EA has released new screenshots of FIFA Street 3 that is being developed for the DS.

The game is scheduled for North American release early next year on February 19 and will also be available on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

Hit the jump to view more images.

Continue reading...

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

Electronic Arts has released a new set of screenshots today of FIFA 07. Gaming Horizon will have more on this title as it becomes available.

Electronic Arts has announced the upcoming cover athletes for FIFA World Cup 2006.

The company has announced that 10 different players will grace the cover of the game depending on where you live. Zhi Zhen, China, Frank Lampard, England, Lukas Podolski, Germany, Alessandro Del Piero, Italy, Jamie Lozano, USA, Canada and Mexico, Simao, Portugal, Arjen Robben, Belgium, Netherlands and Luxemburg, Ricardo Cabanas, Switzerland, Xavi, Spain and Claudio Reyna, USA, Mexico and Canada.

"We are thrilled to have the world’s top athletes representing 2006 FIFA World Cup in each of these countries,” Clive Downie, vice president of marketing at Electronic Arts said. 

This article was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Certain formatting, imaged, and embedded content may have been lost in the transition process.

“This is quite an honor to be the new face of FIFA Street 2,” Ronaldo said. “The game mirrors the same ideals and philosophies that I use in my approach to everyday football. I played on the street growing up where I had many one-on-one battles, so it’s exciting to be a part of the EA SPORTS family and contribute to a style of football I’ve been playing all my life.”

FIFA Street 2 is rated “E” (Everyone) by the ESRB with a MSRP of $29.99.

This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Aaron Thomas.

If you’ve been following the Xbox 360 launch titles from EA Sports at all, you’ve probably gotten used to hearing the same criticism over and over - “It looks great, shows what next-gen sports game are all about, but it’s missing tons of features”. FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup is the exception to the rule, but not in a good way. It looks pretty bad, doesn’t do a single thing new, and not only is it missing tons of features, it’s missing tons of teams as well.

Not content to release only one FIFA game a year, EA uses the looming World Cup to milk the FIFA license for another title every four years. Here you’ll take one of 75 teams through the process of qualifying for the World Cup, playing a few tournaments and friendlies on the side. When you’re done qualifying with one team, the only thing left to do is qualify with another. If it sounds underwhelming, that’s because it is.

At first glance, World Cup is a nice looking game. The stadiums feature a lot of detail, the graphics are colorful, and the pitch looks nice. Player uniforms are accurate and flow in a realistic fashion as the players run. One you really spend some time with the game, however, you’ll start to notice that the game actually looks quite poor.

Continue reading...

“As launch titles, our four EA SPORTS titles for the Xbox 360 will give consumers a next generation sports experience from the time they take the shrink-wrap off the games and the console out of the box,” said John Schappert, Group Vice President and General Manager EA Studios. “This first round of games is what the hardcore videogame consumer wants, and we’re delivering that with these EA SPORTS launch titles.“

EA’s four EA SPORTS launch titles for Xbox 360 are:

• FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup
• Madden NFL 06
• NBA LIVE 06
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 06

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

The launch of the Xbox 360 looms near and you can count on EA’s major sports franchises to make the leap including their latest entry in FIFA soccer series - FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup.

The biggest and most obvious difference between this one and the current versions of FIFA 06 is graphical. A lot of the screenshots from 360 launch titles aren’t overly impressive, instead looking more like really good looking Xbox games. FIFA 06, however, bucks that trend and shows off some very impressive character models. Now, when actually playing on the pitch, they aren’t photo-realistic, but they are definitely more detailed than in any other soccer game to date. What this does is makes the players actually recognizable to gamers – Beckham looks like Beckham, Henry looks like Henry, etc.

The added graphical power also allows the development team to add lots of subtle details to the players as well. They’ll move with more life-like animations, show tons of expressions thanks to new facial animations – the players will actually show personality by showing elation when hitting a game-winning shot in stoppage time or despair after committing a bad foul at a critical time.

Another difference between the 360 and current versions is that the 360’s FIFA will concentrate on the qualifying rounds leading up to next year’s World Cup tourney. This, of course, means that there will be no focus at all on club teams which may alienate quite a few fans. This probably won’t have fans in the states crying foul, but I’m sure it will anger more than a handful of fans across the pond.

Continue reading...

This preview was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Eric Dayday.

The world’s most popular sport will make its way to the PSP come launch time. So, how will the miniaturized incarnation of EA’s acclaimed soccer series fare on Sony’s new portable? Well, if you judge on screenshots alone, then I would have to say it’ll make the transition just fine. Despite being so much smaller and having less power than the big brother consoles, this game is pushing near-console quality graphics, which is all the more impressive for a launch title. Just imagine what EA can do with this experience under their belt.

Graphics, however, are not the only thing that make or break games. Luckily for you, the gameplay and variety of options haven’t been short-changed for the aesthetics. FIFA Soccer for the PSP still offers the same game modes the console versions do – Quick Play, Season, Tournament, and Challenge. The first three modes are self-explanatory, and in Challenge, you are given a game situation that needs to be overcome, such as coming back from two goals with less than ten minutes remaining. Sports game veterans should be familiar with these. EA, however, takes advantage of the license by adding a new mode called Mid-Season Scenario Mode, and it’s exactly as it sounds. By selecting this mode, you’ll be thrown into the middle of the 2004/05 season with real-time team standings. So, depending on which team you choose, you’ll either have to climb your way up the standings or hold off the pack nipping at your heels. EA makes further use of the license by also including some real-life cup tournaments like the MLS Open or the English League Cup.

The "first touch controls" EA introduced in the console versions make an appearance in the PSP version as well, but it’s been altered a tad because of the PSP’s lack of a right analog. Instead, the D-Pad is used to activate the "first touch" tricks. It may feel awkward having no control over your player while doing so, but it can’t be helped control-wise, at least not yet.

FIFA will also take advantage of the PSP’s wireless capabilities by allowing players to play others head-to-head. What makes the deal even sweeter is that you can play against other players in any game mode.

Continue reading...