It’s on again: FIFA vs. PES is gearing up for its annual showdown to see who is the one soccer Sim to rule them all. Kicking off the local media war in earnest, EA held their official FIFA 09 launch yesterday in the corporate box high above the Sydney Football Stadium, joined by some of the A-League’s brightest stars: and not a minute too soon, with a Pro Evolution event gearing up for the end of the month. We’ve been following the progress of the two games avidly and you can read our FIFA vs. Evo gameplay comparison for our current feelings on the state of the war.
But today we’re going to focus on our chat with the face of FIFA – and an Aussie to boot - Andrew Wilson. In particular, what he had to say about dynamic A.I, 11 vs. 11 online play, NaturalMotion and its Euphoria engine plus DRM, which is so hot right now.
So we’ll start at the top. If you hadn’t heard, FIFA 09 will offer PS3, X360 and PC users the ability to have the attributes and status of players in the game dynamically update alongside the performances of their real-life counterparts. Much like the feature announced at E3 for NBA Live 09, this is the ultimate resource for the hardcore soccer nut. If Ronaldo has a good game on Tuesday, when you log in to play on Wednesday his confidence will be high, and his stats may have improved as well. If Rooney switches to Liverpool in the January transfer window (not bloody likely!) then it will be mimicked in the game. If Robbie Fowler decides to snort the touch-line again and cops a suspension, so will he disappear from the Blackburn playing roster in your virtual season.
Unlike the NBA game however, which taps into a pre-existing service operated by a third-party company to help teams from the league scout new players, FIFA will be updated locally in each region by those who have their finger on the pulse (such as commentators, ex-players, etc.) It will be a subscription based service: you pay, you get the dynamic A.I. We thought this was a bit rude. As one of the key selling points in FIFA 09 it should be available in the box, and in our eyes it was looking at being another kick in the nuts for gamers as the industry slides ever further down the slippery commercial slope brought by its blooming popularity - gaming is the new MTV after all.
