EA Launches a (Boom Boom) Rocket at Xbox Live Arcade Company: EA Games Product: Boom Boom Rocket Electronic Arts today announced its launch onto Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade with Boom Boom Rocket. The game is a hypnotic rhythm music game conceived by EA’s Pogo.com casual games design team and developed by Bizarre Creations, the developer who brought Project Gotham Racing 3 to the Xbox 360, and fan-favorite Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved to Xbox Live Arcade. The game is scheduled to go live Spring 2007 and is EA’s first title on Xbox Live Arcade. In Boom Boom Rocket, players trigger rockets to the beat of the music while traveling through a 3D cityscape. The better the player times the explosions, the more spectacular the fireworks effects. The fireworks are choreographed to 10 original tracks created by Ian Livingstone. Players can play in single player mode or go head-to-head against a friend on the same console. "As one of the worldwide leaders in game publishing, EA has long recognized the power of on-demand, online entertainment", said Chris Early, Product Unit Manager for Xbox Live Arcade and Microsoft Casual Games. "We’re honored that EA has chosen Xbox Live Arcade as the platform for their first-ever downloadable game for console game players and are excited to make Boom Boom Rocket available to the millions of Xbox Live Arcade players around the world." "Boom Boom Rocket is an addictive and original challenge for all types of gamer, and we're enjoying working with EA to create this unique Xbox Live Arcade experience", said Martyn Chudley, Managing Director of Bizarre Creations. "Our teams love both working and playing on Xbox Live Arcade, and we're looking forward to releasing another innovative title on this platform with Boom Boom Rocket." "This is a perfect time to bring such a unique and custom-built arcade game to Xbox Live Arcade gamers", said Chip Lange, EA Vice President. "We’ve crafted Boom Boom Rocket to offer an intensely fun entertainment experience for the thriving community of hard core and casual gamers alike on Xbox Live Arcade. It's only natural that our launch title comes from the Pogo team, given their remarkable success with casual games." The game features three modes of gameplay: Normal, Speed and multiplayer head-to-head. Each song is choreographed into three skill levels to ensure that everyone can join in the fun. Successfully chain fireworks to fill the bonus meter and activate the psychedelic bonus mode for extra points. Players can unlock new firework designs by mastering each music track. You can also utilize the connected online element and see how your scores compare with other players on the Boom Boom Rocket leaderboard. -GameVortex Staff, GameVortex Communications AKA R2-GV