Fifa Street Gets Messi

The phenominal Lionel Messi is taking his footballing talent to the Fifa Streets in March 2012. A new trailer has been released showing what Messi is going to be brining to the pitch.

Review: FIFA 12

As another season gets underway another Fifa title comes out to play… How does this Fifa title hold up against previous FIFA titles and is it really worth picking up for the new season? Find out in this review.

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FIFA 12 Demo Confirmed For September

Microsoft have just confirmed that the upcoming FIFA title will have it’s debuting demo on our Xbox 360 dashboards on Septemeber the 13.

FIFA 12 Demo and FIFA Ultimate Team Coming to Xbox LIVE!

“Coming to Xbox LIVE on 13 September for Gold members, EA SPORTS “FIFA 12” Demo brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine built to deliver real-world physicality in every interaction. Revolutionary game play innovations inspired by the real world of football make “FIFA 12” deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling delivers a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for attacking players, while Tactical Defending fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling. Introducing EA SPORTS Football Club—a live service connecting players to the real-world game with fresh, new content all the time at no additional cost. Available for the first time at launch and on disc is FIFA Ultimate Team. Build your ultimate team from the best football stars by earning, buying, selling and trading players and items in the massive FIFA Ultimate Team online community.” - Xbox Live News Beat

If you like the demo and wish to purchase FIFA 12 on September the 30th then check out the Special Offers at Gamestation.co.uk.

Football Manager 2012 Gets Announced With New Features, Screenshots and Trailer

First Details for Football Manager 2012 Revealed.

Sega today unveiled the latest version of their successful football management simulation series, Football Manager 2012.Planned to be in stores before Christmas, Football Manager 2012 will once again allow you to take charge of your favourite football team and put your managerial skills to the test.

The award-winning Football Manager series has now sold in excess of 7million copies worldwide and has topped the UK and many European PC charts for the last seven years, with over 108weeks at no.1 in the UK to date.

“We’re delighted to finally be able to start talking about Football Manager 2012” said Miles Jacobson, Studio Director at Sports Interactive. “It’s another year of evolution, with some revolution thrown in for good measure so we’re pretty sure our dedicated communities, and hopefully lots of new people too, get to play and enjoy the game when it’s released later in the year.”

Counting over 800 new features, not including changes to the rules of the games 50+ leagues,Football Manager 2012 promises to be the most realistic, immersive and playable football management simulation ever for any fan who has ever dreamed of making the big decisions, both on and off the field.

Key new & improved features for Football Manager 2012:

Transfers & Contracts – significant changes to the transfer and contract systems, including loyalty bonuses, better implementation of amateur and youth contracts, an improved transfer centre and the ability to lock areas of the contract negotiation when you aren’t prepared to budge. This helps you to manage your budgets and gives you flexibility in what you offer money hungry players, or agents, as incentives.

Scouting improvements – using several real life scouting reports, a new in-game report has beendevised which includes squad analysis, tactics information and information about goals scored and conceded alongside lots of other scouting improvements, giving you all the information you need to prepare before kick-off and throughout the season.

3D Match Improvements – new animations, a whole new crowd system, improved weather system, more stadiums, plus two brand new cameras – “Behind Goal” and “Director Cam” as well as all other camera angles being reversible – meaning you can watch and analyse every aspect of every game.

Manage Anywhere, Anytime – the ability to add or take away playable nations in your saved game as often as you want. Manage in that country at the start of the next season- meaning you don’t have to stay in the nations which are chosen by you to be playable at the start of your career.

Tone – a whole new level has been added to team talks and conversations, with the new tone system, which allows you to specify the way you want to say things – be as cool as a cucumber by saying things calmly or throw tea cups around by saying things with passion. There are 6 different tones to choose from with specific comments per tone.

Intelligent Interface – a new adaptive layout system, which means the higher your screen resolution, the more info is easily at your fingertips. The new interface also contains new filters, customisable columns, a new tactics screen, and lots of new overview screens.

Brand New Tutorial – standing separate from the main game, a mode to help new players find their way around the game easily, whilst also offering tips to experienced managers on how to get the most out of the game, as well as a new in-game “how to” system.

On top of these key innovations, there are lots of areas of the game that have had huge improvements, such as the media system, press conferences, the youth system, newgens, the social networking options, friendlies, international management and many more which will be detailed in a series of video blogs over the coming months, alongside more information about Football Manager 2012.

Pro Evo 2012 Release Date Confirmed

Konami is heading back to the pitch with  revamped AI, especially in defence and a lot of other features. Konami feel confident this time around and stated that it is the “most ambitious and advanced football game ever”. I guess EA/FIFA fans can debate the quote.

“PES 2012 is a massive advance for the football genre, truly the most ambitious and advanced football game ever,” said Jon Murphy, European PES Team Leader.

“The additions we have made in terms of Teammate Control, Active AI and Off the Ball Control and elevate the level of play to new heights. No other game allows users so much control over their team, and PES 2012 ensures that the days of gaps in defence and shouting at teammates to make a run are long gone.

“This is a very exciting time to be a PES fan, and we are delighted that we can set a firm date for football fans to mark in their calendars.”

Expect to see PES 2012 on your Xbox 360/PS3/PC on October 14
The release date of the PSP, PS2 and Wii versions will be announced later in the year.

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.

FIFA 12 Gets Alan Smith Alongside Martin Tyler

Alan Smith the Well-respected broadcaster and former England forward  was unveiled today as part of the main English commentary team for EA SPORTS™ FIFA 12, joining long-time commentator Martin Tyler as the primary voices of this year’s title. FIFA 12, chosen Best Sports Game by the E3 Game Critics, launches September 27 in North America and September 30 worldwide.

“Alan will bring a fresh, new perspective and insight to FIFA 12, working alongside the trusted and well-known voice of Martin Tyler,” said David Rutter, Senior Producer of FIFA 12. “As one of the top-tier broadcasters on the UK football scene, he brings enormous knowledge and expert analysis to the game so that we can deliver the most authentic FIFA experience this year.”

“The natural chemistry that Martin and I have developed working live matches for TV has transferred very well to the virtual broadcast booth,” said Smith. “I’m really looking forward to FIFA fans hearing our work this fall as we bring all the match day emotion and excitement to this year’s game.”

For the first time ever, FIFA 12 will feature two English broadcast teams, and more than 10,000 lines of fresh commentary, making the game sound new and different all year long. The second commentary team, featuring Clive Tyldesley and Andy Townsend, will call tournament matches, giving these games a real-world broadcast feel and sound. Fans will also have the option to customize the audio to their preferred commentators for any matches.

Retro Review – Nintendo World Cup

The year was 1991, I was as big a football fan as I’d ever been after watching Ireland make their way to the Quarter Finals of Italia ’90, and the NES ruled my gaming world. I had already discovered the football game on the Amstrad CPC 464, it was Match Day II and it was good, but not great. It lacked a certain something, that fun factor that made the virtual version seem like the real thing. Nintendo World Cup had no such problems. Sitting on an uncomfortable wooden chair in my kitchen, staring at a 14 inch screen I took on the footballing powerhouses of the world, starting with Cameroon of course, all the way to World Cup glory. This was a frantic, fast paced version of football, where the tackles were hard and the shots physically impossible. Where players wore sunglasses before Edgar Davids became a household name in such classic (ahem) games as ‘The Mission’ (based on a Nike TV ad).

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Seabass outlines plans for PES 2012

Konami have recently released details on the upcoming Pro Evolution Soccer 2012. Here’s what they’ve had to say about the next installment in the PES series:

“For me, the ultimate aim in the ongoing PES series is to match what people see when they go to a match or watch a big game on TV with what they experience on their console,” explains Shingo ‘Seabass’ Takatsuka, the Creative Producer of the Pro Evolution Soccer series. “As such, in consultation with football fans across the globe, we have been working non-stop to isolate and determine how to make our game marry in with how real football is played. This is key to PES 2012, and key to providing the ultimate football experience within a console title.”

To this end, PES 2012 continues KONAMI’s determination to work with fans of both the PES series and football in general, to create a truly realistic, immersive and utterly playable take on the modern game. Thus, the focus in PES 2012 is the instinctive way the game can be played and on teamwork in particular. Seabass and his Tokyo team have worked to recreate the very essence of top-level football, ensuring the new game’s AI engine has undergone a major overhaul and provide an experience akin to being part of a real team.

Attacking play is a cornerstone of PES 2012, and the new game benefits from a more open approach that allows users to dictate the pace of movement, with all-new AI elements incorporated so team mates make runs and offer support in one-on-one situations. Players make useful dummy runs to draw defenders, and this offers users greater options to move the ball around when they are being closed down. Thus, the team works together a more cohesive unit, reacting to the movements of the player with the ball, and working to force the opposing team into mistakes.

Zonal marking and positional defending are also massively enhanced; ensuring players are forced to work harder to split the opposition defence. Meanwhile a new cursor switching system has been implemented using the right analogue stick to switch to any player on the field. This allows users to pick a team mate anywhere on the pitch, thereby allowing players to react to threats faster, and to shut down attacks more quickly. Hold up play is being tweaked to give even greater control. AI defenders are able to hold a much tighter defensive line, position themselves better and track opponents more efficiently. The off-the-ball switching also extends to key set pieces, such as goal kicks, corners, free kicks and throw-ins, and allows users to target a specific player and send them on runs or to drag defenders out of position, and allows for quick breaks and space to be exploited more easily.

The physicality of top-level football is represented as PES 2012 extends the jostling system of its predecessor. Defenders rely on their strength and stature to force a player from the ball as strikers and play makers make use of unique attributes to beat their markers. Tighter, more accurate collisions see players tumbling dependent on how they are knocked off the ball. Crucially, control is not lost, allowing the stumbling player to be brought directly back under control.

The result is a game that, more than ever, truly represents the key attributes of the world’s greatest players, but without sacrificing balance and allowing single players to waltz undefended through a game. Coupled with heavily tweaked animation, more detailed lighting techniques, a wider variety of player styles, improved dead-ball situations, expanded tactics and a new customisable pass feature, means that PES 2012 truly captures the essence of top-flight football.

“Team work is what separates the world’s greatest teams from their peers, and is the hub of everything within PES 2012,” added Takatsuka. “PES 2012 focuses on the core elements of top-level football: attacking play, freedom of movement, the creation of space, and working together as a unit both up field and in defence. These elements combine to create a game that flows and ebbs like a real match, with individual shows of brilliance changing a game, and more control over every aspect of play within a wide-ranging yet instinctive control system. PES 2012 will turn the heads of fans everywhere.”

Though many thought PES 2011 was a very good football game in its own right, against FIFA 11 it paled in comparison and was at best a distant 2nd. So it will be interesting to see if Seabass and his team are able to take what made PES 2011 work and eliminate what didn’t work while improving the game.

FIFA 12 Details emerge

The first set of FIFA 12 details have been leaked thanks to  the French version of Official PlayStation Magazine.

According to the magazine FIFA 12 will be having a new ‘Impact Engine’ which realistically tracks player contact and injuries, plus “more human” player AI.

We received the first screenshot earlier this month and now thanks to the French we have some bullet points:

• FIFA 12 introduces the ‘Impact Engine’ which properly tracks and formulates contact between players, including their hips, knees etc.
• The AI will also keep track of areas of the body players have been injured during a match. Players can also become injured off the ball if abused too much, especially late in the game.
• FIFA 12 also introduces ‘AI Vision Game’ (rough translation), which promises to make passing more realistic. If you try to complete a pass to a player that’s not within visible range, for example, it’s less likely you’ll complete the pass. EA hopes this will get rid of “blind passing”.
• Personality Plus is more developed and should influence AI players’ passes this time.
• AI is said to be “more human”, with each player acting more or less according to his abilities. One example given is when an AI player sees Fabregas coming towards him with the ball, he’ll act more carefully.
• OPM describes “new presentation” of matches in FIFA 12, which are said to be very much inspired by English football crowds.
• The game includes three new arenas, this time with integrated benches along the sidelines and “impressive lighting effects” according to OPM France.
• Integration of a new short dribble with the left stick.
• The game features a new camera that’s noticeably closer to the ground.
• There’s also a new menu interface that appears to be simpler and more ergonomic than before.