NFL Street 3 Has Its Cover Man
Published: August 24, 2006
We mentioned it a little when we first talked about NBA Street going to the PS3, but EA hasn't really been able to bottle the same mix of arcade fun and basic fundamentals with the same kind of universal appeal as they did with the NBA version of their Street series. To their credit, EA never really tried to duplicate the constructs of the reigning king of arcade football NFL Blitz which now, thanks to EA, goes by the NFL-less moniker of just Blitz, and it's meant that NFL Street has been very much its own game. Broken, but still unique all the same.
And EA isn't quite ready to give up just yet. While some other offshoots of the EA Sports BIG brand are headed to next-gen, NFL Street 3 is staying right here on current-gen PlayStation systems. Yes, that was systems with an s, because the third iteration is making a PSP appearance as well, and on both covers will be the same man: Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who sounds pretty enthused about the selection.
"This is a big honor to be selected for the cover for NFL Street 3 since street football was the first step to learning our moves for our pro careers," he beamed. "I really like this game and it is so much fun to play with all the new airborne moves you can do now. I've always been known to have style when I play but now I can show how stylin' I am in NFL Street 3."
We'll admit that this is one of the first quotes we've heard in a long time out of EA that actually sounds legit -- not so much because of the excitement (that's in all of them), but in the way it was phrased. So Mr. Johnson, if you really did say all those words, good on ya, we're happy you're happy, and we're interested in seeing how the third street pigskin outing will end up. The inclusion of triggered Gamebreakers, special offensive and defensive moves, mini-games and airborne item collection certainly has us intrigued.
The air-based additions to the game are fairly fitting for Johnson, who lead the AFC in receptions and receiving yards during the 2005-2006 season. In fact, near the end of last year, Chad managed to pull down 11 catches in a single game. He was named to first-team All-Pro squads by Sporting News, The Associated Press and Profootball Weekly/Pro Football Writers. If the focus on the third NFL Street swings toward the passing game, we could end up very happy indeed.
Both the PS2 version and PSP version will hit on November 14th. We'll try to get our hands on an earlier build before then and let you know what we think.
And EA isn't quite ready to give up just yet. While some other offshoots of the EA Sports BIG brand are headed to next-gen, NFL Street 3 is staying right here on current-gen PlayStation systems. Yes, that was systems with an s, because the third iteration is making a PSP appearance as well, and on both covers will be the same man: Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson, who sounds pretty enthused about the selection.
"This is a big honor to be selected for the cover for NFL Street 3 since street football was the first step to learning our moves for our pro careers," he beamed. "I really like this game and it is so much fun to play with all the new airborne moves you can do now. I've always been known to have style when I play but now I can show how stylin' I am in NFL Street 3."
We'll admit that this is one of the first quotes we've heard in a long time out of EA that actually sounds legit -- not so much because of the excitement (that's in all of them), but in the way it was phrased. So Mr. Johnson, if you really did say all those words, good on ya, we're happy you're happy, and we're interested in seeing how the third street pigskin outing will end up. The inclusion of triggered Gamebreakers, special offensive and defensive moves, mini-games and airborne item collection certainly has us intrigued.
The air-based additions to the game are fairly fitting for Johnson, who lead the AFC in receptions and receiving yards during the 2005-2006 season. In fact, near the end of last year, Chad managed to pull down 11 catches in a single game. He was named to first-team All-Pro squads by Sporting News, The Associated Press and Profootball Weekly/Pro Football Writers. If the focus on the third NFL Street swings toward the passing game, we could end up very happy indeed.
Both the PS2 version and PSP version will hit on November 14th. We'll try to get our hands on an earlier build before then and let you know what we think.
