FIFA 08 improved....

FIFA 08 is the most popular football videogame in the world. FIFA has always dominated the football videogame market due to a combination of stellar presentation(graphics, small but important details, commentary,etc..), simple to approach gameplay and the FIFA brand itself. But recent years show the market, especially that of the hardcore gamers market turn towards the Konami Football game series, Pro Evolution Soccer.

Pro Evolution Soccer has, for the most part, inferior graphics, player details, commentary, presentation as a whole and due to the brand monopoly of FIFA, most of the players in the PES(Pro Evolution Soccer) series are fake(though this has been rectifies in recent years to the point where, most of the players except the EPL players have their real identities and not names like Rinaldo for Ronaldo).

So why is PES gaining such popularity you ask?! Well i can attribute it to two good reasons.
1. FIFA has dominated the scene from the very beginning, and driven every other competitor out of business. And it shows. The FIFA series, especially in the recent years has been getting lazy, to the point that evry FIFA game just becomes a roster update of the previous year, with almost no update to the gameplay or rubbish additions which dont make that much of a difference and in some cases actually hinder gameplay.
2. PES's own stellar gameplay. The game utilises, for the most part the directional buttons to move, four buttons to do all the passing, shooting basics of football and a few butons to do extra stuff, which for the sake of simplicity, arent really even needed to enjoy the game. All of this combined with precise response from the players to the extent that you can actually picture every pass or shot going to the right place with the right touch, and when any error occurs in the game, you know its your own fault and not of the game. Also, PES has nailed the part where individual players, though might not look as much as their real life counterparts as FIFA, they FEEL like their real life counterparts. Not everyone can do a rabona or elastico ar marseille roulette, And every small character specification really makes a difference. A person with long pass rating of 95 will definitely pass better than a person with the rating of 75. Basically you will know the difference between an Aaron Lennon and David Beckham, between the Maradona's(yes they even have unlockable players from the past) and the wannabes. Also, character customisation is so detailed that even if the players dont have their real names, with a litle patience and tweaking, you can have your entire EPL season authentically ready to go in a few hours.

Well, thank goodness for competition i say, cos FIFA has been really shaken up and have realised that substance really is important and in some cases, even more so than style. So recently, FIFA has picked up their game and has improved with each year. FIFA 08, though far from PES level of greatness, has come the closest to simulating football(No soccer crap here!!) in the FIFA series.

Therefore, the improved features in FIFA 08 are as follows :
1. First, the expected roster updates from more than 100 clubs from around the world are all there till the 8th of August 2007.
2. Graphics, as usual are top notch.
3. Controls are much more refined and ironically, are following a PES based control system.
4. Manager mode in FIFA easily trumps its PES counterpart with tons of options and the option to move around different clubs(PES only allows you to play as one club in its Master League mode).

Some issues still remain, like players all identical, with no distinction between Ronaldinho and Beckham as much as you might wish there to be. And long passes are still kinda awry and its impossible to execute any special maneuver with a keyboard. But these are small gripes, and overall, FIFA has done very well this year.

Great Expectations!!

Well first thing i'm shown are the expectations for the season. Lets have a look at them one by one.
1. The board expects me to get a top half (10 and above) rank in the table by the end of the season, which is reasonable considering West Ham had a good season previously(in real life) and also have good talent to back it up.
2. Win the FA cup. Hmmm....shouldnt be too tough. Though i should say this will be quite harder to accomplish than the first goal.
3. Upgrade the Stadium Manager. Yup, will do. West ham's Stadium status is still below average which should make upgrading the stadium manager once not too costly.
4. Buy a player below 25 years of age. Well, my aim was to buy players below this age anyways cos i need to look at the future and i know that.
So those are the board expectations.
Oooh, autograph sessions show that Dean Ashton is my most popular player with the fans so i'm advised to make sure he gets lots of spotlight. Will do. Also, some contract issues with present players need to be looked after. Alright, anything else. Oh yeah, the sponser choices. I choose Nekko which appears to be a football viwer brand. Anyhow the sponsor details are as follows,
1. Funding per game - EU(Euro) 370,000. The most important criteria for choosing sponsors.
2. Loyalty Bonus - EU 1,000,000. This is given automatically after i choose the sponsor.
3. League Bonus - EU 160,000. This will be awarded for a top half finish.
4. Cup Bonus - EU 1,000,000. This will be awarded if i reach the semi-finals of the domestic cup tournament.
5. Extra Bonus - EU 350,000. This will be awarded if i can record the most number of clean sheets in the season.
As you can see, the 2nd and 3rd details actually coincide with some of my board expectations, so it gives me added incentive to complete these goals. The Extra Bonus will be a good goal to chase i think.
There, after going through all of these "Great Expectations", i go on to my main Manager Screen.....

First post - Introduction

I crested the new FIFA 08 manager mode profile yesterday. The settings are Normal settings in the options menu, and i've updated to the best of my abilities all the transfers that have happened in the EPL until now. I chose West Ham United as my team, and having a first-time manager as their manager didnt give the club supporters good expectations. But i'm willing to give them a few surprises along the way. My FIFA08 Manager (from now on FIFman) profile name is Michael Pachuau, from India, birthdate is 18 sept 1985(min. age allowed) and my profile pic is of a handsome, well-groomed individual much like myself, heh.