As an avid Fifa Soccer fan, I always get anxious every October when the release of the new version is imminent. My anxiety is more of a panic than it is a sense of comfort when it comes to this year’s iteration of the world’s most popular football game. I’ve strayed away from playing Fifa on the console for many years (owning my last Fifa game on Gamecube and PS2) and have chosen to get my footy fix on the PSP. I thoroughly enjoy being able to play a quick game of football on the go and while the visuals may not be next-generation console-beautiful, the PSP version is as feature rich as the console versions and that keeps me coming back for more, every time.

Although I set aside money into my yearly Fifa fund for the game, I wonder if my money would be better spent if the model for producing and delivering sports videogames were to change.

Case in point: after viewing the Fifa 10 PSP website, the following updates were made to the game:

• More responsive gameplay


• Improved goalkeepers


• Prematch scouting reports

These are just 3 changes made to FIFA 10 on the PSP this year. Another feature that was marketed on the website was this year’s Fifa would have better collision detection, but I’ll get to that shortly.

Given the list above, the first two (2) items are tweaks to the gameplay system and 3rd is simply an update to the game’s UI and loading screen system (as prematch scouting reports are represented as load screens before matches).

Now back to collision detection: I don’t think ANY company should market a better collision detection system as a feature that should sell the next iteration of their product. Better collision detection should be one of many minor tweaks that a game should have over it’s lifetime. Unfortunately, console games rarely ever receive any kind of performance or bug fixing updates. Once the game doesn’t ship with a game-breaking bug, it won’t see any bug fixes in its lifetime. (This is where the iPhone wins as a platform: applications and games frequently receive bug fixes via updates keeping games up-to-date).

One ugly bug (I say bug because I know it isn’t a feature) in Fifa 09 AND perpetuated into Fifa 10 occurs when you make a substitution. On making a player substitution, the player who comes onto the field is NOT visible for a few seconds (assumedly because the 3D model for that character is being loaded at the time). This is quite obvious when you make a half-time substitution to both of your strikers: the game will restart and you won’t see any of your strikers in the starting circle, just the football.

In addition, Fifa 10 PSP includes a two new modes and one rehashed mode from Fifa 9.

Fifa 10 offers a rehashed “Be A Pro” mode that monitors your player’s club performance which decides whether or not your player earns a position on his country’s national squad.

Last year’s Interactive Leagues has been removed but Fifa 10 sees the addition of “The Season” which lets a player play through a complete season with a team, removing any Manager Mode or Be A Pro aspects from this mode.

Fifa 10 also includes a Practice Arena which needs very little explaining.

With one online mode removed, one rehashed mode returning and one new mode added, Fifa 10 only feels like a small update to Fifa 09. More evolutionary, less than revolutionary. Fifa 10 features gameplay tweaks, improved goalkeeping features and improved UI updates which also add to the overall game but they still make FIFA 10 feel like a minor update to Fifa 09.

The question I ask myself is “Did I get value for money” on purchasing Fifa 10. Playing full price for a game that has VERY similar roots to it’s predecessor (graphics, models, modes, even sporting the same bugs) does not feel like a situation where I have gotten value for my money. Although I has quite happy to receive Fifa 10 as a birthday gift this year, I could have been quite content with playing Fifa 09 for another year (I have already done this: I owned Fifa 07 and played it for two years, skipping Fifa 08 because it was a small improvement over its predecessor).

Recently, I’ve wondered what sports videogames would be like if they were based on a yearly subscription model that expired after a two-year period.

Game prices being what they are, especially from powerhouse publishers like Electronic Arts, usually hit the store with an MSRP of ~ $40 USD (PSP) and ~ $60 (Xbox 360, PS3). Following the PSP model, over 2 years, you would have invested $80 in Fifa products.

Superficially, if Fifa 09 and Fifa 10 shared a similar code-base, the development team did not have to spend extra resources to build Fifa 10, as they already had a working base to build from. (These savings are never passed on to the consumer but then again, they will never state that they simply rehashed last year’s game and sold it at full price this year).

Why not offer the first year offering of the game (in this example, the first year offering would be Fifa 09) as a paid product (MSRP $40 given the current market price) and offer the second year offering (Fifa 10 in this example) of the game as a paid downloadable or UMD installable upgrade. Potentially, the update would have to be priced less than the game from the previous year, possibly at $20. The update in this case would offer tweaks and updates (such as better collision detection, better goalkeepers,UI updates and roster updates) but allow the player to enjoy the benefits of being able to continue playing on his year 1 game profile. Potentially, savings would be experienced by the publisher/developer given that a much smaller team would be needed to produce the second year update as opposed to building a new version of the game every year. This would also give the team 2 years of preparation time before the next substantial iteration of the game. This would allow developers to focus more of their team on creating a revolutionary products every 2 years, instead of churning out evolutionary (read lack-lustered) products every year.

What do you think: Would you be happy with a 2 year model for sports games or are you happy paying for rehashed versions of the same game every year?

*UPDATE* Where’s the PS3 to PSP connectivity? PS2 to PSP connectivity seems like such a legacy utility to add and like other features, it feels like an after thought. I’m hopeful for FIFA 11.

Image from ign.com

After YEARS of speculation, claims of vaporware and talks that it wouldn’t be available until Gran Turismo 5 is released, Gran Turismo PSP is upon us. Honestly, this is the only reason that I bought my PSP. I’ve played some incredible games on the PSP since then (including FIFA 09, Tekken 5, Lumines, Loco Roco, God of War and Patapon…to name but a few) but GT is the reason I own a PSP. A handheld version of one of the greatest driving games of my generation? Gran Turismo PSP is a Day-1 buy for me.

Even better than just releasing the game, Sony has provided incentives for those who choose to pre-order the racing title. If you pre-order, you’ll receive a voucher to unlock one of five top of the line cars in the game.

Pre-order and can choose from:

• 2009 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 (black)
• 2002 Enzo Ferrari (Giallo Modena….yes, that’s yellow)
• 2008 GTbyCitroen (in yellow)
• 2009 Nissan GT-R Spec V (metallic blue)
• 1974 Lamborghini Countach LP400 (Arancio…orange)

This pre-order bonus seems to be for those who pre-order the UMD. The Playstation article indicates that those who download the game via PSN will also receive some sort of bonus (although it has not been specified yet).

Personally, I’ll be downloading the Bugatti. So happy driving, October 1st can’t come soon enough!

Sony’s new handheld is upon us in the form of the PSP Go (which was E3′s worst kept secret this year but that’s for another post). As a consumer, I wonder what this new iteration of the PSP platform would offer me that my current PSP-2000 doesn’t. (The PSP Go definitely doesn’t have the limited edition Darth Vader print on the back of it. Score 1 for PSP-2000).

Soon to be homeless library of UMDs?

New PSP Go Features (and why I don’t need them)

1. No UMD Drive. The UMD-less design does not appeal to me because it makes my library of games useless. Sony has mentioned that a large number of UMD titles will be made available digitally but Sony has not commented on how this affects current UMD owners. Would UMD owners be able to download the digital equivalent of their game, much like DVDs that have digital versions available for owners to download?

2. Internal Memory. It’s nice to see that the PSP Go has internal memory, 16 GB plus a memory card slot for addition storage. This is a no-brainer since the Go doesn’t have a UMD Drive (see above). My concern is that 16 GB may disappear quickly if the user plays with the PSP Go quite often. The re-release of Final Fantasy 7 easily takes up 1.4 GB of space. If early UMD titles make it to the digital distribution channels that Sony has spoken about, would they be optimized for space or would they be “digital rips” of the games, consuming the same amount as they would on a UMD disk? As the price of solid state memory continues to fall, my PSP-2000 is still relevant because I can cheaply add memory to it.

3. Bluetooth. I see no reason for me to ever use this while playing on my PSP. ‘Nuff said. I’m sure it could have some application, such as using headsets for multiplayer games but this only interests me if I can use a bluetooth headset I already own. Having to buy a new Sony branded headset for this to work is a no-no in my book.

4. Universal Connector. This would have been great, if only it was a part of the original PSP’s design. With a slew of accessories already available on the market, it would be hard to convince me to trade up to the PSP Go AND have to buy new accessories to replace the older ones.

5. UMD Rentals. If I ever needed to rent/borrow a UMD, I could. Digitally, there is no equivalent.

And for these 5 reasons, I will hang onto my PSP-2000 for a while longer.

Let’s get straight to the point: to Europeans (and anyone else who loves football), FIFA 09 is a big deal. FIFA 09 had its biggest franchise debut in the UK last week and the North America release is tomorrow. In all honesty, when Americans hear the word ‘”football”, they think of the NFL and nothing else. They worship Madden games as much as Europeans and the rest of the world’s sports-gamers worship FIFA.

As an informed consumer, I’m always making myself aware of game reviews that help me make informed decisions before I spend good money on a game. FIFA 09 for the PSP has been out since October 3rd, 2008 in the UK. Being a big deal in Europe, I assumed that IGN UK would have jumped on the opportunity review one of the biggest sports titles on that side of the world.

This picture is the FIFA 09 PSP page. This is from IGN UK. Note that the Release Date for the game is tagged as Unreleased. Fair enough but this screen was taken after October 3rd, the game’s release date in the UK. So one of the biggest reviewers of games online does not a review to usher in the release of FIFA 09. Now that the North American release date is here (October 14th, 2008), there is still no review to be seen.

This is the Madden 09 PSP game found at IGN.com. 3 Days after the North American launch of the title (with no indication of a release date in Europe), a review of the game was posted on the UK site. Before I go any further, I have been an avid reader of IGN for years and I’m also a big Madden fan. I can clearly say that Europeans and the NFL (on the whole) are like oil and water, they don’t mix. It boggles my mind the disparity in coverage of the two sports titles. FIFA 09 is dominating in Europe but not getting the proper press coverage that it deserves but Madden, that is much weaker in the given territory, is given more coverage.

With that said, I have purchased my FIFA 09 for the PSP (sans reading any reviews). It would have been nice to read one ahead of time and continue to be an informed gamer. I guess I’ll wait until tomorrow and come up with my own review !

Once Berbatov is in my Manchester United line-up, I’ll be fine.

As far as handheld gaming devices goes, I think that the PSP fits the mould of what I was looking for: a robust handheld that has a solid library of games that take advantage of the system.

Final Fantasy Tactics, Puzzle Quest and Tekken are but a few titles that make the system worth purchasing. But some titles (and this is VERY subjective) which should be Grade A titles are just parading as Grade A titles.

I say this because I am currently playing Crisis Core and the experience is bitter sweet. Crisis Core is remarkably stunning visually and the audio is not far behind. From start to finish, the game seems to be worth the money I paid for it. It’s nice to see the game compared to Final Fantasy 7 and realizing how much more pretty Crisis Core is.

Then you compare game-play (which I believe to be the most important part of any game !!!) and you’re left with a very shallow gaming experience. I keep pressing ‘X’ to progress through the game. And it has not failed me yet. Crisis Core feels more like an interactive story than it does a Square-Enix game.

Does anyone remember "Bouncer" on the PS2? It was a side-scrolling fighting game that showed off what early PS2 games could do on the system. It was a nice but short and shallow gaming experience. I feel the same way about Crisis Core. It shows off what the PSP is capable of but there isn’t much more.

Why all of this blasting of such a decently reviewed game? I played one of the side-missions yesterday and the objective was to kill 1000 shinra soldiers. This mission took me about 3 hours to complete and all I did was press ‘X’. All of my attributes, Health, MP and AP were on ‘break’ (unlimited) and all I had to do was press ‘X’ to finish the mission. I had no opportunity to die during the mission. It became a boring quest of pressing one button just to finish it.

In addition, the DMW (Crisis Core’s roulette system that enables special attacks, summons etc) was no help. With 1000 soldiers killed, the DMW did not initiate one summons. You’d think that the DMW system would some how assess what you’re trying to accomplish and help you out (since you cannot initiate a summons yourself) but it did not. And to add insult to injury, after killing all 1000 enemies, I was rewarded with a Phoenix Down.

So I continue to rant but I’m going back to playing the game. Like I said, it’s bitter sweet: I need to finish what I started, I need to finish this game. But all in all, I really dislike Crisis Core’s:
- DMW system: The player has no control over it so there is no strategy to how you play. Just attack and hope for the best.
- DMW effect animations: Even after you kill an enemy, the game may still play AND can only press ‘X’ to skip summons animations, nothing else.

I may change my mind later on but currently, Crisis Core is the PSP’s equivalent of "Bouncer".