An Interesting Concept: A FIFA Without Buttons
By: Sneakers O'Toole |
6 Comments
When you’re about to kick a ball in real life, do you think, “Push B and aim far post”, or do you cock your leg back and let fly?
Thank you for the demonstration, Agostino.
Unless you’re some sort of crazy robot or cyborg (who is also conveniently controlled by an XBox controller), the answer is the latter. So why did the concept totally boggle my mind when someone (I can’t remember where. My apologies if the person was on this blog) asked why FIFA or PES hasn’t made steps toward not using buttons to control how the ball is kicked, trapped, etc.?
It’s an interesting proposal. MLB 2K…whatever edition has made passes at the thought. Instead of pushing a button to swing the bat, they have a hitting mode where you pull the right stick back to ready yourself to swing, and as the ball comes to home plate, you flick the right stick back to start your motion and forward to swing and either throw out the player’s back or obliterate the ball.
Shooting seems like the most logical place to start. Flick the stick forward for the classy toe-poke finish, or pull all the way back with the left stick and unleash hell Stevie G style. Headers would be a whole different story, but it would still be doable.
Passing could work the same way, and I’m sure you could put spin with the right flick of the stick. After all, the ball does not care whether your intention is to pass or shoot; it just reacts. That’s how it works in real life. That’s what we’re going for right?
The part that I find is perplexing is how one would dribble with a similar system. I know I use my feet to dribble, and I’m a decent dribbler. If I had to translate that into left stick, right stick…I don’t know. Would one stick be used exclusively for dribbling and the other one for feints, step overs, etc, or would each stick control a foot?
Thank goodness they created Arena mode. I think a FIFA players would spend way more time figuring it all out, or trying, if they actually did something like this.
How would it happen? Hell if I know. Anyone who has read one of my entries knows my opinion of the goof balls at EA, and this would be in no way simple.
How would you guys feel about this kind of thing being implemented in FIFA? We’re assuming PES’s clock is ticking louder and louder, as they are not supported by a video game dynamo and they are slowly losing their following, so exclude them for this conversation.
Category: News
VotD: Stuff I Don’t Have the Patience to Learn
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 1 Comment
Whether or not they should have spent this much time working on juggling tricks when there are more important issues to address is a totally different story, but here’s a nice little tutorial on ye olde FIFA juggling tricks. Enjoy and hopefully you succeed more than I have thus far.
Category: NewsFrom the EA Horse’s Mouth
By: Sneakers O'Toole | Add Comments
I’m in the ER for an asthma attack, and I have been searching FIFA info while I wait for treatment. God bless WiFi.
Per EA (http://www.ea.com/games/fifa-soccer),
“On the heels of winning 25 international gaming awards with FIFA Soccer 09, the top-selling soccer franchise from EA SPORTS™ is surpassed with FIFA Soccer 10. Responding to consumer feedback from more than 275 million online games played, FIFA Soccer 10 refines an already potent game engine, focusing on what matter most to fans.
An advanced FIFA Soccer 10 features core gameplay refinements based on responsiveness and intelligence, plus a completely overhauled Manager Mode that includes more than 50 major improvements. These enhancements and more deliver a new standard for authenticity, as FIFA Soccer 10 continues to set the benchmark in both innovations and gameplay as the most complete simulation of soccer.
On the pitch, critical gameplay fundamentals have been enhanced to ensure that FIFA Soccer 10 mirrors real-world soccer, providing more sophisticated ball control, and physical interaction. On attack, players now analyze space more effectively, curve their runs in an attempt to stay onside, create passing lanes naturally, and drive for more variety in attacking options. On defense, new concepts like position priority enable defenders to multitask so dangerous spaces left open by teammates out of position are covered. Plus, slide tackle targeting, press marking, and better urgency clearance logic provide new options that make defending a tactical skill in FIFA Soccer 10.
Three new innovations change the player control experience in FIFA Soccer 10. The first-ever true 360° dribbling system gives players finer control of the ball, enabling them to find spaces between defenders that previously were not possible. Using an all-new animation technology, skilled dribblers now have the ability to face the defender and use highly responsive lateral dribbling to skip past him. An innovative concept called Freedom in Physical Play enables players to perform wider dribble touches and new collision sharing creates a varied, less predictable, and extended fight for possession between the dribbler and a defender.
A deeper iteration of the ever-popular Manager Mode features more than 50 major improvements, including new match realism, ultra-realistic player transfers based on multiple decision points, and true-to-life player growth curves.
New game modes, and innovations to popular features like Be A Pro, will be revealed in the upcoming months.”
The only thing I’m not hearing that I want to hear is that they have decked out the customization.
Well, I also wanted to hear that they fixed the penalties. Sometimes EA hits the nail on the head beautifully and then abandons the idea. World Cup 2006 had a brilliant PK setup. You could put the ball in 9 different places with rockets, passes into the net, or chip shots. They have since abandoned idea that for a setup where you can only really put the ball in six places for pks, and nobody places the ball. It’s just kind of in one direction, and you hope the goalie doesn’t go that way.
Category: NewsVotD:Goals That Aren’t Amazing But Still Quite Good
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 1 Comment
Category: NewsVotD:Getting Ahead of Ourselves Aren’t We?
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 3 Comments
The only thing I got out of this video is that I like Marseille’s jersey. Neither game looks much different from the 09 edition, but my God, did Konami put EA to shame in the realistic looking boot department or what?
Category: NewsVideo Of the Day
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 7 Comments
Finally someone from EA has emerged from the rubble and shown their faces. I always wondered what they would call the game that is meant to cover the 2009/2010 season. Will they just continue with numbers in the teens? FIFA 11, 12, 17? How does it work? Does anyone have the code for how to address the shortened title for a year?
Anyway…
Category: NewsWhat Would I Do With a Video Game Company?
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 7 Comments
Do you have suggestions for EA on what to improve for the next installment of FIFA? Do you want to feel like you’re being heard?
The Mic is in your face. Tell us what you want to see change or be improved.
http://www.fifplay.com/fifa10_ideas/
Copy and Paste what you said into the comments, and I will add them to this post if they are new and/or awesome. Miss South Carolina may only have moronic statements to contribute, but I expect much better out of the good souls at The Offside.
It’s almost like she would work on the EA staff. She mentioned South Africa, and guess where the World Cup is going to be! Yeah, she’s on top of things.
Some of my favorites are…
-’Build a stadium’ mode
-Create you own team (a la PES, although FIFA 06 gave it a shot if I remember correctly)
-More realistic ball physics (ball spin on every kick)
-Be able to create players using a camera (a la PES)
-A more realistic crowd. Come to think of it, 02 had flares in the stands and flags waving ferociously in all of the stadiums, what up?
-Managers shots and bench shots in general
-Futsal arenas (not gonna happen, but it would add an interesting element to the game, why buy FIFA street then?)
-More frequent injuries, more severe injuries; it’s more realistic
-”You can tell where you are by what the goals look like, a variety of different goals would be nice.”
-More realistic weather
-”Players should react to the climates and wear gloves during winter and short sleeves etc during the summer.”
Category: NewsBeware: Users Are Worse Than They Appear.
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 6 Comments
The venomous Ronald-hoe
(I kind of wish that’s what FIFA looked like, but this is pretty creepy)
Some might already know where I’m going with this. Anyone that plays online either is one or has crossed paths with one on their Online FIFA endeavors. This, of course, is the Ronald-hoe (see also: Messi/Eto’o strumpet).
This peculiar species can normally be identified in their natural habitat, FIFA Online, by their user name: ManU4Ever, RonaldoDaBest7, RonaldoAndAlexSittingInATree, etc. Anything in the ballpark of that user name will always result in the selection of Manchester United when it’s time to pick your poison. It’s inevitable.
Before you say it, the reason I am putting out a notice on this creature is not because I suck or because I hate Manchester United or Ronaldo. That’s irrelevant. My problem is that people that don’t know how to play a decent game are flattered by the fact that Usain Bolt wearing a pair of Mercury’s shoes could not keep up with Ronaldo. No matter the position on the field, CR7’s cheetah speed is always a threat as long as the player using Manchester has a hand capable of flicking the right control stick and hold RT simultaneously (I won’t even get into his exaggerated speed). Who needs to play solid one-twos and knock the ball around when you can have a virtual track meet?
I played ‘CR7Playa’ in a game the other day (I always use Roma, although one time I got ballsy and used DC United), and he obviously picked Manchester United. Normally I am good enough to beat any Ronald-hoe, but somehow Simone Loria got into my starting lineup. After 80 minutes of never having the ball and me never scoring, CR7Playa made a streak forward with you know who, and my attempt at tackle was shrugged off by The Flash in a Manchester shirt. The ensuing shot clanked off of the crossbar Luis Garcia style.
Please note that Ronald-hoes cannot comprehend the skills displayed in this video.
So, how do you avoid the Ronald-hoe in it’s essence? Below are a few methods you could use to thwart opposition’s attempts to waste your time.
1) Try to initiate an national team match. Everyone knows that in order to play with a national team, one user has to initiate it by going to the International selection section. If the other player still resists, they probably can’t play with anyone else effectively, and you’re going to be okay anyway.
2) Play with Cruz Azul. At the selection screen one day, I picked Roma, and the other player selected Cruz Azul. I would have felt bad slaughtering them, so I picked a team of equal quality. Obviously no team the caliber of Cruz Azul would have Ronaldo.
3) Pull the trick that so often occurs when I score two or more goals in the first half of a game:
ABORT!
Category: NewsThe Feud: Konami’s Wallet vs. EA’s Buffoons
By: Sneakers O'Toole | 11 Comments
First and foremost, I wish Dave Martinez and all of my predecessors the best. I’m grateful for this opportunity; may they live long and prosper.
It finally happened; EA made a solid soccer game. By some odd happenstance, the schmucks that get paid to create a soccer game served up a game that didn’t make me feel like I should have spent the time I spent driving to Game Stop burning a pile of twenty dollar bills (see: FIFA 03,04,07,08).
But it is still pretty clear that few, if any, employees on that staff actually play the beautiful game. Dribbling moves? Yeah, that’s what’s important. Juggling tricks? (I still can’t figure out how to work that, stupid YouTube tutorial) Of course, everyone wants to be able to do revolutions in the middle of the pitch against Wigan Athletic. EA has spent God knows how many editions of that game trying to perfect the newest, coolest freestyle or dribbling trick when they don’t have the simplest of the basics down. Passing, off-the-ball movement, and set pieces have consistently been rubbish, and the game in general has always been Oh So predictable.
Anyway, they finally put out a decent game, a game that could possibly be mistaken for a real game, but there I was, in the middle of January after getting FIFA 09 for Christmas, listing all of the reasons I was going to stare at goldfish swimming to and fro instead of playing FIFA. The customization is lame, the AI was programmed by an Orangutan (especially in ‘Be A Pro’ mode), manager mode has become repetitive and predictable…the list goes on, and maybe that is for another day, but I couldn’t help but eventually feel the same way I felt about every FIFA before that one.
The honeymoon was great, but once the initial excitement wears off and you get into the true quality of the game, it becomes mundane and repetitive.
“Oh look, honey, Luca Toni tucked another classy pass from Ribery into the net, as the goalie dove after the net reacted like a chain link fence to the impact.”
“After Zlatan scores on you from a ridiculous angle and distance while falling over, can you take little Timmy to Violin practice?”
The thought of it all makes me sleepy.
I didn’t even bother with buying this year’s edition of PES once I read numerous reviews saying that nothing had changed since the 2008 edition. I thought I might as well rot and play FIFA whenever Roma wins a game and I want to reenact this strange phenomena; it wouldn’t be enjoyable either way. However, boredom prevailed, and when the spring semester was over, I had time to kill. Expecting to have just wasted $35 on a used copy of PES 2009, I slipped the disc into my 360 and started playing. I was impressed, in a good way. The game play, the customization, the…everything I just complained about pertaining to FIFA, okay? It’s a solid game, and I will be playing it far more than I will FIFA. I don’t know what’s going to happen next, and that’s what keeps bringing me back.
Don’t get me wrong, Pro Evo has its sleuth of problems, but most of them are money issues. Actually, all of them are licensing issues (well, neither of them has figured out how real people look), and I totally understand that it is hard to overlook the fact that Chelsea is London FC and Bayern Munich doesn’t exist (neither does Germany as a whole). I maintain that FIFA is all about the looks, and PES is all about being good at what FIFA sucks at and being horrendous at what FIFA is good at. I still don’t think it’s long until PES goes belly up because FIFA has always sold well. It’s only a matter of time before EA accidentally makes a quality game to go along with all of those licenses.
I’ll still buy both, why not? Where else would it go, a savings account?
So slide on the brass knuckles I mean ‘paper weights,’ get your big brother, wave your white flag, or do whatever you do because this is an argument that will continue for as long as I post here.
Category: NewsWRITE FOR THE VIDEO GAME BLOG
By: Dave Martinez | 7 Comments
Hey everyone,
Thanks for the support the past year, it has been awesome.
I will have to reluctantly relinquish the VG blog, as well as the Boca blog, as life has thrown me a new curveball.
I am getting married.
For those that sympathize, that takes a HUGE chunk of my time, where I would rather be posting, but instead, have to deal with catering halls and churches.
You can continue to follow my antics over at the RB blog (redbulls.theoffside.com) - and who knows? Maybe I will organize the 2009 version of “The Offside Cup” over there.
Now, I would LOVE for this blog to continue. If interested, contact daryl@theoffside.com, with subject line “Games Writer.”
Thank you again. You have all been wonderful. And who knows - I may be back on this blog before you can say “PWND!”
Category: News
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