The Beatles Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band edition has made its way to the Sony PlayStation 3 (starting later today), Microsoft Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii. The game was developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by MTV and EA.

In the last quarter, EA lost about $371 million and the company announced that they are planning to lay off about 17% of the total company. The first major lay off since they made the announcement will be taking place at Pandemic Studios. Pandemic Studios is a company that EA bought in 2007 and about 200 lay offs will be taking place at that subsidiary.

Only the “core IP team” will be kept at EA and relocated to the Los Angeles office. The former CEO of Pandemic Josh Resnick and the former President Greg Borrud were among those that were laid off. Games will still be made under the Pandemic brand name.

Pandemic started in 1998 and launched several popular titles since they started such as Full Spectrum Warrior and Star Wars: Battlefront. The lay offs at EA will also affect those who work at Maxis, Rupture Studios, The Saboteur, Tiburon, and Mythic Entertainment.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) plans to cut 1,500 employees which is about 17% of their workforce. The reason for the cut is because of a loss of $391 million last quarter. EA announced the results shortly after acquiring social network gaming company Playfish.

“In a tough economy, the consumer is not showing up as consistently as we like,” stated EA CEO John Riccitiello. A big chunk of the lay-offs will be at the research and development department. Many games will be canceled and those who are working on those projects may be the ones most affected too.

EA’s mobile gaming division is growing at a rapid pace. A lot of EA games that are doing well are online too. Riccitiello said that about 35% of the gaming market is online and five years ago it was 10%.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) has closed an acquisition deal with Playfish. Playfish is a company that designs games for social networks such as Facebook. EA is spending $400 million to buy out Playfish. Of the $400 million, $300 million will be given upfront and the additional $100 million will be paid as an earn-out. Rumor has it that EA was considering buying out Playfish competitor Zynga Inc. too.

This past September about 250 million people played games on Facebook. One of Playfish’s most popular games called Pet Society has over 20 million active users. Playfish was started by Kristian Segerstrale and Sebastien de Halleux. Playfish raised venture capital from Accel Partners and Index Ventures.

Lego Rock Band is a music video game that is being put together through a partnership between Harmonix Music Systems, MTV Games, EA, and Warner Brothers Interactive Entertainment. This game will be released on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and the Wii on November 3.

On November 18, EA Sports will be releasing NCAA Basketball 10. Blake Griffin of the University of Oklahoma Sooners is gracing the cover of the game. Griffin was selected first in the 2009 NBA Draft as a player for the Los Angeles Clippers. Above is a video trailer of the game.

Here are some additional links you can check out related to NCAA Basketball 10:
- Facebook Fan Page
- Twitter Profile

The Tap Tap Revenge franchise was started by Nate True and is published by Tapulous. Tap Tap Revenge was the most downloaded game on the Apple App Store in 2008. The game features tapping on different colored balls before moving from the top of the screen to the bottom. The colored balls are in sync with the song playing with the game. This concept is similar to the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchise.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) has already been successful on the App Store and now they are bringing their Rock Band franchise from gaming consoles to the Apple iPhone/iPod Touch. The game announcement was made at the CTIA conference.

The Rock Band iPhone application will have 15 songs and 5 more that can be unlocked as you progress in the World Tour. There will also be an option to buy additional tracks. The game will have single player, multiplayer over Bluetooth, and Facebook Connect integration.

All the instruments will work too. That means you can select the guitar, drums, bass, and vocals. No word yet on the release date, but it is expected to arrive within the next few weeks.

Latest updates towards the bottom of the post.

This morning in California, Steve Jobs appeared on stage at the Apple Rock and Roll event that was scheduled for today to discuss what some of the new Apple products coming up are.

Steve Jobs talked about how he received a liver transplant from a mid-20’s person that passed away in a car crash and that he wouldn’t be here without such generosity. He said that he hopes everyone can be generous and donate organs too. Jobs thanked the community for support, the Apple exec team, and Tim Cook.

Apple has sold over 30 million iPhones. There are over 75,000 applications in the App Store which have over 1.8 billion downloaded. That download count does not include updates. iTunes 9 will also have improved application management.

Jobs also announced a new iPhone operating system: version 3.1. In the App Store, there is now a Genius function too. iPhone OS 3.1 will be free and is available today.

Over 30,000 ringtones have been added. Ringtones will cost $1.29. These ringtones are from all four major labels.

iTunes: #1 music retailer in the country and available in 23 countries. iTunes 9 will be available today. Over 8.5 billion songs sold. Over 100 million accounts now on iTunes with valid credit cards.

Over 27 million libraries submitted for Genius features on iTunes. The Genius database is becoming smarter this way. Genius is being applied to create a new service called Genius Mixes. Genius Mixes is like a DJ that plays an endless mix of songs from your library that sound good together.

iTunes now has improved syncing. You can sync individual genres, artists, playlists, etc. Through iTunes 9, you can arrange the icons and applications of your iPhone or iPod Touch home screen and sync it the way you want it.

Home Sharing: You can sync songs, TV shows, etc. with up to 5 computers in your house.

The iTunes store has been cleaned up too. iTunes LP has been launched too. You can hear the music, photography, liner notes, essays, etc. that were available back in the day when LPs were popular.

In the music section there is an arrow that appears next to “buy.” In the buy section you can send wish lists to Twitter or Facebook. Jeff Robbins gave a demo of the new iTunes and iTunes Extras. iTunes Extras offers more interactive stuff for DVDs.

Steve Jobs introduced Phil Schiller who will discuss iPod sales. Over 220 million iPod sales thus far. The iPod controls 73.8% of the total portable music player market. Microsoft has 1.1%, Sandisk has 7.2%, and other has 17.9%. About 20 million iPod Touch devices have been sold.

Schiller pointed out that consumers really like to use iPod Touch devices like a pocket computer that actually fits in your computer. Then he showed a picture of a person trying to shove a netbook in their pocket, ripping it in the process.

Schiller also jabbed at the Sony PSP and Nintendo DS or not having an App Store or an iPod built in. The games for those consoles are expensive and there is no multi-touch user interface either. Schiller pointed out Xbox games are $30-$30 and DS games are $25-$35.

Some game developers will be called on stage. Ubisoft is the first. Ben Mattes, a producer of Assassin’s Creed is showed off the sequel of the game. In the sequel, you can put your own picture on a wanted poster using the iPhone camera.

Next on stage is Bart Decrem of Tapulous. Tapulous is introducing a new game called Riddim Ribbon. One of the songs in the game is Boom Boom Pow from The Black Eyed Peas.

Bart Decrem of Tapulous talks about Riddim Ribbon from Dean Takahashi on Vimeo.

[Update: VentureBeat managed to get an interview with Decrem - Video above]

Mark Hickey of Gameloft came on stage after Decrem and said that Gameloft received about 20 million downloads. Gameloft has about 35 games in the App Store. Hickey is giving a demo of their latest game called Nova. Nova looks intense. The frame rate looks to be as good as if you were playing Halo on the Xbox. While playing Nova, you can listen to your iPod music and the game even has multiplayer through WiFi and Bluetooth.

Travis Boatman of Electronic Arts is took the stage next. Boatman is showing off Madden NFL 2010. In the demo, Boatman had the 49ers playing the Steelers. After Boatman finished the demo, Schiller came back to the stage.

Schiller said that the iPod Touch is affordable at $229 and doesn’t require monthly fees. Now Apple is dropping that price from $229 of the iPod Touch to $199 for an 8GB. The 32GB will cost $299 and the 64GB will cost $399. The 64GB will also have OpenGL|ES support.

The iPod Classic price will cost $249 for a 160GB. The price of the 120GB used to be the same price. The iPod Shuffle will NOT be phased out. New Beats by Dr. Dre headphones will be released to control the iPod Shuffle. The thin-sized iPod Shuffle which does not have a screen will now have a voice that will tell you when the battery is full and when the airlock will be closed.

New colors for the iPod Shuffle will include pink, blue, silver, black, green. These will cost $59 for a 2GB and $79 for a 4GB.

“One More Thing” says Steve Jobs. An Apple Video camera called Flip. A 4GB Flip video camera will cost $149… wait scratch that. Every iPod Nano will have a speaker and a video camera built in. Flip video cameras are 10.9 cubic inches and the iPod Nano is 1.1 cubic inches points out Jobs. Jobs then showed off some of the video capabilities of the video camera built in to the Nano.

The new iPod Nano devices have a built in camera with 2.2″ display, colors available in glossy pink, purple, yellow, blue, green, red, and orange. 8GB will cost $149, 16GB for $179. iPods are “green” too and environmental-friendly too. Each iPod has Arsenic-free glass, BFR-free, mercury-free, PVC-free, and highly recyclable.

Norah Jones came on stage after Jobs to perform a song or two.

Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) is almost done launching the Madden franchise on the iPhone. The first Madden game for the iPhone will be released in September. Madden NFL 10 on the iPhone will have 32 licensed teams and their real stadiums.

The game accounts for Michael Vick being in an Eagles uniform and Brett Favre will be on the Minnesota Vikings. Some of the features in the game include Action Control Time and Season Mode.

You can play the game through the whole season, complete with trades and acquisitions. The game will also have full stats, individual player rewards, depth charts, free agent pools. etc.

John Schappert was the Corporate VP of Interactive Entertainment LIVE of Microsoft’s Software and Services Business.  Now he is returning to Electronic Arts as the Chief Operating Officer.  Schappert left EA for Microsoft two years ago.

When Schappert was at EA, he worked in leadership positions behind the Madden NFL and Tiger Woods video games.  Schappert arrived at Electronic Arts when his gaming company studio Tiburon was bought out in 1998.

Microsoft has decided not to look for an individual to replace Schappert. Instead they have decided to allow Marc Whitten and Phil Spencer to head up their divisions.  Both of them will report to Don Mattrick, SVP of the Interactive Entertainment Business.

[via CNET]

In 1997, Electronic Arts decided to buy Maxis in a stock swap deal for $125 million. It was one of the best acquisitions that they made because The Sims franchise is doing very well. The original SimCity was created by Maxis itself.

Now the third installment of their strategic life-simulation game, The Sims 3 has hit the shelves in your local game retail stores today. The Sims 3 is available on the Mac, Windows, the iPhone, and the iPod Touch.

One of the biggest differences in The Sims 3 versus the previous editions is the social media aspect. You can film a video of your Sims in action, add a soundtrack, and share it on blogs and social networks.

The Sims is rated T (Teen) and works with DVD-ROMs for the Mac and Windows. The game is available in 60 countries and is available for download for $50. The iPhone and iPod Touch version of the game costs $10 on the App Store.

Google Senior VP of Engineering Jeff Huber has joined the Board of Directors over at Electronic Arts Inc.  Huber joined Google around 2003 and has worked on several projects including AdSense, AdWords, Apps, GMail, Docs, Orkut, Blogger, Picasa, etc.

“We’re thrilled to have Jeff on our board. His proven track record in technology and engineering will make him a strong addition to the board.” stated EA CEO John Riccitello.

Interestingly enough, Google CEO Eric Schmidt is on the Board of Directors at Apple Inc.  And one of the biggest game developing companies for the Apple App Store is EA itself.

[via 1up]

Vroom Vroom!  EA Mobile has released Need For Speed Undercover for the Apple iPhone and the iPod Touch.  The premise of the game is to become connected to a gang of street racers and infiltrate their ranks.

The cars in the game don’t have an accelerator, it automatically just starts going forward.  Touching the screen hits the brakes and swiping a finger down the screen activates Speed Breaker.  Swiping a finger upwards on the screen hits the nitrous boost.  Cars that can be selected in the game include Pontiacs, Mazdas, Mercedes, BMWs, Porsches, etc.

The game costs $9.99 and there are circuit races, cop takeouts, and sprints.  Cop takeouts are when a player has to disable several cops before the timer beeps.  Winning races earn you cash so that you can soup up your ride more.

[via CNET]

Electronic Arts has released several screenshots of Sims 3 for the Apple iPhone and iPod Touch.  The game will feature over 10 hours of gameplay with 3D visuals.  The game will be supported by the touch feature and accelerometer.  Sim characters will be customizable just like the console and computer games.  Four mini games including fishing, gardening, cooking, and house repair will be included.  You will be allowed to develop relationships with other Sims as well.  No word on whether this game will be utilizing the new iPhone SDK or not.  Additional screenshots are below.

[via TouchArcade]

Ashton Kutcher and Britney Spears are fighting to hit 1 million followers on Twitter. Britney currently has 912,520 followers and Ashton has 914,473. Both are competing with the CNNbrk account which tweets out breaking news on CNN.com. CNNbrk has about 946,673 followers.

If Ashton wins, Electronic Arts agreed to put the millionth follower in the next version of The Sims. Perhaps that will give people incentive to follow the That 70’s Show star. Ashton’s wife, Demi Moore has about half a million followers on Twitter, but keep in mind that she has already saved a life using the service.

[via BusinessInsider]