- EA Canada
- Team Fusion
EA Canada is the former name of EA Vancouver, a video game developer based in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. It is one of Electronic Arts' oldest and largest studios, and best known for developing EA Sports and EA Sports BIG titles.
Formation[]
Founded as Distinctive Software, Inc in 1982 by Don Mattrick and Jeff Sember, the studio became known for their sports games as well as their racing games, which includes the first two instalments in the Test Drive series (Test Drive in 1987 and The Duel: Test Drive II in 1989) as well as Stunts in 1990. Distinctive Software was bought in 1991 by Electronic Arts for $11 million and renamed to EA Canada.
Origins and Development of Need for Speed[]
In the mid 1990's EA Canada housed Pioneer Productions, the internal division responsible for launching the Need for Speed franchise in partnership with the Road & Track magazine. Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed was released in 1994 for the 3DO and followed by a MS-DOS port in 1995 as well as 1996 releases for the PlayStation and the Sega Saturn, with a cancelled Atari Jaguar version also announced. The game would receive exclusive Japanese localisations co-developed by EA Victor, as well as a MS-DOS and Windows-exclusive Special Edition in 1996 co-developed by EA Seattle, a support studio acquired in the same year.
Pioneer Productions would abandon the Road & Track license in favor of direct agreements with manufacturers for the sequel, Need for Speed II, released in 1997 for PC and PlayStation, and also followed by a Windows-exclusive Special Edition co-developed by EA Seattle in the same year.
No longer directly credited as Pioneer Productions, the team at EA Canada would continue development in the series throughout the 1990's, including Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit released in 1998 for PC and PlayStation, and Need for Speed: High Stakes released in 1999 for PC and PlayStation, with both titles sharing development of the PC versions with the Seattle subsidiary.
In the late 1990's EA Canada partnered with Paradigm Entertainment to start development of Need for Speed 64[1] for the Nintendo 64. During development it was altered into Beetle Adventure Racing after EA signed a deal with Volkswagen to create a game around the New Beetle.[2]
Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed released in 2000 marked a shift from shared PC/console development. EA Canada was solely responsible for developing the Windows release in order to capitalise on the strong points of PC hardware[3] whilst a vastly different PlayStation iteration was developed by a third party studio, Eden Games.
Transition of Need for Speed Development[]
Following the release of the fifth Need for Speed, the team assisted with driving levels for the James Bond series, including James Bond 007: Agent Under Fire and James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing which includes a modified version of the engine used for Porsche Unleashed.[4][5]
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 released in 2002 would be primarily handled by EA Seattle for its PC, GameCube and Xbox versions, whilst the PlayStation 2 version was handled by Black Box Games, which, following the closure of the Seattle studio and positive critical reception of the PlayStation 2 game would become the main developers of the the series.
Initially set as a subsidiary of EA Canada[6] upon its purchase in 2002, Black Box became an independent studio within EA in 2005 after the development of Need for Speed: Most Wanted.[7] Headquarted at downtown Vancouver, it was later relocated to EA Canada's Burnaby facilities in 2009 following layoffs.[8]
Team Fusion[]
Team Fusion was a handheld department within EA Canada formed around 2004 to coordinate efforts with the PlayStation Portable platform[9]. It developed handheld Need for Speed games between 2005 and 2008.
Games[]
EA Canada / Pioneer Productions[]
| Game | Platforms |
|---|---|
| Road & Track Presents: The Need for Speed | 3DO, PC, PlayStation, Sega Saturn |
| Need for Speed II | PC, PlayStation |
| Need for Speed III: Hot Pursuit | PC, PlayStation |
| Need for Speed: High Stakes | PC, PlayStation |
| Need for Speed: Porsche Unleashed | PC |
EA Canada / EA Black Box[]
| Game | Platforms |
|---|---|
| Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 2 | GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox |
| Need for Speed: Most Wanted | GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Xbox 360 |
Team Fusion[]
| Game | Platforms |
|---|---|
| Need for Speed: Underground Rivals | PlayStation Portable |
| Need for Speed: Most Wanted 5-1-0 | PlayStation Portable |
| Need for Speed: Carbon - Own The City | PlayStation Portable |
| Need for Speed: ProStreet | PlayStation Portable |
References[]
- ↑ NEXT Generation, 1998. (46), p.96. Available at: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_46/page/n99/mode/2up
- ↑ NEXT Generation, 1999. (53), p.91. Available at: https://archive.org/details/NEXT_Generation_53/page/n91/mode/2up
- ↑ Article: IGN.com (2000) Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/2000/01/20/need-for-speed-porsche-unleashed-4
- ↑ Article: GameSpot (2001). James Bond 007 in Agent Under Fire. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20050316215311/http://www.gamespot.com/ps2/action/jamesbond007inagentuf/preview_2812861.html
- ↑ Article: CGW (2004). A BONDing Experience. Available at: https://www.cgw.com/Publications/CGW/2004/Volume-27-Issue-6-June-2004-/A-BONDing-Experience.aspx
- ↑ Article: Investment Canada Act (2002). Industry Canada (Gov). Available at: hhttp://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/ica-lic.nsf/eng/lk-30209.html
- ↑ Article: gamasutra.com (2009) Report: EA Black Box Lays Off Majority of Staff. Available at: https://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=21974
- ↑ Article: GameSpot (2009) EA layoffs hit 1,000, Black Box 'consolidated'. Available at: https://www.gamespot.com/articles/ea-layoffs-hit-1000-black-box-consolidated/1100-6202573/
- ↑ Article: IGN (2007). The Future of PSP -- EA Canada's Team Fusion. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/2007/03/29/the-future-of-psp-ea-canadas-team-fusion