Pro Football Players to Train with EA's Madden Tech

There's hope yet for Madden junkies! Ok, not really, but the same technology in EA's popular Madden games is being used to create training simulators for professional football players. XOS Technologies will license the TDT Engine from EA Sports for use in its PlayAction Simulator. More within...

In yet another sign of the crossover between video games and so-called "serious games," XOS Technologies and Electronic Arts have announced a partnership today that will see XOS license core technology from EA Sports' football games (Madden and NCAA Football) in order to develop a training simulator for collegiate and professional football teams.

XOS believes its PlayAction Simulator, powered by EA Sports, will "revolutionize athletic training." The simulator builds on EA's TDT Engine, which has been used in the Madden and NCAA football games, so that athletes can prepare for their next opponent. As an example, XOS says that "a quarterback using the new tool can practice reading a defense, picking up blitzes and making quick decisions on where to throw the ball; all based on the tendencies of the team he is going to play the upcoming weekend."

XOS' product line comes in three flavors. The PlayAction Publisher enables coaches to create 3-D playbooks, game-plan diagrams and testing protocols; the PlayAction Simulator PC enables athletes to run practice plays via laptop in a simulated environment; and the PlayAction Simulator VR, which is the most advanced of the XOS line, integrates with the XOS SportMotion studio (a 3-D motion capture lab) so that athletes can look around, run and throw in a virtual environment.

"The PlayAction family of products addresses team demands to uniquely and effectively teach new plays and game plans," said Bob Simmons, XOS Coaching Solutions President, who added that XOS partnered with EA because of their leadership position in sports video game animation. "As the current provider of coaching-analysis and game-planning solutions to more than 200 NFL and NCAA football teams, XOS thoroughly understands how teams prepare weekly for an upcoming opponent."

"The simulator is built on our TDT Engine, which utilizes the same technologies and game play found in our popular Madden NFL game franchise," said Steven Chiang, General Manager, EA Tiburon. "Today's athletes will be able to sit down and start benefiting immediately, by learning interactively in a familiar interactive environment. At EA, we're excited to work with coaches and athletes to find new ways to leverage our technology while incorporating even more realism into our titles."