Last week XBS was invited to Vancouver BC to attend the FIFA Community Event at EAC. In case you’re not used to the lingo, EAC is simply Electronic Arts Canada and it’s the largest studio EA has. Heading off I saw they had a full schedule for us at the event. I arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel, a 5 Star Hotel that is way out of my league. I soon met up with a few others including Daylon, from http://www.unscripted360.com/, and Kyle, from http://www.gamefreaks365.com/. I also met DJ from http://www.gamingtruth.com/. We got there a bit early on Thursday and had a few hours to kill so soon we were playing Mario Kart to pass the time. Later that night we had a great dinner at Earl’s where the main action was the Mets game. We hung around talked and got to meet Rob and Clive from EA as well as a few of the other team members of the game. It was a nice group and we all got along great joking, laughing and talking about our personal favorite games. We also talked about the worst game ever made for a console, which I have to admit was not as easy but still fun. Since the flight was very long, the first night was over pretty early and we headed back to the hotel since we had a full day ahead of us.

Friday morning we all headed over to EAC and eat breakfast and watched South Park “no I am not joking”. It was the War of World Craft episode and fit the event in an odd way. Soon the big screen lit up with the FIFA 07 Logo and the event was in full swing. We listened to several people talk and the first was an introduction by Haroon Qureshi (Inverse Kinematics/Ball Physics). He spoke about how the old FIFA versions tricked a gamer into thinking the ball and other players were always around due to the fact they had to move the players closer to the ball. This was due to the limitations of the ball and the way it could only cross certain angles. He then showed us how in FIFA 07 the ball can react like a normal soccer ball and will even respond to a kick off the toe or the left or right side of the kicker. This was not the first event I attended, but I can say that each person that talked beamed and laughed showing that they were proud of what they had achieved. I am not new to the game, but I knew even with an impressive game in front of us, we had a struggle ahead of us. Soccer or Football is not the popular sport in the US markets. While there are a few markets where soccer is popular, it’s not the biggest sports franchise around. Now to the EA staff it seemed that even though they were aware of this, they were confident about the title.

Next we heard from Matt Jones (Art Direction). Once again the screen lit up with impressive shadow effects, life-like models and arenas and he talked about trying to make the game as realistic looking as possible. He also had that same confident smile as he spoke and with each new feature it seemed to get bigger. Looking at FIFA 07 against World Cup there is a big change and it looks like it belongs on the Xbox 360. Simon Humber (Online/Performance) spoke next and he is a character. The new FIFA can track everything you do in the game and will show your stats on and offline. I was impressed but was also trying to keep my final thoughts for when I got to play the game. However, the thought of any sports game keeping track of the number of saves by my goalie, my passing percentage, and how accurate my shots were really had me interested in the game. Kaz Makita (Gameplay/AI) talked next about the Gameplay and the new A.I. system. I have to be honest, while all three gave a great presentation, there is only so much anyone can remember word for word and thankfully all the team members were around for the whole event to answer questions and to kick our butts in the game.

Game on Hands on Time with FIFA 07:

We each had our own Xbox 360 and a nice big screen to play on of course. Daylon got the huge screen and looked like a king playing on it. As we watched the intro, it reminded me of the way NBA Live opens up with a virtual stadium, net and goalie. You can practice the moves, kicks and fool around before entering a game. While this looks great, it is also important since the new FIFA has new controls you now use both analog sticks while playing. It takes some time to learn but feels very realistic and allows the ball handler to juke and pass like never before. You also use the bumpers of the controller. For those used to the FIFA series, it will take about 30 minutes to get the feel of the new control scheme. Those brand new to the game will take about an hour. While we played the game, the team walked around looking and watching at first. They explained that since the demo hit the Marketplace, they have seen players pull off moves that they could not or did not know could be done. When someone pulled off a great trick or move, the team would again smile and watch the replay from every possible angle. After about 45 minutes or so they then began to ask us if we wanted to play against them.

 

View all FIFA 07 Xbox 360 Screenshots

FIFA TEAM versus the Community Team:

I wish I could say we all kicked butt against the development team but my record at one time was 3 and 3 which I felt good about. Hey the team had months to play the game and we had a few hours, so I will take that record any day. I also looked around and watched as the other community members played the game. Everyone seemed impressed with the build. The new controls and interface really helps you feel like you’re in the game and not just controlling a certain player. Overall, we all walked away thinking this truly is the Next–Gen version of FIFA.

Game Over and Q&A:

We had to stop playing for awhile and it was almost lunch time so we were asked for our impressions and any questions. What we saw was great but there were a few things left unanswered. The biggest question was how can we get gamers to try FIFA 07 and another hot topic was the Marketplace. It was asked what about the gamer that knows nothing about the rules or how the game of soccer is played? After all, if you really don’t know the game, are you going to play it? Well, they listened and each time a question was asked that made them think, they would write it down. Our suggestion was to use the marketplace to upload how to play videos and the rules of the game. We know every game has picture packs and themes to buy, but we felt the game needed this. Rob and Clive as well as the rest of the team in the room at the time said that the idea was a good one and they would see if this was possible. It also started a short talk about the Marketplace overall. Personally, I don’t mind the fact it is a huge store, but it can also be used to teach and put up helpful game tips and videos. I think it should have more than IGN or other sites and how to movies. It looks like FIFA 07 will also have a lot of free support on the marketplace.

A Wrap Up of the Event and list of those to thank:

We went over to the motion capture studio and got time to talk with Dave, head of the department. They just happened to be shooting scenes for Madden I think for the Wii version. It is a site to see since it is the largest motion capturing studio in the world. We got to hear how it came about how they can split the stages into any arrangement needed to accommodate the schedules. Nothing seemed off limits as far as what we could ask which was great. After about 45 minutes, we went back into the main meeting room and had lunch while more talks went on about the game and our overall feelings and concerns etc. I have to say while we did not get to see a lot of the inner-workings of the project, the team gave us all their attention and everyone we met seemed proud of the final product. The rest of the day was divided into more Q&A sessions, game time, and then a tour of the rest of EAC. I came away thinking that FIFA 07 will be the start of a whole new angle for the franchise and while there are no weather changes this year, they nailed the look and feel of the sport. When Rob said it was time to leave and get ready for our meal at Moxxi’s, it was a bit sad to have to leave but I enjoyed the event and left impressed. I think anyone interested or even curious about FIFA 07 should download the demo and when the game ships on October 31st, get ready for the first real Next-Gen brand of FIFA!

XBS would like to thank the following people.

• Jon Long – EA Community Leader
• Rob Aoki – FIFA 07 Marketing and PR
• Clive Gorman – FIFA 07 Product Manager
• Haroon Qureshi - Inverse Kinematics/Ball Physics
• Matt Jones - Art Direction
• Simon Humber - Online/Performance
• Kaz Makita - Gameplay/AI
• The Rest of the FIFA 07 Team
• Daylon@unscripted360.com  – Event Photos and Community Help
• Djuan@gamingtruth.com – Additional Help and Resources
• The Sutton Place Staff and Hotel – All around excellent service and the maid we bugged for extra chocolates
• The Rest of the community attendees for a great event

Written by XBS Head Writer, Rich Reed.

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