Just in case you've been lying awake at night, desperately anticipating the upcoming release of NHL 12 to the point where living without it has become a such a burden of living that you can barely stand it, or finding yourself looking to take out a high-interest loan for fear that the cost of Madden NFL 12's DLC would simply prove too much for your meager budget, fret no longer, for EA has come up with a subscription-based solution for you.
This is, of course, that nonsense we reported on back in April, where EA Sports decided that its suite of upcoming titles was so awesome, people would assuredly be lining up around the block to subscribe to a service where people can get discounts and free perks for all those sports games. Always known to make good on a threat, EA today announced that you can buy the EA Sports Season Ticket right this very second, if you're so inclined.
The pass covers Madden NFL 12, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12, NCAA Football 12, FIFA 12, and NHL 12, providing players with early download access to the titles ahead of retail stores (you'll still have to make a trip out to the store on launch day, if you don't want a solely digital copy), a 20% discount on all downloadable content, and special free "web perks," which are as yet unspecified, save for FIFA, which will be getting Creation Center packs, with additional assets to build custom teams and tournaments.
Terrifyingly enough, GameStop has been named "the exclusive retail marketing partner for the roll-out of EA Sports Season Ticket, with the company president quoted as saying, "GameStop is in a unique position to deliver this digital product utilizing its multichannel network. We will continue to work with progressive publishers to bring great gaming experiences to our customers." I have no idea what that means, but it's already freaking me out.
So now you know: If you've got $25 (or 2000 Microsoft Points) lying around, you can give it to EA Sports, and they'll give you some stuff...provided you like football, college football, hockey, golf, and soccer. If you like basketball or baseball, apparently you can just go to hell.
Wait, does EA even have a basketball game this year?