It's no secret that FIFA '08 (PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, PSP, Wii) is one of the more popular games around. This game hit the one million sales mark in the UK in just nine weeks after its release. Obviously, Electronic Arts is very happy with the sales of their soccer game, none more so than the company's UK marketing manager Dan Holman.

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Chart Track UK has published the results of the Top 40 games in their region for the week ending October 6. Although it's not surprising that Halo 3 debuted right at the top of last week's chart (week ending September 29), what you might find a bit of a bother now is that it no longer reigns supreme.

From second place last week, Electronic Arts' FIFA 08 (PS3, PS2, PSP, Xbox 360, PC, Wii, and DS) has bumped Halo 3 from the number one spot and claimed it for itself. Meanwhile, MySims got demoted one level down from the third spot, which is now occupied by Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights.

1. FIFA 08
2. Halo 3
3. Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights
4. MySims
5. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 08
6. More Brain Training From Dr. Kawashima
7. Sega Rally
8. Ratatouille
9. Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training
10. Forza Motorsport 2

One probable reason (we're sure there are a lot others) why Halo 3 is now in second place is because of its stellar success during the first week - probably anyone and everyone who would have or could have gotten a copy of the game during the first week of its release already did so, therefore not getting much contribution in sales for this week. Besides. Who ever said getting the second spot was bad?

 

With its motion-sensing capabilities, the Wii has certainly opened up the videogame industry to an entirely new control scheme. And now, we see how it's affected one of today's biggest franchises, as lead producer and designer Brad Porteous gives us a crash course on the Wiimote-friendly controls of Electronic Arts' FIFA 08 (PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, PC, DS, Wii).

First off, Brad Porteous explains the two main control schemes in FIFA 08 - namely Advanced and Family Play. Advanced gives you the complete set of controls: motion, passing, shooting, the entire shebang. Family Play gives you a simpler one to work with, as it only requires you to pass and shoot with the wireless remote. All the player's motion is handled by the CPU.

Pressing A passes the ball, gesturing up or down shoots the ball towards the goal. Easy? Very. And players can easily toggle between Family Play and Advanced by merely attaching or detaching the Nunchuk.

From there, Brad kicks it up a notch by talking about the more advanced tricks you can do in the game, such as chip passes, directional passing, and dribbles. These can all be learned at the game's deep tutorial mode, called the Soccer Academy. Players looking to expand their arsenal of moves should not give this one a miss.

Finally, we get into the meat of the update - Offense Play and Defense Play. Offense involves passing and shooting, and there are many ways to do that in FIFA 08. For example, holding down A and then swinging the Wiimote to the direction of the player you want to pass to will execute a directional pass. The same can be said for shooting - as adding a curve to your goal-shot swing will apply that curve to the ball's trajectory.

Defense is also very Wiimote-centric. The A button makes you switch between players, the B button makes your player perform a standing tackle, and a downward swing of the Wiimote translates to a sliding tackle. There's also directional player switching, and works just the same as directional passing.

Brad Porteous ended the interview with a teaser for the more tricky of us. He mentions that holding down the C button and swinging the Wiimote in a certain way, while your character is in control of the ball, would result in that character performing some very advanced techniques. Awesome - we can't wait to see what those moves are come the game's October 9 release!

 

Electronic Arts' FIFA 08 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, PSP, NDS, Wii) is one of the most highly anticipated sports-themed releases this year. The game is said to be one of the most comprehensive soccer titles ever made with a plethora of options and features that will make any fan of the game very happy.

It was announced that this iteration will include all 620 FIFA licensed teams, and 30 leagues. It will also include 15,000 different players (3,000 more than the previous game) including the more popular football heroes such as Ronaldinho. Gameplay wise, this title is no slouch either. The ball physics engine has been improved, now factoring in both air speed, resistance, as well as player movement.

FIFA 08 will be launched on all platforms this September 27 in Europe,  September 28 in Australia, and October 9 in the U.S. (with the PS3 version on October 16). While waiting for this to come out, you might want to take a look at the 44 screenshots we have of the game.

 

More screenshots at the full article!

The nationalistic fervor burns even hotter in EA Sports' FIFA 08 as the developers of one of the world's best-selling sports game franchises announce a collection of 50 songs from artists around the world.

Every national team represented in FIFA 08 has a corresponding song and band from their own country that ups the passion as you take on the world's elite teams in the planet's most popular ballgame.

Included in the mix are artists such as The Hoosiers (UK), Babamars (France), Bodyrox (UK), Junkie XL (Holland), and Santogold (USA), Simian Mobile Disco (UK), CSS (Brazil), Datarock (Norway), Dover (Spain), Ivy Queen (Puerto Rico), Junkie XL (Holland), Maximo Park (UK), Mexican Institute of Sound (Mexico), Peter Bjorn And John (Sweden), Planet Funk (Italy), Superbus (France), The Cat Empire (Australia), and Wir Sind Helden (Germany). Many more are in store to be discovered when the game hits.

"We’ve been working for nearly a year to deliver what we believe is the ultimate FIFA 08 soundtrack," comments Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music at EA. "These are the most songs ever in a FIFA edition representing the most countries in the history of the videogame."

EA Sports' FIFA football franchise is the longest-running football simulation to date and has sold millions of copies around the world with iterations dating back to almost two decades. FIFA 08 will be released on the Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, PC, Nintendo DS and Sony PlayStation Portable.

Buy: [FIFA 08 (Wii)]

Buy: [FIFA 08 (PS3)]

Buy: [FIFA 08 (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [FIFA 08 (PC)]
Buy: [FIFA 08 (PSP)]
Buy: [FIFA 08 (DS)]

Football fever is in the air once again as we feature a three-part video of EA Sports' premiere soccer sim, FIFA 08. Here we can see Joe Booth, the EA representative, talk about the various features that we'll be seeing in this newest next generation console upgrade for the series during the recent Games Convention 2007.

It seems to have everything that any fan of the sport could possibly ask for: signature moves from Ronaldinho with his flip-flap, as well as all the other fancy moves from other famous players, 30 leagues, with over a whopping fifteen thousand players in the game, and of course the new dynamics included in upgrading this well loved series for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

Booth also announced something that a lot of players have been clamouring for a long time. Namely, the much anticipated 11-on-11 matches that the FIFA series hoped to achieve. No, it's still not available right now, although an alternative mode has been created as a stepping stone towards that direction. However, it was projected that by 2010 it'll finally be something that the guys at EA Sports can finally bring to fruition.

FIFA 08 is slated to come out in September for the PC, PS2, Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS and Wii while the PS3 release will be a month after. Until then take a look at the video interview series right after the jump!

 He's not David Beckham, but in EA Sports' upcoming premiere soccer sim, FIFA 08, Melbourne Victory striker Archie Thompson will be the flag bearer for the A-League as it joins the FIFA series as one of the official playable competitions in the game.

Small compared to its other European counterparts, the A-League will finally get a chance at the limelight as it joins 29 other international leagues in this long-standing football sports franchise.

Also joining the roster of new leagues are Gambrinus liga of Czech Republic and FAI Premiere Division of Ireland. Archie Thompson will be carrying the name of Australia and New Zealand as their official ambassador for the game.

Thompson, perhaps most known for breaking the world record of most number of goals scored in a soccer game, was excited with the A-League's inclusion in FIFA 08. He had this to say:

I know that plenty of the boys at Melbourne Victory enjoy playing video games so it’s fantastic that we can now play as our favourite Hyundai A-League club either in a league or against other international Clubs.

Expect the release of EA Sports' FIFA 08 by September. It will be released on multiple platforms, namely the PC, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, PSP, and Wii.

 

For the new generation of EA Sports titles, Electronic Arts is introducing a family-friendly control scheme that will continue Nintendo's momentum in bridging the gap of hardcore play to formerly non-gamers. And the publishing giant recently revealed Wii Family Play, an optional gameplay mode for beginner players to get them hooked into the game easily without turning off the already hardcore virtual sports fans.

Instead of occupying two hands with a Wiimote and Nunchuck setup, Wii Family Play only requires the use of the Nintendo Wii's remote. Using the wireless remote, non-proficient gamers can learn an intuitive gesture control scheme to control in-game characters and coordinate plays, all seamlessly integrated into Madden NFL 08, FIFA Soccer 08 and NBA Live 08.

How seamless, you ask? Well, it doesn't even require a change of options. If you want Wii Family Play to kick in, just unplug the Nunchuck from the Wiimote and you're officially running in the gesture mode. It even occurs on a per controller basis. So the more proficient EA Sports Wii gamer can remain comfortable with the custom advanced setup while giving first-timers a chance to join in on the fun without fumbling with the controls.

Click on Full Article for screenshots covering Wii Family Play on all three titles, plus some additional screenshots for each game.

There's some pretty serious effort being churned out by Vancouver-based EA Canada which is currently developing the latest iteration of EA Sports' dynasty of soccer simulations. Globe-trotting stars Cristiano Ronaldo, Sergio Ramos and Miroslav Klose will not only grace the cover of the game, but they're actually helping out in the motion capture sessions conducted by the devs.

This video show one of FIFA 08's motion-capture sessions in German. Those of you who can speak or at least decipher the language are lucky. For the rest of us, subtitles are the only hope.

The FIFA franchise published by Electronic Arts has been going strong for more than a decade now and has remained dominant in its entire course in the pitch. Like many other EA Sports franchises, the game features fantastic visuals, extra-deep features and extensive licensing from by 30 leagues, 620 teams, and over 15,000 players.

Some FIFA purists might be turned off by the cartoony graphics that FIFA 08 for the Wii will be sporting. However if players can look past that, it appears as if there are solid and fun game mechanics that were put into it. If you don't believe us, then listen to FIFA 08's producer, Tim Tschirner.

A part of the development of the game that really caught our attention, were the control schemes they experimented on for the game. Initial plans include attaching the Wiimote to your foot and use it as a controller. However, it turns out that the idea only sounds good on paper; in practice, it can be quite taxing. Tschirner explained this in an interview with Gamespot:

At the beginning of development, we discussed the idea of attaching the Wii Remote to your foot to execute passes and shots that way. We constructed a prototype by taking a sock and sewing a pocket to the side that housed the Wii Remote.

While it worked technically (it detected passes and shots accurately), it felt really awkward to stand up and take kicks into the air. In addition, your knees and ankles would start hurting after a while, so in the end, we abandoned the idea.

Another thing fans of the game should be aware of, is the fact that the development team of Madden NFL 07 for the Wii was consulted in developing the game. This was a great move on their part and it really helped them in cutting down the title's development time. Tschirner said that the Madden developers were also able to give them valuable insight on what worked well and what didn't work so well, including some ideas that just weren't feasible. On the technical side, they were able to get some low-level code and libraries.

With that, we can be relatively confident that this game will be pretty good when it comes out. Be sure to keep checking back here for more updates on FIFA 2008 for the Wii.