‘Worldwide Leader in Sports,’ ESPN, is about to bring further truth to its name by merging video games with real life sports anchors.

The Walt Disney owned network has spent the last year working on a new technology with video game giant Electronic Arts, which allows commentators to interact with virtual-players on the field.

The technology will make its debut this Sunday on ESPN’s NFL Countdown program, using a form of EA’s Madden NFL 09 along side with specialized digital camera equipment. Both the video game players and news anchor will move around the screen demonstrating plays.

ESPN and EA plan to take the technology (called EA Sports Virtual Playbook) even further, using it in reverse to play as the quarterback. Using information from a Sunday afternoon game, ESPN anchors could replay a game sequence or play, and show what would have happened if the quarterback threw right as opposed to left.

For further news on this topic, check out this NY Times article. Make sure you tune in to ESPN this Sunday to check out the new technology.

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