http://forums.electronicarts.co.uk/fifa-10-sony-playstation-3-microsoft-xbox-360/770676-re-posted-i-visited-ea-sports-vancouver-played-fifa-10-a.html



So, just thought I’d post about my visit to EA Sports Vancouver on July 31st and playing (one of the latest builds of) FIFA 10 with Dave Rutter and a few others.

First of all, their base in Vancouver is really cool – basketball arena, gymnasium, beach volleyball courts and soccer pitch outside… dream work place!! Inside, on route to the FIFA section, I was quickly ushered away from one or two walls of brainstorming ideas for what I believe to be the top-secret feature for FIFA 10!! Grrr...

In the FIFA section, Dave introduced me to all the guys in the different departments in the FIFA production team, some of whom know me from these forums as the “daffy duck guy”, as they couldn’t pronounce my name!! From here on, I won’t be as harsh on EA Sports as I have been as they are dead sound. I also met Christophe, Online Producer, as well as Mick, another from the online dept… more to come from him and the online side of things shortly.

Main pointers (some of these may already be known, but I’ll mention them as the key most features either way):


Playability

* Much more freedom and flexibility with player movement and ball control, courtesy of the new 360 degree control)
* Ball and player momentum/physics improved (for example, players will almost lose balance when keeping up with an opponent at full speed should they stop, turn and turn back again in the initial direction – the chasing player literally has their centre of balance/gravity all hinged into their big toe pinned into the ground and trying to get other leg below waist height!!)
* Default game speed slightly slower than FIFA 09 (faster than 08 ) meaning you get slightly more time on the ball for build-up in midfield, allowing for better implementation of tactics and defenders getting back appropriately, making it harder for persistent exploiting of defence to attack tactics (as was too often the case in FIFA 09 where midfield-less 5-0-5 formations were and still are rampant as well as unrealistically successful)
* Set-piece creation and training modes now in next-gen versions of the game
* You can change set-piece takers, and take quick ones too
* Controller rumble is in (when hitting the post and when being involved in a decisive penalty kick)
* Main FIFA 09 glitches fixed (kick-off goal, goalkeeper hogging the ball, etc.)

Presentation

* Game play graphics look great from afar (i.e. player models, shadows, lighting effects on tele/default camera)
* Nets much more realistic
* Menus, buttons and navigation much improved

Online

* Ranked quitters punished by heavier points deduction
* Ranked boosting to become meaningless as re-matching means less points up for grabs in 2nd match (about half of what was available in the 1st match), followed by almost nothing in the 3rd and/or 4th rematch
* Extra time and/or penalty shoot-outs optional, can be agreed on between players after 90mins/extra time (if not pre-game, which would be better and fairer)
* Game speed optional between players – can be changed/filtered in game create session/searches
* Custom set-pieces will be enabled in online play, HOWEVER if anyone’s custom set piece is found out to have an almost 100% success efficiency because of a glitch or anything likewise that may be regarded as unsavoury, they will be immediately disabled for an indefinite time.
* Search filter in place where you can search for an opponent with (for example) a 2* team as their default team

... that's about all I can think off ... very hard to take everything in when you're enjoying playing the game and the lads are giving you the low down!! And the games... me using Man United (minus Ronaldo and Tevez) and I drew with Dave Rutter (Real Madrid) 1-1 (his equalizer came from my goalkeeper running back across the line with the ball in hands, CHEATER!! Dave went straight to his scribbly bug-notebook, and then the clip-on-the-ear-book!). Rematching, I lost 1-3 to Mike from the online department and using same teams again, I beat one of the chief guys in EA Sports 3-0

If there's anything else you think I might have missed or you think I might have noticed but have forgotten to mention, let me know!!