EA Sports FIFA 12 Launches Global Pre-Order Offer
Electronic Arts have announced today the biggest sports franchise’s FIFA 12 hits stores September 27 in North America and September 30 worldwide.
UK fans who pre-order FIFA 12: Ultimate Edition exclusively available from GAME or Gamestation on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 video game will receive 24 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold packs (4 per month for six months) to build their dream club in FIFA 12 Ultimate Team. UK fans who pre-order the FIFA 12: Special Edition from other UK retailers will receive 18 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team Gold packs (3 per month for six months). FIFA 12 UItimate Team will be available this October, and both editions will be available to pre-order until September 30, 2011.
Press Release
FIFA 12 Ultimate Team is a massive online community of fans building, managing and competing with their ultimate football team from the world’s best players in FIFA 12.
FIFA 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine that delivers real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch. Revolutionary gameplay innovations inspired by the real-world of football make FIFA 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling creates a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for better control in tight spaces, more time to make decisions in attack, and more control over the pace of the game. Innovations in attack are balanced by a re-designed defending mechanism.
Defending is now as strategic as attacking with all-new Tactical Defending, which fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling. Plus, CPU players have been infused with Pro Player Intelligence, the next generation of player intelligence and performance.
FIFA 12 will be available for the PlayStation3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo 3DS , PSP (PlayStation®Portable) system, iPhone , iPad , and iPod touch.
Next Week’s Rock Band 3 DLC include SOAD, R.E.M., Buffalo Springfield and The Vapors
The next batch of downloadable songs for Rock Band 3 are the following!
System of a Down – Hypnotize
System of a Down – Aerials
R.E.M. – Man on the Moon
Buffalo Springfield – For What it’s Worth
The Vapors – Turning Japanese
Cameron’s 10 Personal Favorite MarioParty Minigames
Mario Party 9 being announced really caught me off guard. I’ve been planning to do this list for a while, even before E3 2011 so I mean it when I say I had to rewrite the whole introduction of this top ten. With that stated again this list is about the minigames I remember having the most fun with and still enjoy playing to this very day. Remember it’s just a personal list so instead of asking where “so and so” minigame is you can leave a comment about your ten favorite MarioParty minigames. Enjoy.
Five of the Best – Tennis Games
Wimbledon has made its yearly appearance, so what better time to mention as many tennis clichés as possible, and maybe discuss a few tennis games. So grab some strawberries and cream while we serve up (I’m truly sorry for that one) some of the finest recreations of the sport for you to play when the rain stops proceedings and Tim Henman* starts losing.
*I might be a little out of touch with the tennis scene.
Jimmy Connor’s Pro Tennis Tour (SNES, 1993)
Realism was a word few used to describe games in the early 90’s, but Jimmy Connor’s Pro Tennis Tour managed to pull off a fairly accurate depiction of tennis, despite the limitations of graphics and control. Using a control method which could be simplified to allow the AI to move the player-character, JC focused on its shots, rather than the more popular Super Tennis, which was mainly based on player movement. Once the button was pressed to hit the ball, both power and direction could be applied in order to hit the perfect shot. Each face button offered a different type of shot and mastering the controls was critical to success. A rewarding system, then, which made the effort of working through the year-long season mode and attempting to become world number one all the more gratifying. It looks dated now, but still plays extremely well, once you get the hang of the controls. It’s a pity the only real player in the game is Connors himself, and the fake opponents lack personality, but they do play to their skill sets and that’s probably more important.
Wii Sports Tennis (Wii, 2006)
Wii Sports Tennis, despite being a small part of a game bundled with a console, is actually rather fun. It’s not much like actual tennis, but you might say it’s as close as you can get (not including EA’s disappointing Grand Slam Tennis) thanks to the motion controls. You do genuinely swing your racquet/wiimote for backhands, forehands and serves, and while a gentle flick of the wrist has much the same effect, buying into the game – especially in multiplayer, is immensely enjoyable. A room housing a Wii and some friends soon becomes quite raucous as shots fly, wiimotes hit other players, accusations of cheating abound and eventually, someone manages to out-air-swing their opponent. It’s clearly a long way from a tennis sim with motion controls, but as a fun alternative, particularly for those who don’t know their elbows from their Edbergs, it’s somewhat difficult to top.
Everybody’s Tennis (PSP, 2010)
Coming spectacularly late in the life of the PS2, many gamers missed out on Everybody’s Tennis, a spinoff of the superlative Everybody’s Golf series. It’s now improved and available for the PSP, and is well worth playing if you enjoyed the golf games. Taking the same graphical style of colourful environments and anime characters with oversized heads as its more sedate cousin, ET (not the alien) even retains the comedy sound effects. The progression system is different however, based on earning experience and working through a story mode, rather than just unlocking better characters (though this is still part of the game). It’s far more interesting, and the unusual approach to a sports game works, just about anyway. It may not be for everyone, but moving from school kid to tennis champ is fun in its own way, and unlocking new shots and skills along the path to glory is a great way to keep things fresh. The control system is close enough to Virtua Tennis so it’s familiar and obviously excellent. It lacks something intangible that Clap Hanz managed with their Golf games, a level of charm maybe, but that doesn’t make this a bad game, it’s a great PSP title and suits the portable system perfectly.
Mario Tennis (N64, 2000)
Typical of an N64 release, Mario Tennis is an absolute blast with four players. Choosing from a range of familiar faces such as Mario, Bowser and Wario is a staple of these games and Tennis is no different. It does include Boo though, who doesn’t get enough opportunities to star in games. Each character has different abilities, Mario is all-around as always, Bowser is powerful, you know the drill at this stage. The controls are simple, though explaining them makes them seem far more complex. A and B are the only buttons used for shots and different combinations produce different shots. Double tapping increases power, A then B for a lob. It’s a lot more intuitive than it sounds, I assure you. Surprisingly, for a game of this type, it plays a pretty accurate game of tennis. The court types are realistic in terms of response, the ball physics are brilliant and the range of shots is frankly astonishing, considering Donkey Kong is delivering them. It’s not too complex of course, but quite deep. It wouldn’t be a Mario game though, without power-ups. All the Mario Kart classics are here should you want to deviate from a more traditional game and as usual it’s quite a kick to send your opponent to the ground with a carefully placed shell. It’s perfect for multiplayer and the game’s mechanics are more than good enough to maintain a solid single-player mode. Mario has a real talent for sports and tennis might just be his best.
Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast, 2000)
Saving the best till last, then. Virtua Tennis is the crème de la crème of tennis games, a fluid, realistic title with arcade sensibilities, perfect for enthusiast and amateur alike. Starting life in arcades, it was the original home port of Virtua Tennis that really made waves, thanks to world circuit mode. This mode is basically a career or season, in which you improve your characters skills and attempt to rise through the world rankings. Training is possibly one of the most fun parts of VT, thanks to the brilliant mini-games which are now a series staple. Serving at bowling pins, trying to hit a bullseye, knocking down cans and many more absurd games are some of the most fun you could imagine having with a tennis game, using the subtle and phenomenal control system in order to make precision shots, which become more and more accurate as your character progresses. The actual tennis is just as good, thanks to that excellent control system. It’s simple enough to learn, but mastering placement of shots and movement takes a lot of practice, and knowing a little about the game helps in terms of where to play from when hitting volleys, or how to control a game. At the time the graphics were amazing, and they still stand up. In fact, there isn’t an enormous difference between VT on the Dreamcast and the PS3 and 360 versions of the game. As a sim it lacks technical accuracy thanks to the necessity of an arcade friendly approach, so it may not quite please those who want a perfectly accurate recreation of the sport (though it does have real-life players), but for the average gamer who’s had a game or two on an actual court it feel s like the real deal, without being overly complex.
Rock Band 3 DLC for next Tuesday!
These are not my cup of tea but here the latest instalments for the Rock Band 3 DLC
3 Doors Down Pack
“Here Without You”
“When I’m Gone”
“When You’re Young”
Poison Pack
“Nothin’ but a Good Time”
“Talk Dirty To Me”
“Unskinny Bop”
Sonic Generations Details Confirmed
A group of hackers have leaked some vital information for Sonic fans, the hackers have attacked it’s source code and revealed a lot of spoilers... We recommend yous top reading now if you don’t want it to be spoiled.
A lot of the information may not reflect the final build of the game and are subject to change but at this current time the gmae will have the below features included.
Sonic Generations will include these stages Green Hill, Chemical Plant, Sky Sanctuary, Speed Highway, City Escape, Seaside Hill, Crisis City, Rooftop Run, and Planet Wisp are noted to be in the game, with Casino Night Zone being available for DLC download
A fan of the music? Then Sonic’s memorbale tunes will be included within the package, which are:
Title Screen
a new mix of the menu from Sonic Heroes (probably the actual real game’s menu theme)
Green Hill Classic
Invincible Classic
Green Hill Modern
Green Hill Modern/Boosting
Invincible Modern
Level Clear
Drowning (Oh noo!)
1-Up
The information revealed that Sega refers to the two sonics as ‘Classic’ and ‘Generic’ .
Wii Review: Wii Play Motion
With Nintendo releasing multiple first party mini game adventures, including the very popular Wii Play, Wii Sports and Wii Sports: Resort. The Wii is back and now packing some new games, with motion plus technology… but is it worth it?
Wii Play Motion is another disc full of mini games for family’s to sit down and play. Nintendo must have covered now everything possible to do with the world of motion plus/ mini games. The game comes bundled with a beautiful Red MotionPlus controller, along with the disc it self. The minigames it packs are great, some very addictive but the others… should of been available WiiWare titles.
Looking at how the game looks, majority of people will notice that it looks no different from previous Wii Play/Sports titles, well that’s because it isn’t. The game follows the same art style, which isn’t bad but has been used a lot before. The soundtrack however makes up for the lack of new design features.
The game’s themselves are also not that impressive, strangely the one game we found the most entertaining was Skip Skimmer, which is a game based on the “beach” activity of skimming stones across water. It is a very addictive game and personally I never would of thought I would be playing Skipping Stones on the Wii, but it works well and is impressive. Spooky Search was very good as well and shows how much precision the Motion Plus controller has. It works well and is different compared to some of the games that have been seen before. If you ever wanted to be a Ghost Buster or experience Luigi’s Mansion with Wii controlls, this is the closest experience you can get at the moment. Cone Zone also pack’s in a nice adaptation on the classic Tower Bloxx, just expect Ice Cream and cones.
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Overall
The MotionPlus device has been around for a while, and now the sequel to Wii Play this time brings MotionPlus functions. The bundle is worth it just for the controller alone, the 12 games are just like a bonus. Many of the games however fall short and lack any opportunity to keep you playing longer than 10-15 minuets. Other games like Skip Skimmer pack in the fun value to the disc. If you need another remote or have kids pick this up.
Purchase Wii Play Motion Here.
Cry for joy: Wii U to utilise CryEngine
Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli has today confirmed that the company’s CryEngine is up and running on the Wii U, which adds more game possibilities for the Wii U and more choices for the hardcore gamer. Cevat said that “Crytek’s support for Wii U is definitely going to happen.” He said that they’re not showing it yet “…but we are pretty much running it already.”
Next Week’s Rock Band 3 DLC!
These are the new tracks for the ever so addictive Rock Band 3
Avenged Sevenfold – Welcome to the Family
Avenged Sevenfold – Unholy Confessions
Live – I Alone
Live – Lightning Crashes
A-Ha – Take On Me
Chumbawamba – Tubthumping
Don’t know about you but I can’t wait to download Avenged Sevenfold!
Pikmin for Wii U Confirmed by Miyamoto
Nintendo Network and game industry insiders were invited to a Nintendo roundtable where Shigeru Miyamoto, Yoshiaki Koizumi & Eiji Aonuma discussed upcoming titles.
