Get the Inside Scoop on What's Happening at EA

by Gabe Leon

EA kicked off the 2009-2010 NFL season Thursday with the official launch of Madden NFL 10.

One day ahead of schedule.

In response to yet another perk for working for one of the coolest companies ever, lines at the EA Experience, the company store, were steady throughout the afternoon, while the rest of the world had to wait one more day before they were able to ‘Fight For Every Yard.’ It was the first time in company history EA released one of its titles to its employees prior to the game’s street date.

And it couldn’t have come on a better day.

Under sunny, 80 degree-plus Bay Area weather, the D.J. known as JX2 spun the latest tracks from a collection of electro house mixes of R&B, rock, house, and hip-hop tunes, filling the EA campus air with the sounds of SebastiAn, Yuksek, Bag Raiders, Barletta, and Mansion, among others.
On the great lawn, football fans of all ages got an opportunity to convert a 20-yard field goal, kicking balls through league-sized (well, almost) goalposts Charlie Brown-style, while Monday morning quarterbacks of past, present, and future tested their accuracy by throwing balls through cutout targets from 10 yards away.

The highlight of the day for most, especially for the kids from the Matt Barnes Basketball Camp who crashed the party (OK, they were invited), was the Blow Up Sports Challenge, an air-filled ‘jumpy-type’ challenge course featuring obstacles, tunnels, and more. Lines were long and fans were literally giving up their left shoe to take their turn. Actually, participants had to give up their right one too, as shoes were not allowed on the course. But still.

As employees enjoyed the action with a plate full of BBQ from the sideline, some sporting authentic NFL jerseys—Bears, Titans, Vikings, and Jets to name a few—or tested their skills in one of the gridiron events, one thing is for certain: volleyball season is officially dead.

Just don’t tell that to the four employees who set up a net and snuck in a game on the west end of the great lawn during the lunch hour. The football season must begin in September for them.