nintendo 64™ and PlayStation®, with several console editions released between 1998 and 2003. The new NFL Blitz by EA SPORTS is the first version of the game to carry the NFL license since 2003 and is the only version to be released for HD consoles to date.
NFL Blitz will be available in January as a digital download on PLAYSTATION Network for $14.99 and Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 points.
NFL Blitz is developed in Orlando, Florida by EA Tiburon and has been rated “E10+” by the ESRB.
EA SPORTS™ is one of the leading sports entertainment brands in the world, with top-selling videogame franchises, award-winning interactive technology, global videogame competitions and breakthrough digital experiences. EA SPORTS delivers experiences that ignite the emotions of sport through industry-leading sports simulation videogames, including “Madden NFL” football, “FIFA Soccer,” “NHL®” hockey, “NBA” basketball, “NCAA® Football,” “Fight Night” boxing, “EA SPORTS MMA” and “Tiger Woods PGA TOUR®” golf, and “EA SPORTS Active.”
For more information about EA SPORTS, including news, video, blogs, forums and game apps, please visit
www.easports.com to connect, share and compete.
For the first time, Viacom Media Networks will broaden the reach and impact of the 2011 “VGAs” by simultaneously airing the show LIVE on both Spike TV and MTV2, as well as on
Spike.com. Internationally, the “VGAs” will air in over 100 countries and territories around the world. In addition, the show will include unique interactive opportunities only available to viewers during the initial live broadcast. Further details will be announced in the weeks to come.
Mark Burnett, Casey Patterson and Carol Donovan will serve as executive producers of Spike TV’s 2011 “Video Game Awards.”
Spike TV is available in 99.8 million homes and is a division of MTV Networks. A unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), MTV Networks is one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Spike TV’s Internet address is
http://www.spike.com and for up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs, visit Spike TV’s press site at
http://www.spike.com/press. Follow us on Twitter @spiketvpr for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.
