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Batman: Arkham City has fourth biggest UK launch in 2011
Batman: Arkham City knocked out the competition last week on the UK charts. Chart-Track notes the caped crusader's time in ol' Gotham town is the fourth largest launch of the year, behind FIFA 12, Gears of War 3 and L.A Noire. Football Manager 2012 debuted in third, only 1,800 unit sales behind FIFA 12, which holds on to second place despite a 35 percent drop in sales. Last week's checkered flag winner, Forza Motorsport 4, slipped into fourth, with Just Dance 3 feelin' the groove in fifth. Two other premieres in the top 40 last week were Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One and Dance Central 2, in spots 24 and 40, respectively. It's an odd start for the sequel to Harmonix's hit dance game, so we'll see where it lands next week. Shimmy on past the break for the UK top ten.
Gaikai delivering FIFA 12 demo through YouTube (Or: The future cometh!)
Remember when OnLive first debuted, and we were violently pulled from our provincial timescape and thrust into a future which, while notably devoid of flying cars and jetpacks, did have streaming video games? Well, hold onto your butts because the internet done did it again. Streaming service Gaikai has always had a different business model than OnLive; instead of a direct-to-consumer platform, Gaikai wants to get you into a demo as effortlessly as possible. If you like what you play, the "Order Now" button is happy to connect you to a retailer. As a part of that mandate, Gaikai founder Dave Perry was "excited!" to announce that "Gaikai is the first ever to power 3D Games (FIFA 12) on YouTube." That would be the same YouTube that streams a bajillion videos of whatever to people every day. If you follow this link and click on the "PLAY THE DEMO" banner above the video, you can see what all the fuss is about for yourself. When you're done, take a few minutes to remind yourself it's still 2011, and you weren't controlling the game with a bioport installed on your spine. The future is still a long ways out.
Report: PS3 jailbreak, second edition, is now circulating in Indonesia
A team from Indonesia claims it has successfully jailbroken the PS3 with a new dongle it's calling "JB2." JB2 is supposedly based on the original jailbreak key produced by GeoHot and works on firmware version 3.55 consoles, but plays games up to the current version, 3.73, PS3Crunch reports (as of writing, the PS3Crunch website is down, whether from server overload or more purposeful action is unclear). The dongle will play titles burned onto Blu-ray discs via HDD, including FIFA 12, Driver: San Francisco, God of War: Origins Collection, Pro Evolution Soccer 2012, X-Men Destiny and Sniper Ghost Warrior, PS3Crunch says. The dongle is now circulating in Indonesia and will be sold globally for roughly $45, reports say. The above video supposedly shows the JB2 in action, booting up to a developer-build screen and expanded option set. Personally, finding and buying the JB2, getting BD-Rs and burning copies of new games seems like more work than we'd ever invest in an illegal, temporary piece of hardware. Maybe that's just us -- given, we're extremely smart, well-informed, good-looking and all-around cool people -- but again, that's just us.
Forza 4 finishes first on UK charts, Just Dance 3 takes third
It'sa Forza, woo-hoo! Yes, the land of Top Gear saw Forza Motorsport 4 race to the top of the charts in its debut week. According to Chart-Track, the racing game claimed the "biggest launch week ever" for an "Xbox 360 racing game" ... considering most high-profile racers are multi-platform (with the exception of Gran Turismo) we take this to mean the latest sequel maneuvered past Forza 3's premiere. With seven new entries in the UK Top 20 this week, there are plenty of places to look, but let's start with Just Dance 3 premiering in third. Ubisoft's dance series has consistently entered the top 10 and hung out there for months while others come and go. With Dance Central 2 ready to step it up this year, it'll be interesting to see if Just Dance 3 has the staying power of its predecessors. The other two newbies in the top ten are sports titles Pro Evolution Soccer 2012 and Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge at fifth and tenth place, respectively. Rush past the break for the full UK top ten.
FIFA-loving hackers accessing users' Xbox Live accounts to buy DLC
We've begun hearing reports that Xbox Live users are finding their accounts accessed without their permission, with the hackers using the ill-gotten accounts to purchase Premium Gold Pack DLC for FIFA 12, and other FIFA content. Ars Technica has gathered a few user reports, including one from a victim who found his or her account used to buy over $100 in Microsoft Points, which were then applied to the full game of FIFA 12 and DLC. We contacted Microsoft to see if it's aware of this rash of hacks. The publisher sent Joystiq a statement saying "We do not have any evidence the Xbox LIVE service has been compromised," and indicating that these unauthorized logins have only occurred for "a limited number of members," with whom MS is working directly. The full statement is after the break.
FIFA 12 kicks it atop UK charts for second week
FIFA 12, despite a 68 percent drop in sales, remained the forward on the UK charts for a second week. EA announced last week that it estimates the title sold over 3.2 million units globally during its launch week. Debuting in second was the high-profile Rage from id Software, but the real surprise this week is Dark Souls premiering in third, with masochists rejoicing everywhere in their pool of tears and bruised egos. Last week also saw 2K Sports' NBA 2K12 debut strongly at number 12, seven seats higher than last year. This will be EA Sports' second year letting 2K Sports gorge itself on NBA cake without competition. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
FIFA 12 scores 3.2 million sales within first week
As was foretold, FIFA 12 had the largest first-week sales of any sports game ever and of any video game in 2011 to date -- meaning, the window in which Gears of War 3 held that title was even smaller than expected. Electronic Arts estimates FIFA 12 sold 3.2 million units between September 27 and October 2. EA also estimates that FIFA 12 sales are up approximately 23 percent over last year's record-breaking launch. Other stats from the publisher include FIFA 12 for iPhone and iPad selling 879,000 units, and October 1 being the busiest day for online gaming in EA Sports history. 10 million EA Sports game sessions were played, with eight million of those being FIFA 12. If EA gets lucky, it'll double-dip some FIFA success within a year when FIFA Street launches in March.
FIFA 12 first on UK charts, beats GTA 4 debut
FIFA 12, obviously, debuted at the top of the UK charts this past week. The semi-surprise is the latest installment of the footie franchise became the third largest multi-format debut ever, surpassing Grand Theft Auto 4 and sitting comfortably behind Call of Duty's Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2, which hold first and second place, respectively. According to Chart-Track, FIFA 12 unit sales were up 18 percent from FIFA 11, with revenue up 34 percent. Last year, EA announced that FIFA 11 was its "fastest selling sports game ever." Unless the rest of the world suddenly develops some football aversion, it would appear that FIFA 12 is about to best that record. Gears of War 3 experienced a 76 percent drop in sales from its mega premiere, but it was still enough to maintain second place. Codemaster's F1 2011 kept the gas on and held its position right behind Gears for a second week. Debuts that didn't make the top ten last week included Activision Blizzard's slapdash X-Men: Destiny in 18th, and the PS3 version of Child of Eden, which helped the series jump 765 percent and into 29th place. The UK top ten can be found after the break.
FIFA Soccer 12 review: Impactful
Video games have a rich history of vaguely emulating sports while being subject to the limitations of the systems we play them on. Sports gamers are accustomed to repetitive animations, unnatural movement, and broken mechanics, all ripe for players to take competitive advantage of. Somewhere along the lines, we lost the authenticity of sports in our video games. FIFA 12 does a magnificent job of depicting the sport of soccer in video game form, with all of its beautiful and natural imperfections. %Gallery-124663%
Follow the bouncing ball in this new FIFA 12 video
It's nice to know that Team Ninja isn't the only development house out there pioneering the field of bounce-physics. EA Sports, for instance, is more than happy to let FIFA 12 animator Kantcho Doskov and his surprisingly excellent football skills explain the simulator's fancy footwork.
FIFA 12 ships with Ultimate Team, demo out Sept. 13
Your Madden-loving friends may not give your passion for FIFA the credit it's due the rest of the year, but at least today was a very good day to be a footie fan. For starters, EA announced at Gamescom that the strategic Ultimate Team mode would be included on FIFA 12's disc (a first for the series). Also, a demo for the soccer juggernaut will arrive on Sept. 13 (though the demo will not include Ultimate Team). What's that? Still haven't gotten enough? How about the brand new trailer above? We think you'll get ... a kick out of it. You know ... like in soccer?
FIFA 12 cover athletes revealed, screaming tradition continues
A screaming man and two dudes who look -- well, they look just like we'd imagine two guys standing next to a screaming man would look: uncomfortable. Then again, they're probably not surprised, as the loudmouth on the cover of FIFA Soccer 12 is just the latest in a string of scream-centric pieces of EA Sports cover art. If you're not a big soccer Football aficionado, from left to right you've got Wayne Rooney from Manchester United, Landon Donovan of the LA Galaxy and Rafael Márquez of the New York Red Bulls. They all are, we understand, very good at the sports. FIFA Soccer 12 launches on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP and PC on September 27 in North America and on September 30 worldwide.
UK FIFA 12: Ultimate Edition pre-order bonuses are golden
For us here in America, soccer will never hold the same fascination as it does abroad. All across Europe, the sport of football is revered -- and in the UK, EA's FIFA franchise does gangbusters. If you happen to live in the United Kingdom, EA is looking to provide incentive for committing to this year's latest, FIFA 12, early. If you pre-order FIFA 12: Ultimate Edition on Xbox 360 or PS3 before September 30 at GAME or Gamestation, you'll get 24 FIFA 12 Ultimate Team gold packs (four a month over the course of six months). Pre-orders from other retailers will net you a reduced 18 gold packs (three a month over six months). Ultimate Team, the trading card game introduced in 2010, will debut in October as a separate download. FIFA 12 launches in North America on September 27. The rest of the world has to wait a few extra days until September 30.%Gallery-124663%
EA Sports Football Club is for FIFA, despite what you may have thought
Maybe someone didn't send EA a memo, but here in America, we call our soccer, soccer. Apparently in the whole rest of the world (or something), people call it "football." Pffft. Whatever. Anyway, EA Sports announced a new social client for FIFA gamers launching with FIFA 12, known as "Football Club," this morning. The service is said to track "status, bragging rights and progression," allowing players to access their cross-game stats from FIFA titles. Think Bungie Pro or Call of Duty Elite, but, ya know, without the paid part. Thats right -- it's free! Football Club will launch with FIFA 12 this fall, right here.
Four EA Sports games in 2011 to feature Kinect
Peter Moore just took to the stage at the Microsoft E3 2011 press conference to announce some new Kinect-compatible sports titles. Four upcoming games will sport Kinect functionality -- PGA, Madden, FIFA and "one we'll announce later." Moore did not reveal how Kinect would be utilized in these games, though he did hint at being able to physically call audibles in Madden.
