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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.
FIFA 12 trailer shows a slice of PIE
The Player Impact Engine is a new feature for FIFA 12 -- in layman's terms, it's the thing that handles dude collisions. According to this latest trailer, FIFA 12 is going to make sure dudes falling down on their faces looks more realistic than it ever has before.
FIFA Soccer 12 for 3DS finally shows street soccer in 3D
The 3DS is about to get its second soccer title, with the fall release of FIFA Soccer 12. In addition to the normal professional sports simulation, the new title will also simulate street soccer -- played with nothing more than a ball, a perfectly rounded street surface, and you. The new 3DS FIFA game features "all-new optional touch screen controls," allowing players to pick the destination for the ball and even control the trajectory of their shots by drawing lines. "Over 500 officially licensed clubs" will be available in Career, Tournament, and other modes. That sounds like a lot of clubs! However, if you prefer to see yourself in three simulated dimensions, you can create a player for the curved-pitch 3D Street Soccer mode, and take that player through the FIFA ranks in "Be a Pro" mode. Perhaps most excitingly you'll be able to play online, a feature that is still frustratingly rare in 3DS games.%Gallery-123212%
