FIFA 10
The UK cover featuring Theo Walcott, Wayne Rooney, and Frank Lampard
Developer(s)	EA Canada (Xbox 360, PS3), HB Studios (PC, PSP, PS2)[1]
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Designer(s)	David Rutter (PS3 and Xbox 360) Kaz Makita (Wii) Paul Hossack (PS2, PSP, DS, PC, iPhone OS)
Series	FIFA
Platform(s)	PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, Wii, Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP, iPhone OS, N-Gage, Mobile Phone
Release date(s)	AUS 1 October 2009[2] EU 2 October 2009[3] NA 20 October 2009[4] iPhone OS INT 2 October 2009[5] N-Gage INT TBA
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player, Multiplayer
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone (E) OFLC: G PEGI: 3+
Input methods	Gamepad, Keyboard and Mouse

FIFA 10 (also known as FIFA Soccer 10 in North America) is the latest title in Electronic Arts' FIFA series of football video games. Developed by EA Canada, it was published by Electronic Arts worldwide under the EA Sports label. The game was to be released on 1 October 2009 in Australia, but, as a result of unknown circumstances, it became available on 30 September. It was released on 2 October 2009 in Europe and 20 October 2009 in North America. It is available for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3, Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and Wii.^[6] Handheld versions of the game were also released for the iPhone and iPod Touch, Nintendo DS, Nokia N-Gage, PlayStation Portable, and mobile phones.

The demo of FIFA 10 appeared on Xbox 360, PlayStation3, and PC on 10 September in Europe, on 11 September in Australia, and on 17 September in North America. The playable teams were Chelsea, Barcelona, Juventus, Bayern Munich, Marseille and Chicago Fire. The stadia used in the demo were Wembley Stadium (Xbox 360 version), and FIWC Stadium (PlayStation 3 version). The demo offered friendly matches with half lengths of three real-time minutes. As well as playing a friendly match, the demo allows users to upload created in-game videos and screenshots to EA Football World.^[7] The tagline for the game is "How big can football get?", and "Let's FIFA 10".

FIFA 10 is the second version of the game to sponsor a football club. Along with football magazine FourFourTwo, FIFA 10 is the co-sponsor of English Football League One club Swindon Town. The FIFA 10 logo appears on the front of the team's away shirt and on the back of the home shirt.^[8][9] It is the first Fifa game to do so since FIFA 07, which sponsored Accrington Stanley for the 2007–08 season.^[10]

[edit] Manager Mode

The Manager Mode for FIFA 10 was revamped in order to address many of the issues and criticisms from previous versions, with over 50 key improvements.^[11] Among these improvements are:^[12]

• The transfer system is more authentic, as money is not the monopolising factor in acquiring a player. The acceptance of the offer is based on factors such as the number of players in your squad in the same position, and the promise of higher-level competition outside the domestic league, such as the Europa League or Champions League. Furthermore, obtaining a player is more realistically prolonged as the player must deal with competition from other clubs. Bids can be submitted for several different players, and if the clubs accept, the player has the choice of which of the players to ultimately sign. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• Financial matters are based less on a team sponsor and more on the board of directors, who provide two overall budgets: the wage budget, a yearly amount for paying players, and the club budget, for buying and selling players, as well as making other improvements to the club. There is a "Board Difficulty" setting, in which players can decide how generous the board is financially. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• The "Player Experience and Growth System" has also changed. The manual experience growth from FIFA 08 and FIFA 09 have been abolished; player growth is now determined by in-game performance, demands placed on the player, and achievements based on the player's particular position. There are three categories for gaining experience: mental, physical, and skill. Younger players with higher potential gain experience much faster, and each player has an individual growth point, which in turn promises more authentic player growth patterns. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• Results for simulated non-user matches are more heavily based on team strength and not appear as "random" as has been the case in the past. This results in more realistic performances and eliminates instances where stronger clubs were fighting relegation and clubs with weaker players were winning the league. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)

An in-game screenshot highlighting improved transfer system in Manager Mode feature.

• A "Live Season" feature has been implemented within Manager Mode. As players' forms rise and fall based on performance (within Manager Mode itself rather than real-world events), players receive a temporarily higher or lower rating along with temporarily higher or lower stats to implicate the authenticity of player form. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• Kit numbers can now be edited on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii versions.
• Players' fatigue is more authentic and realistic, eliminating the problem where lower-level teams suffer from low energy levels throughout a series of matches.
• The artificial intelligence of other teams across the Manager Mode world has been improved significantly. Opposing clubs rotate players more often based on factors such as fatigue, player form, and even the relative importance of a match, so the lineup for a top team in the early rounds of a domestic cup may consist of lower-level and younger players as opposed to a full-strength squad.
• "Total Football Experience" is a new feature in which football news around the Manager Mode world is visible, including player transfers, fixtures and results in foreign leagues. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• The "Set-Piece Creator" allows instructions to be assigned to specific players at a set-piece. It was originally unknown whether this would be available on online play, as revealed by producer David Rutter. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• The new "Assistant Manager" takes care of the line-up and rotates the team's squad based on importance of the upcoming match. For example, if the next match is against a low-rated team, he makes sure that players that are normally on the bench start the game. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)
• Pre-season friendlies were introduced to the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, organised by the club's Assistant Manager for a chance to smooth any wrinkles in a club's lineup before the domestic season begins.
• Fictional players that are added to manager mode now have regionalised names. For example, players from Brazil do not have English-sounding names like James Smith and players from England do not have Portuguese-sounding names like Flávio de Oliveira. (PS3 and Xbox 360 only)

[edit] Virtual Pro

"Virtual Pro" allows the player to create a footballer and take him through the four Be-a-Pro seasons, include him in the Manager Mode career, use him in Kick-Off, Tournament, and Lounge mode, as well as using him in the Arena. Game Face has also been added to FIFA 10 as in other EA Sports games, where gamers can create their Game Face on the web at easports.com or easportsfootball.co.uk, then download them into the game. Once a Game Face character is created, he can then be applied to the player in game. Faces can be changed on the web any time. The game face is used as the player's avatar in online play. Players can also grow their players attributes and player traits, celebrations, and kit can be unlocked to make the player realistic and unique.

[edit] Stadia

The list of stadia and weather conditions for each one were announced on 27 August 2009. The game features 50 stadiums, including most of the larger stadiums from Europe's most prominent leagues, such as the Allianz Arena, Camp Nou, Emirates Stadium, Anfield, Old Trafford, Stamford Bridge and San Siro, and as well as a range of generic stadia and practice arenas.^[13] Real Madrid's Santiago Bernabéu was made available as a free download on launch day.^[14] The weather conditions possible in each stadium range from day and night versions of clear to cloudy, rain, or snow.

The stadium names of the generic stadiums can however be changed in a Manager Mode to reflect the name of the users club's homeground if the user chooses to do so. The capacity of each ground is also listed so that a capacity similar to a club's actual stadium capacity can be chosen to make game experience more authentic.

[edit] Ultimate Team

On 1 December 2009, EA Sports announced that the Ultimate Team game mode expansion that was introduced in FIFA 09 would be released in February 2010 for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. Like the previous version, the mode allows for the creation of a custom team based on the collection of various types of cards. This expansion will also include new PlayStation Network Trophies and Xbox Live Achievements for FIFA 10.

[edit] Covers

Each regional version of FIFA 10 features different players on the cover. The United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland covers feature Theo Walcott, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney;^[11] the Australian cover features Wayne Rooney and Tim Cahill,^[15] the German cover features Bastian Schweinsteiger and Wayne Rooney;^[16] the Italian cover features Ronaldinho and Giorgio Chiellini;^[17] the French cover features Steve Mandanda, Karim Benzema, and Guillaume Hoarau;^[18] the Spanish cover features Karim Benzema and Xavi;^[19] the Polish version features Wayne Rooney and Robert Lewandowski;^[20] the Portuguese version features Frank Lampard and Simão;^[21] the Russian version features Sergei Semak; the Hungarian version features Wayne Rooney and Balázs Dzsudzsák;^[22] and the North American version features Frank Lampard, Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Sacha Kljestan.^[4]

[edit] Leagues

There are 31 leagues and over 500 teams in the game, as well as 41 national teams. New to FIFA 10 is the Russian Premier League, which is not featured in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions.^[23] Unlike previous versions of FIFA, the Netherlands was included as a fully licensed national team.^[24] Due to promotion/relegation and other league expansions, there are 46 teams that weren't included in FIFA 09, including 25 squads that have never appeared in a FIFA game before.^[25] The leagues in FIFA 10 are:^[26]

[edit] Soundtrack

The FIFA 10 soundtrack album was announced by EA Sports on July 31 2009 and features 34 songs.^[27] The in-game soundtrack includes five extra tracks as marked below.^[28]

[edit] Reception

[edit] Commercial

According to EA, the latest edition in FIFA series is the fastest selling sports game ever in Europe, selling 1.7 million copies in its first week. 'FIFA 10 sales could rise as much as 30 percent year-over-year in Europe, making FIFA the most profitable EA Sports title, thanks to its global audience and lower license costs, compared to the Madden series.^[29] It is the biggest All Formats No1 launch since Grand Theft Auto IV, generating 48% more sales than its predecessor, FIFA 09, managed when it was launched exactly a year ago. edging past Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas (which was launched only on PS2, while FIFA 10 is on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Wii, and PC).^[30]

[edit] Critical reception

FIFA 10 has received high critical acclaim, with a 91% aggregate rating at Metacritic^[31] and a 90% aggregate rating on GameRankings.^[32]

The first review was a 9/10 from PlayStation Official Magazine (UK), commenting "This not only plays the best on-the-pitch football of any FIFA title, but it has an incredibly smart and compelling way of tying it all together, too. Brilliant, again."^[31]

IGN UK gave the game a rating of 9.3/10 for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions commenting "One of the most refined, polished and compelling takes on the beautiful game – and arguably of any given sport. While this year’s improvements might seem slight on paper, each one is perfectly pitched and works together to create an experience that’s an improvement on last year’s game in every conceivable way."^[33]

GameSpot gave it a 9/10, saying "FIFA 10 offers the best gameplay in the series' history and includes even more features and game modes to boot." It also earned the "Editor's Choice Award" for both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions.^[34]

Official Nintendo Magazine gave the Wii version 84% praising the comic like visuals whilst saying booster cards in Battle For Glory mode add spice but criticized stuttering special moves.

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Official FIFA 10 community site