Football fans are a hardy bunch, up at early hours to get to away games while returning at the dead of night, but Thursday the 30th of September gave them a different reason to stay up late, FIFA.
Not the Fédération Internationale de Football Association though, but their officially licensed game, expected to be the best iteration yet and by some distance too. Fans wanted to get their hands on it, and who could blame them the annual hype that the game develops increases year on year and this term was no different with a raft of updates being fed into the public domain from more technical things such as the 'Pro Passing' system and the 'Personality+' to the inclusion of 'Be A Goalkeeper', the first time fans have been given the ability to control the goalkeeper in his entirity.
There were inevitably very lucky people who got the game nearly a week before release through various means while others got the game just a day or two early thanks to pre-ordering the title through sites such as www.shopto.net. But for those who wanted to save a fiver or so but still play the game as early as possible there was only one option, the midnight release.
Asda and Tesco's have lead the charge in midnight releases over recent years, dropping prices to figures around the £25 mark in the process in order to maximise the influx of customers, but this time if you wanted the game without purchasing another title or trading in a game you already own the cheapest place to go was Asda, selling FIFA 11 for £29.97, and as such, that's where we went.
Originally the plan was to leave for 11:30 and arrive just in time for the sales opening but once I had gotten into contact with a friend about this I suddenly realised this wasn't an option. My understanding was that about fifty hardcore fans would turn up and the queues wouldn't be too bad, it's only a game after all but, I was realibly informed, doing so would result in an even longer wait for a copy, assuming they still had any of course as I was told that hundreds of people would turn up and he wasn't wrong there.
Departing my little village at 10:45 and picking a couple of people up on the way a 25 minute drive to the Longwell Green Asda 'Supercentre' flew by as our anticipation grew. Upon arrival the car park was surprisingly full, though it is a massive store that stays open for 24 hours, so they couldn't all be there for FIFA, could they? After withdrawing a £40 sum from the cashpoint we headed inside to find ourselves at the end of the line halfway into the store from the electronics counter at the back and there had to be at least 150 people in front of us.
The wait for midnight seemed to drag, though the banter was flowing as large groups of friends began jumping about like excited children at Christmas and laughs were certainly to be had. As zero hour approached the queue began to leave the doors, out into a drizzly Bristol night, a quite ludicrous number of people preparing for a game that could be bought for the same price at 9 o'clock the very same day, and after a good nights sleep to boot. Surprisingly, however, it wasn't just the FIFA fanboys who were out shopping at this hour as people pushed trolleys of groceries while others went in search of shoes.
As midnight arrived the queue began to move, slowly but surely, along the aisle passing through various sections of Asda's clothing area, the trudge through the lingerie department being the most interesting, the giant bras getting a good fondling, but twenty minutes later I was at the desk, passing over my hard earned £30 in exhange for a copy of the nights holy grail, FIFA 11, it was mine!
The drive back through the now pouring rain seemed to run and run as I sat in the car, game in hand, chomping at the bit to open up my Xbox and place my disc carefully into the drive. Two droppings off of copies of the most priceless £30 game ever meant I had to wait a little longer, but it only the the ecstacy of finally playing it all the more sweeter and at 1:10am the moment arrived.
I was not alone with my passion for FIFA, EA releasing details that they sold 2.6million copies of the game within the first five days of retail between Europe and North America, making it the biggest selling sports title in the history of video games and equating into a $150million gross intake. Peter Moores, president of EA Sports saying:
"This is a landmark achievement for EA Sports - we've shattered sales records at retail, critics are praising FIFA 11 as being one of the most authentic and innovative titles ever, and fans are connecting and competing with other gamers around the world and have logged a record number of online connected game sessions"
That record of online games can come as somewhat of a surprise down to probably the biggest gripe fans have had about the game, the EA servers.
Some of the biggest parts of FIFA gameplay are the online modes which include 1v1 face offs, online team play and the organised 'Pro Club Championship' but the sheer number of gamers trying to get into any of these modes has meant the servers jamming up and facing technical difficulties, generally resulting in players being unable to connect to opponents while those lucky enough to get a game will have found their experience laggy and jumpy. But EA claim that these are just teething problems and expect them to be ironed out over a the next few days.
The game itself has proved to be another step forward for the series, the most noticable difference being the step up in difficulty. While AI defenders in previous games can be moved out of position relatively easily 11's defence stands tall and can prove frustrating opponents, meaning less chances being created, giving the gamer a tense face off with the goalkeeper when a chance comes their way. This does however have both positives and negatives, trying to get through is so much more difficult that it does become tedious and will get to some people. Yes, you do get a real sense of satisfaction when you do get the breakthrough, but this doesn't come as often as it should.
I mentioned ealier the 'Pro Passing system', this was introduced in order to cull the 'ping pong passing' that has blighted recent titles and aggravated the fanbase. Though it takes a little while to get used to the system is implemented well and passing now takes a decent amount of skill with the weight of the pass and its accuracy now taking even more precedence than before.
Also aforementioned was the 'Be A Goalkeeper' mode. It's plain to see that this is still in its infancy and I'm sure will improve over subsequent releases but for now it offers a solid challenge, positioning proving to be the most difficult aspect. The big issue with this mode, however, is that it becomes quite boring. The defences are so good in FIFA 11 that few chances are created and when playing on five or six minute halves a keeper is likely to have perhaps only four ot five things to do during a match, leaving the player twiddling his thumbs while watching his virtual teammates knock the ball about.
The customisation on offer has once again been increased thanks to in game options that allow players to import their own chants and music into the game as well as the online creation centre, giving fans on next generation consoles the first to create their own team of superstars to download to their consoles. Graphically the game cannot be faulted, the players looking ever more realistic and the lighting effects in game are solid, a real treat for the eye.
As a football simulation the game is superb in every way, but the issue that remains for me and niggles in my mind is that the fun factor has somehow gone out of it, maybe it's because I'm just not very good at it, not yet anyway.
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