Update – September 2008 – Bingo, The Fifa 09 demo is now available at last.
I have to confess to being a bit of an addict when it comes to playing Fifa football on my Xbox 360 and last week saw the demo for Fifa 2008 made available on Xbox Live and PS3.
The Fifa 2008 demo is a downloadable taster of the full game, the demo has 7 teams (including Barcelona and Manchester United) and you can only play one 4 minute half of football against a computer opponent.
The great thing about the demo is that it suits everyone’s budget because it is totally free to download, so you can test the game with out spending any money (or taking out a personal loan).
Since internet online game play came along the game has been made so much more exciting and interesting, the ability to play against real people from anywhere in the world adds a totally new dimension to it, gone are the predictable moves made by the AI players, instead we have the unpredictable moves and styles of a world of different players.
The online games are also ‘ranked’ meaning points are awarded/lost depending on the results, you can also view your position in the world or country’s league, I have never been higher than 3000 (Fifa 2006 on the world league) and last year I couldn’t even break into the top 10000!
There were more online game players of Fifa football on Xbox Live than ever last year, making the competition for a place in the top 10000 very hard (outside 10000 is ‘unranked’). Personally I think they should increase the ranking to the top 25000 due to the increase in online players.
What makes Fifa 2008 really exciting and different from before is that it now has the ability to allow online players to create their own leagues, for example 20 players could all join a league and play each other for points over a period of time.
The improved physics of the game see players who suffer a personal injury hobble then slowly recover (or not if the injury is a serious one).
Fifa 2008 isn’t available in the shops until the end of September, so the demo gives a whole 2 weeks of practice time in readiness for this years online football campaign.
The team at Electronic Arts (who create the Fifa football games) have made a number of changes this year, the biggest being the slow down in the speed of gameplay and a much more realistic feel to the game, it is no longer ‘gun and run’ and is now much more about taking the time to pick the right pass, however with one touch passing the game can flow at quite a pace.
There are some excellent ’skill’ moves that can be learned with time, such as the ‘Ronaldo step over’ and some fancy flicks. I have managed to master the step over but I am struggiling with the ‘Ronaldinho’ flick!
On the Xbox 360 the skill moves are achieved by holding the Left Bumper button and moving the right stick, it takes practice but can be very rewarding.
A couple of the gliches from Fifa 2007 have been fixed, such as the ease with which a through pass could be made down the wing to a man in space (from where I scored many goals) – it is now almost impossible.
The game has of course also improved graphically, with updated team kits, stadiums, crowds and players.
Fifa 08 is available now to pre-order on Xbox 360, PS2 and Playstation 3, so roll on the end of September so I can get stuck into Fifa 2008 online.
UPDATE – I have just joined this Xbox 360 online league, let me know if you join as well and we can have a game sometime soon!
UPDATE 2 – I have written a new article on how to perform Fifa 08 skill moves with a link to a cool video demonstration.
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Alot of people have been saying that Fifa 2008 will be the best footie game, but i still can’t wait for the current champion of footie games, “Pro Evolution Soccer 2008″ to come out. I did try the Fifa 2007 last year but it was nowhere near Pro Evo. Fifa always seems too easy, pass and it goes straight to the player, easy goals from crosses etc. Anyway, we’ll know in a few weeks if Fifa has caught up to last years Pro Evo, never mind this years!
BTW, any news on the ITV interview with your solicitors? How’d it go?
I have never been able to get into Pro Evo, the demo of Fifa 2008 is excellent, it is the most realistic football game I have played.
I do take your point about the passing etc’, but I think they has got it spot on this time round.
I have also discovered that Fifa 2008 will have the ability to set up and join online multiplayer leagues, so if you had 10 or 20 players you could all join and all play each other for points, I have already joined one league and I might even set up my own if I can generate enough interest!
PS: The interview with ITV went really well, just waiting for them to send me the finished piece and I will post it on here.
Hey!, This is a pretty cool blog on Fifa 2008 Demo – Xbox 360 & PS3! Thanks a lot and have fun!
pro evolution soccer for psp…
pro evolution soccer for psp…
The demo’s sweet. Gotta check out the real game.
i love fifa 08. thanks guys
Well done. My kids love anything to do with FIFA Soccer and have been having a ball playing FIFA 08 – Keep up the good work.
I hope this year Fifa 2009 will be more hard than the 2008. The 2008 is great but still after playing it for a long period of time you get very good and after that bored. They should introduce the teams from allover the planet, not just the popular ones.
I saw that Mass Effect for PC will need online activation the first time and CD-key check every 10th day using SecuROM.
Will future releases of FIFA requires that too?
I’ve written a small post ……
http://www.nadia-me.com/seeker/index.cfm
games wii…
yep! for me wii is also the best console on earth…
FIFA08 is great, but i honestly prefer pro soccer evolution. Or maybe even a wii version of soccer? i think that would be interesting
Check Russian Fifa 2009 Fan Site
im not a huge fan of Futbol but when it comes to Forza, im totally into boosting cars and seeing a car go from a scraper to a sideshow.
I think Playing FIFA on PS3 is the next big thing for me after watching FIFA itself. All these consoles make our life so spicy and full of joy that it can’t be expressed.
FIFA is a great game and i am a big fan of fifa. Fifa 2008 will have the ability to set up and join online multi. player leagues.
I think Pes is better than Fifa.Fifa is only working for trademarks.They must work hardly on graphics…
Fifa is a big football games.I hope there are many improvements in the game.
Fifa 08 was such a great game! Brings back so many memories…
Yeah Fifa 08 was a fantastic game. Much better than 09 and 10. But I have to play Fifa 10 now because nobody plays old Fifa games online..
Fifa is the best soccer game ever!