EA Sports' FIFA 11 Preview Q&A | David Rutter

Following last week's Gamescom event, David Rutter of the FIFA production team answered questions from Facebook users regarding the upcoming EA Sports title, FIFA 11.

The demo is due September 16th for both the Xbox Marketplace and Playstation Store. Rutter has mentioned that there will be a few surprises in the demo, and chose to not reveal the demo teams in the interview. FIFA 11 is due to be released on September 28th in North America and on October 1st in Europe/Asia.

FIFA 11 will implement many graphical and gameplay improvements, including the following:

• Personality+ engine in which players are true to their real life characteristics. This means an aggressive defensive midfielder such as Gattuso will be a tough competitor on 50/50 balls and slide tackle with much more intent as opposed to someone who is not known for his defensive skills, such as Nani. Even referee's will have their own personality traits, which affect how leniently or strictly they referee the game.

• Player faces have been remodeled and updated. Although Rutter didn't specifically mention which teams and players were updated, it is a safe to say that most big name clubs and players have had their facial look and personality traits modeled according to their real life characteristics in FIFA 11.

• Users can now control the Goalkeeper, which will allow full on 11v11 online club gameplay. Goalkeepers can also be chosen as the user's individual player in Career mode. The goalkeeper's position can be controlled by using the left stick, while diving is initiated with the right stick (similar to the way the keeper has been controlled in penalty kicks). For those of you who don't feel up to the task, a simple press of the 'X' button will allow the keeper to make an assisted save. If you are playing with a friend, one of you can control the goalkeeper in the loading arena, allowing for fun 1v1 gameplay.

• A new 360 degree gameplay system which allows players to jostle and fight for the ball in a dynamic new way.

• Manager mode and Be a Pro mode have both been scrapped, er or um, combined in a new 'Career Mode'. Career mode allows players to choose a single player (or your virtual pro) and control him over the course of 15 seasons. Users can also decide to partake in a combined player-manager role or just a manager.

• The penalty kick system from FIFA: World Cup 2010 will be returning for FIFA 11.

• No new national teams will be added from FIFA 10's crop, but the Russian Premier League will be making it's debut on the 'next-gen' versions of FIFA.

• Virtual Pro's cannot be transferred over from FIFA 10, so you will have to start from scratch. The number of VP accomplishments has been doubled to about 400. New Virtual Pro unlock items and traits have also been added. The online clubs system has been improved, allowing for better recruiting and scouting of fellow Virtual Pro's, including a 'trial' option which allows you to bring another user's Virtual Pro over to play a practice match with your club before deciding to bring him on.

A truly impressive list I must say. I will be pre-ordering my copy of FIFA 11 this week. If anyone wants to play a quick game on FIFA 10 or FIFA: WC 2010, send me a message (my gamertag is on the right hand side of the page).

Preview: August Xbox Live update

Microsoft unwrapped all the details regarding the new Xbox 360 Update that has now been confirmed to be available on August 11th. This update will NOT boast Microsoft's previously promised Facebook, Twitter, Zune Instant 1080p, and Last.FM compatibilities, which are now expected to be unrolled in the late fall or winter
updates.

Avatar Marketplace

Fear not, there are many new interesting features bundled in this summer update from Microsoft. First off, a new Avatar Marketplace will be introduced which will allow gamers to buy clothes for their in-game persona. Yes buy clothes, as in with real money, err Microsoft Points. Real world clothing manufactures will be featured in the Avatar Marketplace, aswell as Microsoft branded items, such as a Halo style top. Other articles of clothing can be unlocked through beating games. 'Props' will also be introduced, such as a remote control car or even possibly a pet animal that can be 'controlled' by your avatar.

Party and Friends List

Next up, Microsoft has introduced a new way to organize your friends list and has refined the party system. Users may now organize their friends list by gamertag (alphabetically), activity, and online status. Also if you or someone else drops out of the party, they can easily and automatically reconnect. Inviting people to the party can now be done through a special menu, with one press of a button you can quickly run down a list of online friends and invite up to eight people in about three or four seconds. A new veteran badge will be added to the top right side of a player's gamertag which displays the number of years the user has been a gold Xbox Live member.

Netflix

Netflix users will benefit a great deal from this new update. Subscribers can now instantly add videos to their queue directly though their Xbox 360. Gold Xbox Live members who wish to watch a movie with friends have had their wish granted. By inviting friends to party, up to four different users may view the same Netflix movie together through Xbox Live.


Games on Demand in the Marketplace and User Ratings

Both gold and silver Xbox Live users can now purchase and download Xbox 360 titles directly through the Games on Demand Marketplace. Game manuals can be downloaded and printed for free through Xbox.com website. Gamers will also be able to rank both full games and arcade titles in a five star rating system. These ranked games can now be sorted and searched for by ratings through the new refined marketplace.

The following games will be available for download on August 11th:

1. Assassin's Creed (Ubisoft)
2. BioShock (2K Games) - North America Only
3. Burnout Paradise (EA)
4. Call of Duty 2 (Activision)
5. Dance Dance Revolution Universe (Konami) - North America Only
6. Fight Night Round 3 (EA)
7. Kameo: Elements of Power (Microsoft Game Studios)
8. Karaoke Revolution American Idol Encore (Konami) - North America Only
9. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (LucasArts)
10. Mass Effect (Microsoft Game Studios)
11. Meet The Robinsons (Disney)
12. MX vs. ATV Untamed (THQ)
13. Need for Speed Carbon (EA)
14. Need for Speed: Most Wanted (EA)
15. Perfect Dark Zero (Microsoft Game Studios)
16. Prey (2K Games)
17. Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft) - North America Only
18. ridge racer 6 (Namco) - North America Only
19. Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis (Rockstar Games)
20. Sega Rally (Sega) - Europe Only
21. Sonic the Hedgehod (SEGA) - North America Only
22. Test Drive: Unlimited (Atari)
23. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Bethesda)
24. Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas (Ubisoft) - Europe Only
25. Tomb Raider Legend (Eidos) - Europe Only
26. Viva Piñata (Microsoft Game Studios)
27. Viva Piñata 2: Trouble in Paradise (Microsoft Game Studios)

Miscellaneous Updates

• Display Discovery allows for the highest possible quality of display and audio through an option that allows you to override the default input and select audio and video formats independent of the information your television sends to your Xbox 360 console.Xbox LIVE Community Games has been renamed Xbox LIVE Indie Games.

• An Achievements browser which allows you to easily read through all the achievements of a certain game while playing. You can now also launch a game directly from the browser.A new view inside the profile panel which includes a summary of Achievements earned across all the games played, and shows of all your completed games.

• Streamlined navigation, including new entry points in the dashboard for Active Downloads, redeeming codes, recovering Gamertags and more.

• When recording a voice message, a warning will pop up if no audio is detected.

• Time stamps now appear in the memory area in conjunction to your saved games.

• If your Xbox LIVE subscription is about to run out, you will now be notified when you sign into Xbox LIVE.

• Updates for Invalid Windows Live IDs. If the Windows Live ID you provided has expired, you will now be prompted to update it the next time you sign into Xbox LIVE.

• Account recovery process has been made faster and more reliable.
  

A comprehensive update from Microsoft to say the least, I'll be excited about downloading this one on Tuesday morning.

[Images courtesy of Joystiq.com]

Bioshock Xbox 360 Preview

Bioshock is an alternate reality, next-gen first-person shooter. Developed by Irrational games, and published by 2K games, the game is set after WWII, after the Eutopia of Rapture (built as a safe haven for many of the worlds leading scientists and artistic minds in 1946) collapses after genetically altered beings create a civil war within the Eutopia.

Bioshock is purely choic driven, and results in many possible endings. For example, the goal of the game is to collect as many samples of ADAM (the genetic mutation formula) while maintaining a moralistic nature. Little sisters contain a healthy supply, but increases the difficulty of "Big Daddy's" to kill. In addition, the AI adapts to the environment, making them
impossible to predict.

You are a plane crash survivor, lost in the ocean. you stumble upon a lighthouse that has a shaft that travels down to the utopia. As you travel throughout the Eutopia, you discover many bizarre civilians roaming the area. The Environment is fully destructible and can be used to the players advantage, i.e. smokescreen from a fire extinguisher, sparks from electrical units.

The weaponry in the games fully customizable and allows for specific advantages. As you collect ADAM, you have the ability to create certain shots for yourself that allow you to create organic weaponry, give you special powers like invisibility, and allows you to alter the environment.

There is no plan on multiplayer, but there are plans for downloadable themes, pics, and areas to explore. there are no set prices on these objects. finally a collector's edition available that will include a Big Daddy figurine, the game's soundtrack, and a "Making of" DVD.

The Game is Scheduled for an August 21st release and will be rated "M" for mature for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Sexual themes, and Drug Reference.

(Click preview image to open the actual full resolution screenshot)

(Image courtesy of IGN.com)

- Article Written By PawnagE