2006-FIFA-World-Cup
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EA to stop online support for six PSP games
Starting September 1st, EA will officially shut down servers for the following online-enabled PSP titles: FIFA Soccer 06 FIFA World Cup 2006 Fight Night Round 3 Madden NFL 06 NBA Live 06 In addition, Need for Speed Most Wanted will go offline starting November 1st. It looks like those of you that need an online racing fix might need to consider an alternative (like Test Drive Unlimited?). Unfortunately, it's commonplace for games to lose online support after a few years. Considering EA's love of making their franchises annual, it seems like they're really urging you to buy a new version of one of their products. [Via PlayStation boards]
Deal of the Day: $17 PSP games at Circuit City
If you're like me, then you like to buy your games on the cheap. And you can't get much cheaper than Circuit City and its $17 clearance on a bunch of PSP games. Here's the list: Burnout Legends Death Jr. FIFA World Cup 2006 Lumines Mega Man: Powered Up Midway Arcade Treasures Namco Museum Battle Collection NBA Ballers Rebound Pinball Hall of Fame Ridge Racer SSX On Tour Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max WWE Smackdown vs. Raw Yeah, most of these games are a tad old, but we gotta take the deals as they come to us, right? It doesn't look like this deal is currently being offered online, so you'll have to get off the computer and go outside. [Via Cheapassgamer - Registration required]
World Cup keeps EA at top of sales charts
Team USA may have been eliminated from Cup contention, but North American sales have remained strong for Electronic Arts' FIFA 2006 World Cup. According to Amazon's sales charts, EA's footballer is currently the top selling game for the Xbox 360, the second most popular PlayStation 2 title, and a solid #3 on the original Xbox. The PSP edition also checks in at a respectable #6. Meanwhile, DS gamers are busy flexing their brains, while the GameCube faithful partake in a half dozen adventures with the plumber. See also: UK sales charts, June 4-10: World Cup fever Czechs win 2006 World Cup (sort of)
Czechs win 2006 World Cup! (sort of)
Great news, everyone! There's no need to play out any of the World Cup matches, so tell all 32 countries to go home. Electronic Arts has declared the Czech Republic victorious in their 2006 FIFA World Cup simulation. Led by Golden Ball winner Pavel Nedved (also predicted by EA), the defense-oriented Czechs edged out Brazil 2-1 in a hard-fought battle. If you want to see your country's fate, TeamXbox has all of the [unofficial] results.We still have a few days to contact our bookies before the NBA Finals begin. Maybe NBA Live 06 can give us some tips, just like last year.See also: Metareview - 2006 FIFA World Cup
Two new sports demos hit XBLM
Two new treats for any sports-gamers out there. A little something old not so old -- a demo for EA's FIFA World Cup 06 soccer game, which launched alongside the system in November -- and a little something new -- a demo for 2K Sports' tennis-sim Top Spin 2, which came out late last month. A nice little pre-E3 treat. Top Spin 2 developer, Indie Built, was recently closed down by Take-Two, publishers of the 2K Sports series and owners of the Salt Lake City developer. [Thanks, Arsamore & Carl-Tang] (Update: corrected the timeliness of the FIFA demo. Thanks HoTHiTTeR360 and BraveQuail. Can you tell I don't play sports games much? Seriously though... they just came out with a soccer game less than six months ago! What could they have changed?!)
Metareview - 2006 FIFA World Cup
Though EA has released several FIFA iterations this year, the new 2006 World Cup might be worth a look if you haven't played the series in a while and have $30 bucks to spare. If anything it should get you pumped for the world's largest sporting event if you're a futbol buff. IGN 84% - "EA put together its most solid soccer gameplay experience yet and the deepest World Cup title of all time. Still, it's hard to argue that the gameplay, an obvious imitation of Winning Eleven, is better, but with star players and a nifty new shooting mechanism, it would be hard to argue it's worse." Games Radar 70% - "The biggest disappointment is the sheer lack of innovation in the game engine and graphics. Yes, the shooting mechanic is a little different, but for the most part the gameplay is the same as the last few FIFA games."
Adidas sponsoring free week of XBL Gold
Xboxyde has early word that shoe maker Adidas will sponsor a full week of free Xbox Live Gold May 8 -15. The promotion is called the "Xbox Live Football Free-For-All" and is designed to give Silver members a chance to show their online skills at FIFA World Cup 2006 leading up to the Xbox Cup this summer in Germany. There's also going to be a bunch of free XBLM content, which should be pretty good considering it's during E3. More details should follow when the event is officially unveiled tomorrow. Topping Verizon's free XBL Gold weekend by five Midas-touched days is sure to generate good will among soccer fans and non-soccer fans alike. How about slapping a few more shoe ads up there and making online gaming free permanently? [Thanks Tomcats]
