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Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 kicking this fall
The next installment Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series (also known as Winning Eleven in Japan and America) is coming this fall. The title touts an adaptive AI system entitled Teamvision. According to press release, "all 'Next Gen' versions [PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360] will also benefit from an extensive Edit mode, allowing gamers to customise their PES experience." In addition to the aforementioned next-gen platforms, PES 2008 is coming to Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and PS2 -- sorry, Wii fans, you'll have to settle for Electronic Arts' FIFA 08, with Ronaldinho, which is also due out this fall for every console known to Man.%Gallery-4068%Check out the latest Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 news!
Mario Strikers makes worldwide online matches a pain
Joystiq reader Joshua Marketis sent us this scan from an instruction manual for the European version of Wii Mario Strikers. The manual states that "you will be able to play only with people within Europe" unless you have shared friend codes with someone outside of the continent, citing lag concerns.One of our favorite pleasures is playing Tetris DS online or various Xbox 360 titles over Live at odd hours against players in other regions. Without timezone constraints, we always had a large pool of players, regardless of the hours. Nintendo could have solved the problem with a latency test (assuming one doesn't already exist). Here in North America, there are times when we have less lag playing with South African correspondents than we do with someone just a few states away. It is currently unknown if the same limitations apply to other regions. We've contacted Nintendo for a statement.
FIFA franchise coming to PS3
EA Vancouver will be developing the next reiteration in the series, FIFA 08. This marks a prominent series introduction to the Sony console, as the last crippled FIFA game hit all systems except the PS3. The first showing of a FIFA on the PS3 might even push system sales by convincing soccer fanatics the PS3 can provide high-profile titles as well as lucrative sports franchises. Soccer champ Ronaldinho will grace this year's cover, with several other prominant soccer stars assisting with motion-capture. FIFA 08 will be availablle in the fall, on every console known to man (but more importantly, the PlayStation 3).
Today's goal-reaching videos: Mario Strikers Charged
We collectively yawned a few days ago when the latest Mario Strikers Charged trailer appeared online -- it's a pre-animated video with no in-game footage. But the U.K. Mario Strikers commercial tipped us over the edge, and we're showing those videos in this post, especially after today's news of a U.S. July 30 release.While we're glad that the Wii is getting some online action, we chortled at the tagline of "the first online game on Wii." How about "finally, an online game on Wii"? At least the ad doesn't pretend that Mii Parade is a game.See the videos after the break.
EA invests in The9
Electronic Arts has acquired a stake in Chinese publisher The9, Gamasutra reports. The US-based publishing powerhouse will have 15% of the The9's common stock, which amounts to US $167 million. The two companies also announced a licensing agreement that makes The9 the sole publisher of FIFA Online in mainland China.EA had previously half-denied reports of an investment, saying that at the time there was "no signed agreement with The9." Rumors of an investment date back to at least September 2006. EA Asia Online president Hubert Larenaudie stated that he believes this is "another significant step" in building EA's presence in Asia. It is unclear how this arrangement might affect The9's relationship with EA rival Vivendi, who licenses the massively popular World of Warcraft to the publisher.
Mario Strikers Charged - dribbling ever closer
There's a new microsite for Mario Strikers Charged. There is little more than a promo video and some boxart at present, but more is apparently on the way. We got a quick look at the game last month, and thought it seemed pretty fun, particularly in multiplayer. The game will feature online play, the first to do so in Europe and Australia, with ranked matches limited to players in the same region. You'll also be able to swap friend codes for unranked matches - friend codes will be assigned to your Mii rather than your console, so if you happen to share a console with someone whose friends you hate, you won't have to play them.We're also looking forward to trying the Mega Strikes: where the ball splits into five shots, which your opponent has to block with the Wiimote. Taking multiple shots at the keeper always used to get us in trouble at school, but here it's positively encouraged - you'll get a goal for each one that hits the back of the net.Mario Strikers Charged kicks and screams its way into Europe on May 25th, with other regions to follow.
Team Osaka shows off RoboCup entrants
This year's RoboCup is still a few months away but entrants are already getting a chance to size up some of the competition, with Team Osaka unveiling its roster of players this week in Japan. As you can see in the videos on the site linked below, the bots are definitely built to impress, able to make diving saves and kick the ball better than many of their human counterparts, although they don't appear to have quite mastered the head-butt just yet. From the looks of it, the VisiON 4G robot will make up the majority of the team, with the larger Vstone810 bot apparently playing the role of enforcer. The bots aren't spending all their time on the pitch, however, with them also available to do your bidding at a cost of ¥1,000,000 or more (over $8,300) for the VisiON 4G and "several million" Yen for the Vstone810.[Via Impress]
Mario Strikers Charged Wii online play, other details
It's been a long time coming, but the Wii's first online-enabled sports game, Mario Strikers: Charged, is getting on towards completion. French gaming mega-site JeuxFrance sat down with the developers at Next Level Games to get some details on how online gameplay will work on the Wii. Among the interesting features: Ranked matches will pair players based on win-loss records, but those records will reset at the end of three month "seasons." Unranked matches will make use Mii-specific friend lists, so multiple users on one system can have different friends. The player that earns the most ranking points every day will have their Mii featured on the log-in screen as the "player of the day." Ranking points are earned based on wins and number of goals. Disconnects will be punished with negative ranking points. Online matches can have four players at most (no four-on-four networked play). Ranked matches can be one-on-one or two-on-two, with each team sharing a system. Three-on-one and two-on-one matches are available in unranked games. The full interview also reveals many new characters and features for the sequel, including a new mega-shot that can be worth up to six points. Six points in one play? Sounds like somebody confused American football and European football again.[Via 4 Color Rebellion]
Online details revealed for Mario Strikers Charged
Add another game to the short list of upcoming Wii titles with WiFi Connection support. Mario Strikers Charged will feature both Ranked and Unranked matches for players all over the world to compete in. Ranked games track your wins and losses, calculating your standing on leaderboards (We can already imagine the problems with early disconnecters.). The Unranked mode allows you to set up a quick round with your friends. Nintendo hasn't announced a date for the US release yet, but Mario Strikers Charged will hit UK shelves on May 25th. Having previewed the wacky soccer title at GDC, we can't wait to see how well the Wii remote has been integrated and how fleshed out the game's online support will be. [Via Joystiq]
Forget the field, watch the soccer match on your PSP
Back in my day, everyone brought their fancy new transistor radios to the ball game to listen to the play-by-play. And the players people didn't wear their ball caps backwards, like you young'ns today! And Cracker Jack cost only a nickel! And certain folk weren't allowed on the field, dagnabbit!Well, the times are a-changin', because soon people attending London Arsenal soccer matches will be able to get streaming stats and replays on their PSPs via a program called S.PORT (Back in my day, dots went at the end of sentences, consarnit). The program even allows live streaming of the game, for when you have to go to use the facilities (Back in my day, they weren't called the "facilities." It was called an outhouse, and it smelled awful. But did we complain? Noooooo.)At this rate, soon you won't even have to go to your local sports stadium to see the game. With all the technology and such these days, I bet someone'll come up with a way to beam images of the game directly into your home, so you can watch from the comfort of your couch. Boy, won't that be something.
S.PORT brings replays to PSP
London's Arsenal fans better pack their PSP systems with them when traveling to their next game. Sony is introducing a prototype streaming program called S.PORT which will allow PSP owners to see replays, stats and other game scores via a wireless feed within the Arsenal Football Club."It will allow you to check to see whether or not a player really was off side", said Eric Siereveld, Director of Retail Transport Venues at Sony. There's a lot that Sony will have to address before the program goes live, such as whether or not it can work on other devices. If the services proves popular enough, there's no reason not to expand it: "It could be used at any stadium around the UK, or even a golf match where it is sometimes hard to see the ball flying through the air."According to Pocket-lint, a trial is expected to begin shortly.[Via CNET]
Italian PS3 owners want their PS2 soccer
While Sony may boast that over 1,000 PS2 games work on the modified European PS3, statistics don't matter much if your favorite game doesn't work correctly. Case in point, an editorial in Italy's Corriere Della Sera with the translated headline "Yesterday I bought a PS3. Today, I'm selling it." Apparently, at least one journalist is so mad about the PS3's lack of full support for Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer series (Eurogamer points out that the online matches don't work) that he is willing to sell the system at a discount just days after buying it. He's not alone, either. An Italian consumer association is reportedly demanding that Sony address the compatibility issues or offer PS3 owners a free game. Hell hath no fury like an Italian footie fan scorned.[Via GameSetWatch]
ESPN to broadcast all MLS games in high definition
MLS = Major League Soccer. Now that we have that out of the way Soccer fans can now enjoy the game in HD thanks to a deal cut with ESPN. This deal reinforces ESPN's commitment to HD as the network now offers seven sports categories with complete HD coverage. The MLS games will be found network-wide on ESPN2, ESPN and ABC but we are thinking that most will be on ESPN2. Not that there is anything wrong with that, it's just that soccer isn't as popular as, well, championship poker here in the US but maybe high definition will help.
DARwIn will be America's first humanoid RoboCup competitor
In a fitting tribute to the pioneering scientist after whom it was named, Virginia Tech's Dynamic Anthropomorphic Robot with Intelligence (DARwIn) has finally "evolved" enough (it's now on the fourth iteration, DARwIn IIb) to compete in the traditional Japanese sport of robot soccer. The VT team -- composed of striker DARwIn IIa and goalie DARwIn I -- will reportedly be the first US competitors in the humanoid division of the popular RoboCup tournament, whose 2007 finals are actually being held right here on American soil in Atlanta. DIIa, the more sophisticated of the Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory's (RoMeLa's) two bots, is built around a LabVIEW-powered 1.4GHz Pentium M with 1GB of RAM, 256KB of flash memory, 23 total actuators, a pair of FireWire cameras, and a gyroscope -- clearly the delicate head-mounted cam was designed before the head-butting ugliness of World Cup 2006. Keep reading to check out a vid of big D in action -- as well as tumbling over -- and then hit up the Read link for more pics, specs, and action-packed soccerbot clips.
GDC 07: Mario Strikers Charged impressions
Mario's extreme soccer game, Mario Strikers Charged was available for play at GDC. The game, a sequel to the Gamecube original, featured some impressive presentation values and some very fun gameplay. The graphics seem relatively unchanged from the original. The game does natively support 480p and widescreen modes, a nice plus for HDTV owners. Although not technically stunning, the game's cute, animated art style certainly goes easy on the eyes.The game's controls are almost too simple, with passing and shooting very easy to perform. Tackling another player comes from simply shaking the nunchuck: it's a simple Wii gesture that doesn't seem too elaborate for its own good. The Wiimote comes into further play when you must defend your goal from an opponent's special shots. They will launch up to five soccer balls, and by using the pointer, you must try to aim at the screen and press A to stop as many as you can. In theory, it's a novel idea, but as is most pointer functionality on the system, it seems like an abrupt change from the rest of the game.Mario Strikers Charged certainly doesn't innovate gaming, but it remained to be quite fun, especially in multiplayer. How it holds up to longer gameplay sessions is still to be seen, but gamers can find out when it releases later this year.
UEFA Champs League Demo
A UEFA Champions League 2006-7 demo was announced yesterday, and is will be available before the titles late March release. In it you'll be able to participate in half of the Arsenal and Barcelona finals match from last year. Included will be a tutorial video showing off the "Ultimate Team Mode" feature, where you can acquire cards that if played, could tip the scales of the game to your advantage. Do you plan on downloading the demo and giving this a shot?[Thanks, DjDATZ]
Can-cooling soccer ball conceals your secret stash
While it might not as, um, USB-powered as another snazzy can cooler, this soccer ball chiller keeps a six "holiday five pack" on ice without anyone knowing what contents reside within the sphere. Joining the growing array of cooling apparatuses designed to keep the heat out of our lives (and chairs), this silver and white conversation piece stands vigilant as your average "soccer ball on a stand" table decoration -- that is, until someone pops the top pentagon down and releases the lid from the base. The insulated ball can hold up to five canned beverages, plugs straight into your AC outlet, and even works in the car via a cigarette lighter adapter. Moreover, now would be a pretty good time to pick one up for next year's Super Bowl bash, especially consider the significantly discounted ¥8,980 ($74) pricetag.[Via TokyoMango]
Deal of the Day: World Tour Soccer 06 for $8
Ever since the World Cup ended so many months ago, my life has felt so muted, and empty. Thankfully, Gamestop is trying to take away the pain with an awesome deal on World Tour Soccer 06. The critics gave it okay reviews, and It's considered the best game of football soccer on Sony's handheld, and it's dropped down to a measly $8 (that's a $32 price drop!).You may want to try the downloadable demo first. Then, if you want the full game, don't forget to use coupon code SAVER to get free budget shipping.
British cops caught playing PSP on duty
First a Lancanshire bus driver is fired for playing a PSP while driving, now this. England's Sun newspaper is reporting on a pair of East London police officers caught playing a PSP while they were supposed to be guarding a wall in danger of collapsing. The cops were so engrossed in the game that they didn't even notice a passerby snapping a camera phone picture of their loafing (above). The Sun reports that the cops were playing a "footie" game (soccer to us normal people), which is a little disappointing to us. If they were playing Grand Theft Auto or something, at least they could argue they were researching the motivations behind the criminal element or something. Heck, even Lumines would have been beneficial for cops' spatial and quick thinking skills. If these cops want to play soccer, they should join a league. [Via Columbus Dispatch]
Amsterdam Arena to bar troublemakers via fingerprint scans
It looks like those crazed individuals who somehow managed to escape from the nation's video game addict rehab center won't be sneaking into major football events to stir up trouble anymore, as Amsterdam Arena has launched a trial program to scan the fingerprints of football fans before letting them enter as they try to better "exclude known troublemakers" from making it to the stands. While European soccer football matches are known to elicit tremendous passion from both parties, oftentimes resulting in violent behavior, the biometric scanners will hopefully curb the conflicts as it better enforces bans to precious offenders. Reportedly, the system will initially be at home games of Ajax, Feyenoord and Vitesse, and if it seems to go over well (read: enraged fans chill out), it could be rolled out in a few more locales later this year.[Via BBC, thanks Stewart D.]
