FIFA 07 Community Day Wrap-Up
by Dakota Grabowski

EA Canada, located in Vancouver, British Columbia, has another sports title in the cooker before the end of 2006.  Will FIFA 07 come out roasting or will it be left untouched?

Electronic Arts and their Canadian studio invited us to come and see FIFA 07 on the Xbox 360 before it hits store shelves.  In the past, I have visited this studio for NBA Live 07, so there was a sense of familiarity when I arrived at their studio.  What I wasn’t familiar with was the sport of soccer outside of the World Cup.

There was a new rule for this visit to EA Canada, there would be no photography allowed this time.  All the shots that are included are from EA representatives themselves.  The pictures of Vancouver itself are from another journalist that lent me them for the purpose of the article. 

When we arrived to the studio, they directed us to the conference room where we spent 90% of our time.  Throughout the day, several presentations were presented before us with the developers themselves directing them.  The presenters included the following developers on the project:

Haroon Qureshi - Inverse Kinematics/Ball Physics
Matt Jones - Art Direction
Simon Humber - Online/Performance Tracking/Database
Kaz Makita - Gameplay/AI

Many slide show presentations later, we were able to ask questions and pick at the brains of the developers on their decisions with FIFA 07.  After many rousing questions, I came to the belief that they are as dedicated and passionate about the game as they are the sport.  Many of them claim to have soccer as their favorite sport and are now just getting into hockey since Vancouver has a residing NHL team located in the city.

 

The presentations concluded with a lot of promise.  They then opened up the floor to all the attending journalists to play the game themselves.  I couldn’t wait to dig into this game since I had been buzzing with hype for a great soccer game on the Xbox 360 ever since the World Cup.  The past two FIFA games were barebones soccer titles that didn’t satisfy my needs.  After picking up FIFA 07 and playing it for a good four hours, this is all I could say about the game:

My expression says it all.  I am overly impressed with the gameplay implemented in this year’s edition.  Sure, it will cause many fans to be upset since there are some changes from the past iterations, but it’s all for the better.  Playing the game solo isn’t as fun as playing it against the brains behind the game.  EA developers began to challenge each of us as we became better at the game.  Would two hours of gameplay be enough to compete against developers that have spent a good portion of the year creating the same game?

Countless sessions with the EA representatives were put in and I don’t think any of the journalists came away with a win.  That’s okay as it was time to visit the EA Store and shop.  A few writers picked up copies of Battlefield 2142 and a couple had to buy the new Tiger Woods, but for the most part, we all wanted to get back to playing FIFA 07.

The day wrapped up with about another hour of playing FIFA against each other and trying out each aspect of the game.  I think I can speak for all of us when I say the game is superb.  It may be a little lacking in extra game modes like creating stadiums, coaches, and the extras we often are spoiled with in other sports video games, but FIFA 07 is turning out to be a real gem for every kind of soccer fan.

On a side note, if you have never been to Vancouver, you must!  It’s beautiful and great for tourists to pick as their next destination for their travels.  Here are few pictures of the gorgeous city I have come to love with every passing trip.

del.icio.us | Digg This | Glink It

---