FIFA: A Franchise Reborn

[RaychelSnr]

FIFA and PES: Like United and Liverpool, Pele and Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo and any player who won't go flying if you breathed near him; ask ten different soccer gamers and it’s likely you’ll get ten different reasons as to why they prefer one over the other. It’s funny how these things work, because there was a time when it wasn’t like this.

There was a time —gather around, kids — when the FIFA series looked like it was going to play perennial second fiddle to the Pro Evo/Winning Eleven franchise. The transformation, from being the game that made hardcore soccer fans instinctively roll their eyes upon hearing its name, has been nothing but remarkable. Who would've thought?

Make no mistake, the FIFA series was never a David to PES’ Goliath — none of EA Sports’ games will ever play that role.

It’s just that, for folks who care to remember that far back, there was a time when PES’ quality was so far ahead of FIFA 's, that we felt confident enough in proclaiming that this will always be the natural order of things. The fact that FIFA has always achieved respectable sales numbers wasn’t the point — EA’s marketing war chest will almost always guarantee that — it was the fact that PES has always been the game for the “real” fan. But that was a notion that gradually became a misconception, starting from when the first batches of Xbox 360s and PS3s hit the shelves.

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[Cardot]

Re: FIFA: A Franchise Reborn

Good article. I am a very casual Fifa fan. I still have '09. Out of curiosity, could someone list a quick bullet/hightlight or two of each version, and the advances they brought to the table. It is interesting reading about the evolution that has taken the franchise to such acclaim.

[ezio]

Very well written article but I still think Fifa can improve een further.

There are still things in Fifa that need to be addressed IMO. the lack of fouls and the ridiculous transfers in CM come to mind immediately. Also, I still think there are some things that PES does better, mostly the off the ball movement and I also think it still has more player indiuality than Fifa does but Fifa has come a long way from where it was.

[elprez98]

CPU vs. HUM, FIFA still doesn't hold a candle to PES. Every team in FIFA plays the same. However HUM vs. HUM FIFA shines in some parts. I think if they fix the fouls and give the CPU more AI, it can be the better game.

[Randiesel75]

Agreed, very well written.

[SlimKibbles]

I was a somewhat regular buyer of the FIFA series since its start. But, after the debt glitch issue in FIFA 10, which they refused to fix, and World Cup 2010, which had the bug-filled tournament and whatnot, I haven't bought a FIFA game since. FIFA RTWC '98 still remains my favorite FIFA game.

[kelvinmak]

Re: FIFA: A Franchise Reborn

Appreciate the comments, folks.

Anybody who's got ten minutes of their lives they're willing to waste, this is a pretty nice vid showing the evolution of FIFA. Cool trip down memory lane, especially for the slightly older ones among us:

(Don't know for the life of me how to embed, so here's the link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN_RHOqAymI)

FIFA RTWC '98 still remains my favorite FIFA game.

I loved RTWC '98. Especially the indoor games. Man, they need to bring those back.

[Cardot]

Re: FIFA: A Franchise Reborn

FIFA RTWC '98 still remains my favorite FIFA game.

Yes, I also had and enjoyed this one (for the PC). If I recall, each game had a great intro where you would come flying in from outside the stadium, and come in through the tunnel. And wasn't that the one with Chumbawamba...or was that WC98?

[SoAwesome]

Re: FIFA: A Franchise Reborn

I like Winning Eleven but the problem for me was released February while FIFA released in September. Wasn't going to wait 6 months for a soccer game so I went with FIFA.

[ps3veron]

Excellent article! Old school PES fan here who made the jump and I fully agree with whats written.

And just for the record, as a Liverpool fan, we beat United 2-1 last game

[mockme]

Re: FIFA: A Franchise Reborn

I'm also one of those former PES-players, and on the last generation consoles I did enjoy it very much and still do whenever I feel like going old school, but right now I am immensely enjoying FIFA on the current gen. Not so arcadeish anymore, while I get the feeling that PES is not as sim as it was anymore.

Anyway, great article!

[cgalligan]

Funny how EA steps their game up when faced with Competition...

Are you paying attention NFL???

[cgalligan]

2k Hockey was better than EA Hockey... Then EA stepped up and made their game better...

PES was better than Fifa... Then EA stepped up and made their game better...

2k5 was better than Madden... Then EA bought the NFL License?

Are you paying attention... This is the way to do things... Don't buy out your competitor just because you can... MAKE A BETTER PRODUCT!!! The People will Decide which one is in fact BETTER... Don't force feed it down our throats and take away our freedom of Choice...

[jb1]

Good article, I'm an old school PES player that began before that with ISS and my clear game of choice now is FIFA. You have to give them credit for sorting their gameplay out, yes it's still far from perfect but as you alluded to back in the early 00's playing FIFA was a truly painful experience but they have come a long way since then.

PES on the other hand has done nothing but go downhill (although there are some signs of life with PES 12) since the glory days of PES 5 and 6 where licenses didn't matter as the gameplay was as near to perfection as was possible at that time. Since then i've struggled to play any of the Konami releases for more than a few days before discarding the game. From horrible Goalies to players skating up and down the pitch the game I played and loved more than any other for years and years has vanished.

Another factor in FIFA's rise to dominance for me was the introduction of their Ultimate Team mode, yes they raised their gameplay above the level of PES but I think the introduction of FUT was a real hammer blow as that saw a lot of disillusioned PES gamers such as myself get addicted to FIFA in a way that we hadn't before. For all of FIFA's positives it still isn't a game that I can enjoy vs the CPU but the quality of the online multiplayer games keeps me coming back for more. PES tried to offer a rival to FUT but it was too little too late.

[209vaughn]

The control I have over my players in both FIFA and NBA 2k is just stunning. Through a controller I have the ability to feel like I'm playing a sport. The controller-player connection is smooth and intuitive.

NCAA and Madden need to rewrite a lot of code to make you feel like you're in complete control of your player and his movements. Fluid controls and controller-player connections need to be tight.

NCAA and Madden controls are simplified and dumb downed. The hardeds position in all of sports is the QB - but in the video game world its a point and click game. Give us deeper controls and controller-player connections need to be tight.