FIFA 12

[Arwin]

Interesting announcement for FIFA 12, is that it will feature FIFA Club, which gives you a single identity accessible anywhere on any platform. So you can play on 360 and then continue on PS3, basically, or I'm guessing NGP, but also access stuff from iOS or Android devices etc.

The impact stuff, defending and dribbling changes also look good.

 

[Scott_Arm]

Looks good, but what I really wanted to see was NHL 12.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Can't wait for this one. The latest years (since 08 ) FIFA has owned pes at pretty much everything and the new physics engine for tackling has been the one thing I've wished for

 

[Scott_Arm]

I haven't seen too many updates on features and improvements other than some light info on physics, tackling and a new defensive controls which weren't explained.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

I haven't seen too many updates on features and improvements other than some light info on physics, tackling and a new defensive controls which weren't explained.

Tackling physics + smarter defenders was all FIFA 12 needed

 

[zed]

I heard FIFA11 sold 15million copies so far, excluding nintendo stuff that would make it the second largest IP after COD

 

[goonergaz]

Great, when's it out? I'm looking forward to picking up FIFA 11 for £2.50

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Haven't really followed FIFA 12 closely. Seen some of the improvements and look forwards to them. However, I dread the other changes EA will bring about that make various aspects of the game crap. eg. They keep screwing with the manager aspect. In FIFA 10 we had to manage the team swapping players for games etc., when we just wanted to play football. The auto-coach option that we hoped would do that for us did nothing, or swapped players stupidly. FIFA 11 made things far worse, but either having you as a player manager you had to micro manager, or having you as a player and having to manager their career. When we play local coop, we don't want to be tied to one particular player!

Every time EA improve something, they mess something else up. If they enabled team management for tactics and formation and stuff, without having to micromanage players, and didn't impose annoying limits on the transfer market and stuff, it'd be a better game without changing the underlying mechanics. Hopefully they improve both aspects.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Haven't really followed FIFA 12 closely. Seen some of the improvements and look forwards to them. However, I dread the other changes EA will bring about that make various aspects of the game crap. eg. They keep screwing with the manager aspect. In FIFA 10 we had to manage the team swapping players for games etc., when we just wanted to play football. The auto-coach option that we hoped would do that for us did nothing, or swapped players stupidly. FIFA 11 made things far worse, but either having you as a player manager you had to micro manager, or having you as a player and having to manager their career. When we play local coop, we don't want to be tied to one particular player!

Every time EA improve something, they mess something else up. If they enabled team management for tactics and formation and stuff, without having to micromanage players, and didn't impose annoying limits on the transfer market and stuff, it'd be a better game without changing the underlying mechanics. Hopefully they improve both aspects.

There is team management for tactics and formations and it has nothing to do with players? There is also local coop without player locking.. Dunno what your on about there.

I don't really have anything to say regarding manager\career modes. All I play is vs games with real life mates or online. mostly because the ai is not challenging - legendary can be hard unless your a good team thought.

I only care about the gameplay and simulation of football. This has been continuously moving in the right direction ever since they made the movements of the ball dependent on a proper physics engine. (2008)

Tackling physics and some ai tweaks are the only things left to fix in 2012 in this department, and I cannot wait in particular they need to fix defensive ai

 

[Shifty Geezer]

There is team management for tactics and formations and it has nothing to do with players? There is also local coop without player locking.. Dunno what your on about there.

In FIFA 11 if you want team management, you have to choose a either player manager career, and then you have to micromanage the team by swapping players in and out every game based on their physical fitness. This gets tiresome when you just want to play football. If you don't want to faf about with the team, you can elect to play a player's career, but then you are tied to how that player does. Starting a match, the local players are assigned individual players to control all match, which we deselect to freely play any player. That then means we don't have a lot of control over the player who's career we're supposedly playing. We did this first with a striker who didn't get much action and was eventually relegated to the bench, meaning we'd sit out on games. Quite literally, FIFA 11 became all about simulating games! So we abandoned that career and picked a different player who saw more action, and now we're progressing. But of course we can't manage the team tactics or formation. It's a daft compromse. Just give the player the options to select which aspects of management they want, and more players can be pleased more universally.

 

[goonergaz]

We did this first with a striker who didn't get much action and was eventually relegated to the bench, meaning we'd sit out on games. Quite literally, FIFA 11 became all about simulating games! So we abandoned that career and picked a different player who saw more action, and now we're progressing.

I just play as an attacking midfielder, so I can get involved at the back but basically play as a mid in tough games and a striker in games we're winning - I like making those def splitting passes best of all...or starting a move and finishing it off...what bugs me about FIFA is the lack of support and upgrade each year, I went from 09 to 10 and it was barely any different to be honest, and what's worse was they took away the weekly team updates and started charging for them!

From that moment I decided to stick a year behind and pick up the old ones on the cheap...I may keep F10 for the free online aspect tho I hate playing against people who 'cheat' - you know, those who know all the little AI weaknessess like shooting from the halfway line etc...probably doesn't help that I'm pants, I miss the old days of holding my own online! lol

 

[Cheezdoodles]

Okay. Why not just play outside of career mode and then you have proper team management and local coop without or with playerlocking?

As far as not noticing the differences between the versions - then you play way to little FIFA. The differences in gameplay are quite huge, atleast so much that after the demos for the new incarnations come out and we play a few matches me and my mates cannot switch back as the gameplay flaws of the previous title instantly become apparent.

 

[Shifty Geezer]

Because we like to play through a season and take a team up. It gives us a goal. Just playing matches wouldn't have the same appeal. The best experience we've had in that regard was when we could take a college team from the tarmac playground up to the first division! Because FIFA did this before, one wonders why they dropped it? They keep changing the management formula of the game without any clear direction or purpose, unlike the footy sim aspect that they are progressing logically every iteration or two.

 

[wco81]

When you watch Barca play, you see how far off video games are from representation of the sport.

First, Messi is too easy to tackle or take the ball away from in FIFA11. Almost every defender in the game could run with Messi. It's actually the bigger forwards who can keep the ball away from defenders by shoving as they dribble the ball.

Second, you can't make the short precision passes in FIFA that you see Iniesta or Xavi make in the opponent's half of the pitch. Passes often are led towards defenders so the forward getting the pass is immediately tackled.

You would hope the success of Barcelona might encourage developers to try to capture these elements but instead, they may be looking more at EPL style of football, given the Anglo-centric background of the developers.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

When you watch Barca play, you see how far off video games are from representation of the sport.

First, Messi is too easy to tackle or take the ball away from in FIFA11. Almost every defender in the game could run with Messi. It's actually the bigger forwards who can keep the ball away from defenders by shoving as they dribble the ball.

Messi is pretty quick, however FIFA 11 did try to make all players quite a lot slower with the ball because in FIFA 10 having CR7 or Messi ment you could run around the defence. I agree that its overdone.

Second, you can't make the short precision passes in FIFA that you see Iniesta or Xavi make in the opponent's half of the pitch. Passes often are led towards defenders so the forward getting the pass is immediately tackled.

This is you sucking. Use MANUAL aiming for everything (change in settings). You can pass mindblowingly well in fifa 11.

 

[NavNucST3]

I think I'm passing on 12; I still have 10 and 11 and I haven't seen the justification for getting 12.

 

[wco81]

Yeah especially from EA, they try to dress it up every year as if here are big changes but they're mostly tweaking things.

It will take the next gen to really get big changes, which may or may not be positive.

 

[Cheezdoodles]

I think I'm passing on 12; I still have 10 and 11 and I haven't seen the justification for getting 12.

For me this argument holds for 09-10 or 10-11. Physics tackling I hope will make me a happy camper. Biggest innovation to FIFA since they made the ball physics based

 

[Scott_Arm]

Been playing online in Pro Club on 360. We've had about 5-7 guys in each of our games. It's a lot of fun. I've played pretty much exclusively in the midfield, defending or attacking, on either wing. FIFA has not really been my game, but it's a nice change from NHL. We try to be a possession team, and we can do that, but scoring is a bit of a problem. Most of our guys have some experience with the game, but are not top-end players. Right now we're 4-6-4, overall rank of 1157, which sounds bad but is probably not too bad for rookies in a game with a huge number of players.

The new defensive system is great, and I really like the player collisions.

 

[NavNucST3]

Been playing online in Pro Club on 360. We've had about 5-7 guys in each of our games. It's a lot of fun. I've played pretty much exclusively in the midfield, defending or attacking, on either wing. FIFA has not really been my game, but it's a nice change from NHL. We try to be a possession team, and we can do that, but scoring is a bit of a problem. Most of our guys have some experience with the game, but are not top-end players. Right now we're 4-6-4, overall rank of 1157, which sounds bad but is probably not too bad for rookies in a game with a huge number of players.

The new defensive system is great, and I really like the player collisions.

The demo was so much better than I was expecting. FINALLY, when my son barely touches one of my guys they don't go flying and stumbling all over the field...I really wish EA would push this to Games on Demand especially since we know they already have it in digital format otherwise I think I'm going to wait for awhile.