EA announces vast line-up

EA has joined the growing list of publishers shooting nine tenths of their load ahead of the E3 trade show next week in LA, announcing a huge roster of titles ranging from its key sports franchises (which remains PS2 Online enabled with no mention of Xbox Live) and film licenses (although no sign of The Godfather as yet) to EA Partners titles like TimeSplitters Future Perfect and Burnout 3, and the surprise inclusion of Lionhead's Black & White 2, currently listed for release in 2005. EA also promises to announce its support for PSP with four titles set to be unveiled (perhaps at Sony America's pre-E3 conference on the Tuesday), although support for Nintendo DS is thought to be more theoretical than actual at this point.

The EA Sports titles are unlikely to surprise anybody - 2005 editions of FIFA, Tiger Woods, Madden, NBA Live and NHL, all of which are bound to do huge business and will hopefully benefit from a slightly better effort at online features. Other than that it's largely titles announced and trailed in recent weeks - GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (PS2/Xbox/Cube), Battlefield 2 (PC), Battlefield: Modern Combat (PS2 Online), Def Jam: Fight For New York (PS2/Xbox/Cube), The URBZ (PS2/Xbox/Cube/GBA), The Lord of the Rings: The Third Age (PS2/Xbox/Cube/GBA) and the like.

Outside the Digital Illusions Battlefield titles, the EA Partners titles are probably the most interesting from our perspective - Burnout 3 will appear on PS2 and Xbox, Black & White 2 will show its face ahead of a tentative "2005" release target, and TimeSplitters Future Perfect on all three console formats. In fact, today's announcement includes far more details on Future Perfect than we've previously seen, which you can read about here.

The full list of EA's announced titles follows, including proposed European release dates and formats. You can also expect to hear about four PSP titles next week.

• FIFA Football 2005 (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, GBA) - autumn
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2005 (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, GBA) - release date TBC
• Madden NFL 2005 (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, GBA) - August
• NBA Live 2005 (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC) - autumn
• NHL 2005 (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC) - autumn
• GoldenEye: Rogue Agent (PS2, Xbox, Cube) - autumn
• Battlefield 2 (PC) - early 2005
• Battlefield: Modern Combat (PS2) - autumn
• Catwoman (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, GBA) - summer
• Def Jam: Fight For New York (PS2, Xbox, Cube) - September
• Harry Potter and The Prisoner of Azkaban (PS2, Xbox, Cube, PC, GBA) - June
• The Lord of the Rings, The Battle for Middle-Earth (PC) - autumn
• The Lord of the Rings, The Third Age (PS2, Xbox, Cube, GBA) - autumn
• Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault (PC) - autumn
• The Sims 2 (PC) - autumn
• The URBZ: Sim in the City (PS2, Xbox, Cube, GBA) - autumn
• Burnout 3 (PS2, Xbox) - autumn
• TimeSplitters Future Perfect (PS2, Xbox, Cube) - early 2005
• Armies of Exigo (PC) - autumn
• Black & White 2 (PC) - 2005