Fifa Games Series

FIFA ....

FIFA, also known as FIFA Football or FIFA Soccer, is a series of association football video games or football simulator, released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. While there was no major competition when EA released the first titles in their American football and hockey series, football video games such as Sensible Soccer, Kick

Off andMatch Day had been developed since the late 1980s and already competitive in the games market when EA Sports announced a football game as the next addition to their EA Sports label.

When the series began in late 1993, it was notable for being the first to have an official licence from FIFA, the world governing body of football. The latest installments in the series contain many exclusively-licensed leagues including leagues and teams from around the world, including the German Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga, English Premier League and Football League, Italian Serie A, Spanish La Liga, Portuguese Primeira Liga, French Ligue 1, DutchEredivisie, Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Mexican Liga MX, American Major League Soccer, South Korean K-League and Australian A-League, allowing the use of real leagues, clubs, and player names and likenesses within the games. In addition, internationally popular clubs from around the world, including some teams from Greece, Turkey,Argentina and South Africa, without those nations' entire leagues.

The main series has been complemented by additional installments based on single major tournaments, such as theFIFA World Cup, UEFA European Football Championship, and UEFA Champions League, as well as a series of football management titles.

As of FIFA 13, Lionel Messi is the face of the franchise, appearing on the front cover of every game released in the series and in promotional campaigns and advertisements. He replaced Wayne Rooney, who appeared on seven straight covers from FIFA 06 to FIFA 12.

As of 2011, the FIFA franchise has been localised into 18 languages and available in 51 countries.

 The series has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling sports video game franchise in the world, andone of the best-selling video game franchises.

 Also FIFA 12 holds the record for the "fastest selling sports game ever" with over 3.2 million games sold and over $186 million generated at retail in its first week of release.

The franchise's latest release is FIFA 15, released on September 23, 2014 in North America and September 25, 2014 in Europe for multiple gaming systems.

GAMES LIST : 

World Cup Carnival

As well as what we consider to be the 'normal' football games which FIFA release, they have also released the much less popular World Cup games. Many fans of the fifa games would not be able to tell you that the first game to be released under the FIFA brand was World Cup Carnival. The reason why many do not know about this is because essentially it was a complete flop. In fact, the original game was never released to the market and to fill the gap FIFA brought the rights to and revamped World Cup Football to get something on the shelves in time for Mexico 86. Even though this game was believed to be much better than the original, critics slated the brands first attempt at a game for being under prepared.

Italia '90

Four years later when Italia 90 came around so did the expected release of another game, and even though a total of three games had picked up the licensing rights, the game which came out on top was the one released on the Amiga and Atari ST called World Cup Italia 90.

Fortunately, this time the game had been developed much better than before and this reflected in the quality of the game play and graphics. Even though you could not play any qualifying games, and the teams were still mostly based on Mexico 86 (with only the major changes accounted for), everything was considered to be freer flowing, which meant that the game had vastly improved from World Cup Carnival four years earlier.

FIFA International Soccer

FIFA started out its 'official' journey with FIFA International Soccer, the first game in the fifa games series that was not aimed specifically at a world cup. This game later came to be known as FIFA 1994. Released in July 1993 on a variety of consoles, then re-released in 2006 on the Playstation 2, FIFA International Soccer had clearly examined the market and found a gap because it made its rivals at the time look rather amateur, sending most of them out of business.

FIFA International Soccer introduced isometric layout to the football simulation scene, rather than the typical 16 bit 2D layout. Even though there were a few bugs, and you could still only be national teams, FIFA had repaired any damage that had been done from the last two games.

World Cup USA 1994

Thankfully, the last game to be developed by USA Gold, World Cup USA 94 was the final FIFA world cup game before EA took over in time for the French World Cup.

Even though the gameplay had vastly improved, many people felt that it was still not up to the standard of some of the other games on the market.

For the first time in a football simulation, goalkeeping control was offered. This was deemed as a silly move by developers as it added something that did not need to be there, and many people believed that the developers should have focused on tightening up its many errors rather than introducing unnecessary game play features.

One notable point with this game is that it was the first world cup game in which you could alter your team before and in the game. Even though the players were not licensed, all of them were judged on three separate skill sets, speed, dribble and control, which meant that you could choose players based on how you wanted to play.

FIFA Soccer 1995

FIFA 1995 did not set the world alight like the International Soccer even though it did introduce national leagues for the very first time. Unfortunately, FIFA only made very minor changes to the match engine from its previous games, which did not go down to well with the fans. The leagues that were added were:

• Spain
• England
• Brazil
• Germany
• Italy
• France
• Netherlands
• USA

Even though the game had been designed for the 1995 season, the majority of the teams had the 93/94 line-up's, which led to the suggestions that the first game was supposed to incorporate national teams but due to the amount of developments that were needed the team missed the deadline. Of course, there was no licensing, but all the made up players who had been used on International Soccer were back for this version, and this did not seem to be an intentional move.

FIFA Soccer 1996

FIFA Soccer 1996 was the game where the FIFA brand started to come into its own. FIFA marketed the game under the tagline "Next Generation Soccer," and this was exactly how it came across. Not only was this the first FIFA game to use 3D graphics, but it was the first which used real names, even though some teams were still completely made up.

Even though the game only used the virtual stadium layout on the PC, 32X, Playstation and Sega Saturn the SNES and Mega Drive had fully updated game engines, which showed that developers really put in a substantial effort to make this game different from the last.

This was also the first game in which a ranking system, transfer negotiation and editor were available, which allowed this game to have some of the features of a management system, a change which would become very popular in future games of the series.

FIFA 1996 went down a storm with players and critics alike. Players flocked to buy the game and critics rated the game as one of the best titles available. PC Gamer gave the game a 92/100 score while Gamepro gave the game 4/5.

FIFA 1997

If FIFA 1996 was the defining game in the series then FIFA 1997 was the game when FIFA came to the front of the industry.

As well as various game and transfer updates, FIFA 1997 brought indoor football to the game, and even though this feature would never become a success; everybody remembered FIFA 97 because it had this feature.

Another addition to the game was the motion capture (preformed by David Ginola). Many players of the series said that this made the game much more realistic and allowed the game to progress to the next stage.

One of the main introductions to the game was the introduction of the professional commentary team. Three of the biggest names at the time were now a part of the FIFA team. John Motson and Andy Gray took control of the commentary while Des Lynam would introduce the game, a move which was and still is one of the most loved features of the game.

All the above updates made this game much better than anything else on the market for the first time. FIFA was now crushing its competitors in terms of sales and game-play features.

FIFA: Road to World Cup 1998

Instead of releasing what we now considered to be a 'normal' game, FIFA decided to go with a world cup game, which would allow users to play all the usual modes in addition to a Road to the World Cup mode.

The game made so many changes to the structure, but still managed to keep the 'feel' of the fifa games series. Looking back at this game, players of the series saw it as a big risk, because when FIFA made so many changes, they risked losing the brands' image, but this was not a problem and when it embedded itself into the market, FIFA 1998 soon became a fan favourite.

Some of the additional minor changes to the series included; this series you could change how strict the referee was for the first time, which meant that you could essentially have a game with no rules or a non contact game. Furthermore, and more importantly, there were major people involved with the game. David Beckham was on the front cover and Song 2 by Blur was the theme song, FIFA had established itself in the market as a leader, and something which the top musicians and sportsman in the world wanted to put their name to, even though I am sure the big adconisement deals helped.

FIFA World Cup 98

Even though FIFA had released a Road to the World Cup game, the world cup game (the first which had been developed by EA sports) was the first game which used 3D and national team kits, making it much more realistic.

However, the game received criticism as the whole engine was based on FIFA Road to the World Cup which meant that the two games were very similar in the way they played. Even with this being said, critics still rated it as the best football game at the time, easily beating all the other world cup games, including Sensible Soccer 98 and three lions down the charts.

The new game features included being able to call up national players to their team, which allowed you to take different players with you to the world cup tournament, and the ability to randomize which teams you would play against. Another bold move was to include several teams that did not make it to the world cup, but were deemed too important to drop. One of the main developments was that all the matches took place in stadiums, which represented the real thing.

FIFA 1999

The main introduction to FIFA 1999 came with the Elite league which was formed using 20 of the best teams from Europe. This ensured that every game was played against a 'good' team. \

FIFA 1998 was the last game in which you could play indoor football, and it would turn out that even though some fans would be annoyed it would not be too missed. FIFA also dropped the Malaysian league and put in both the Belgian and Portuguese leagues.

Other changes included advanced graphical work, facial animation work (basic), unlicensed kits and emblems and the ability to create your own cups and leagues.

With more backing from some of the biggest names in the sport, including; Dennis Bergkamp, Gary Lineker, Des Lynam, Mark Lawrenson and Chris Waddle working alongside John Motson, the team really started to take shape, and FIFA had become the game to be associated with.

FIFA 2000

After all the progression that FIFA had made in the previous year's FIFA 200 was a huge disappointment. If anything, apart from a few minor developments the game seemed to stand still from FIFA 1999, and this is a mistake which would prove costly with sales.

The main introduction to the game was 40 new teams featuring retired international legends, something which only a few people appreciated, because the majority of the game sales were to males under the age of 25.

Other minor changes to the game included: Set piece selection, new facial animations, the ability to shield the ball and tougher tacking. All of these features did not show a lot of developmental imagination or that the developers at FIFA had even put in much thought at all. It seemed that FIFA had focused all of their time on the classic teams, something which did not take off in the slightest.

There was a lot of concern surrounding this game. Its ratings were not as high as before and fans of the fifa games series started to think that maybe the brand had run out of ideas.

FIFA 2001

Of course, FIFA knew that they had ideas in reserve, and they brought the majority of them into the 2001 game. Released in November 2000, the game had a whole new graphics engine. This engine allowed for detailed facial definition and even recognisable kit detail, both of which were game defining breakthroughs. Another game changer was the introduction of additional licensing, which set FIFA apart from its rivals at the time.

The leagues went through some major changes as well. The Austrian league was introduced into the game, and the Turkish and Portuguese leagues were excluded for different reasons.

Other minor developments included; the introduction of intentional foul (usually punished with a straight red), and a scratch and sniff disc, which smelled of grass, which was slightly gimmicky to say the least.

Even though the last two developments never took off, FIFA once again made a statement after a poor year in 2000.

FIFA 2002

Back for the 2002 game, FIFA continued from strength to strength putting in more development to ensure that it could fight off its competitors, which had started to make headway.

FIFA 2002 felt more realistic than 2001 due to the power bar for passes as well as shots, which made the game a great deal harder to play correctly, making it much more difficult.

More licensing was obtained, even from Dutch clubs (even though they still went under the rest of the world teams). PSV, Ajax and Feyenoord were now fully licensed, which was a big breakthrough.

However, FIFA 2002 did not come without its errors. Licensing was still a huge issue. The Dutch and Barbadian teams were full of players with numbers rather than names or even generated names and FIFA 2002 would be the last game in which the Japanese team would feature as Konami (the developers of Pro Evolution) asked the Japanese Football Association for rights to the players' names, which they granted.

Even though FIFA 2002 was backed by all the big names, its development work seemed to lack somewhat, which was not good news as the fans started to get a bit annoyed again.

2002 FIFA World Cup

As 2002 was a world cup year, FIFA released its now 'standard' world cup game alongside the disappointment which was FIFA 2002. There were few developments in this game from FIFA 2002, apart from the referees were much stricter than the previous game.

FIFA 2002 was not as much of a success as the developers thought it may be. However, the critics seemed to enjoy it, giving the game mostly positive reviews.

FIFA 2003

As seemed to be the pattern, once FIFA released a less than satisfactory version they would make wholesale changes, and this worked every single time.

The game went through a complete graphical overhaul, and anybody that had played the last game would have realised the changes right away. The improvements to the graphics had made the game much smoother, quicker and more detailed. This change happened because the game moved away from DirectX 7 graphics.

The other changes included; when a team played in its own stadium you could make out the fans chanting and at half and full time highlights would be played detailing what happened in the game so far. These two changes may have looked small, but they really took the game forward because they both added realism, something which was missing from the game because they were both still being played on 'old' consoles. Other small additions included; Freestyle control, increased player likeness and introduction of EA TRAX.

FIFA 2004

The developers could see that all the leg-work had been put in with FIFA 2003, and that they just needed to make some small developments to the gameplay and some minor work to the graphics. However, what actually happened surprised plenty of fans of the series.

There ended up being more updates than anybody could have imagined, some of which were revolutionary. The major updates included:

Secondary Divisions which allowed you to get a team promoted/relegated for the first time.

Off the ball control, this allowed you to move players whom you were not actively controlling.

Argentinean and Mexican teams were introduced for the first time.

By far the most important additional feature was the development of the online mode, which even though it was in its very early stages set the way for game as we play it today.

The game was a huge success, and fans of the fifa games were happy that the developers had managed to string back to back successes. Critics were equally content with the official Playstation magazine scoring the game 8.4/10.

FIFA 2005

For the first time in what seemed like forever, FIFA was in real danger of losing its number one ranking to another soccer simulation Pro Evolution Soccer 4. Even though Pro Evo had previous versions, this was the first one which threatened to put a dent in FIFA's sales figures; therefore, the team at FIFA were worried, which is why they put forward their release date by about two weeks.

The introduction of Pro Evo really started to ask questions about just how good the series of FIFA was, or was it becoming complacent because there was not a threat on the market until now? Unfortunately, FIFA 2005 did not help the cause. Developments on this game were limited and Pro Evo had started to get its foot in the door.

The only notable changes were:

• Return of create a player
• 15 season long career mode
• First touch gameplay
• The Mexican league in full

Many fans of the series knew that FIFA had it in them to produce a much better game in 2006, and this was something that FIFA had to do in order to fend off any trouble from Pro Evolution Soccer.

FIFA 2006

Once again, just like every other time they have needed to, developers at FIFA made vast improvements to the game, and the fans of the genre flocked back to the series.

It is believed that the developers had ripped up half of their code to start again after the disappointment of FIFA 2005 and to try and halt the strides in development that Pro Evo had made. This work allowed them to make improvements to their off the ball system and allow the user to have more control over various elements of the game.

In a rather nostalgic but popular move, FIFA made their 1994 version, International Soccer available to play on FIFA 2006, which got the thumbs up from all retro gamers.

After comments from the fans about the commentary on the 05 version, FIFA made a double sub to the commentary team bringing back Andy Grayand Clive Tyldesley who replaced John Motson and Ally McCoist.

The game boasted more challenges and unlockable content, which was always a huge positive with the fans of the series. There had also been improvements to the online mode, something which was much needed.

Once this version was released, FIFA re-gained its dominance over Pro Evolution Soccer. This is because the whole game once again seemed more detailed than Pro Evolution Soccer.

2006 FIFA World Cup

For the very first time, FIFA took a whole new direction with their world cup games and focused on getting your team to qualify and compete in the world cup from where the end of the 2002 game ended. This meant that you could play with one of 127 teams on the game and try and get them to win the world cup.

Sales figures were much higher than any other FIFA world cup game, but this was mostly because the game was part of the initial X Box 360 bundle around Europe.

Critically, the game received amazing reviews when compared to the last world cup version, scoring on average 8/10 across all the systems. Up until now, the world cup games were poor, but for the first time so far the 2006 game looked like a team of developers focused on the game for a couple of years rather than a couple of days.

FIFA 07

Fortunately, from the 2007 game until today, FIFA looks like it will not lose its top spot, even though they now had to accept that Pro Evolution Soccer would always be right behind them if they slipped up.

FIFA 07 was the first game which focused on console developments rather than wholesale developments from all the consoles. On the X Box, FIFA had a whole new game engine developed; however, this meant that they only had time to develop seven leagues, something which was not well received.

As far as development went, almost all the changes were structural, these changes included:

• Kicking strength - which meant that shots taken on the 'wrong' foot are much weaker.
• More interactive crowds - which meant that fans reacted to minor occurrences and larger ones.
• Crowd intelligence - which meant that for the first time away fans were much quieter than the home fans.
• Improved AI - which meant the computer - was much more intelligent than before.
• Vast improvements to the management mode - which meant there was a lot more stuff to take part in adding longevity to the mode.

FIFA 07 also sponsored Accrington Stanley, a move which would prove to be popular among fans of the lower league, and one which boosted sales in the UK.

FIFA 08

FIFA 08 has to make a few changes to the way the game worked previously because of the introduction of the X Box 360 and Playstation 3. Of course, both of these systems meant that changes were inevitable, including various improvements to the graphical interface which naturally improved the game.

The main development came in the form of the "Be A Pro Mode". This mode allowed players to control a created player rather than the whole team. This mode was an instant success as people tried to get their player to the top, which is a reason why it is still a pivotal game mode in today's games.

New leagues that were added included:

• Australian
• Czech
• Irish

FIFA 08 was a success, even though some critics a bit harshly, said that the game seemed to develop because of the change in the console rather than any major developmental changes.

FIFA 09

Once again, as developers at FIFA knew they had a stronghold on the top position they did not make wholesale changes, but the producer David Rutter said that there would be over 250 improvements to the game albeit minor ones.

The majority of the improvements surrounded the speed. These changes ensured that the ball could be released quicker; strength would matter in a shoulder to shoulder tussle and additional goalkeeper technology stopped any potential bugs with goalkeeping. One of the most favourite user additions was that they could now control celebrations. This feature was very popular on the multiplayer/online mode.

On top of the minor changes, there were some major ones, which set the game apart from FIFA 08. For a start, FIFA 09 was the first game in which you could play 10 vs. 10 Be A Pro online game. This allowed you to play with nine other players as your character in your selected position even though for a short time getting a game was tough.

FIFA 09 was the first game which brought in the Live Season. This feature allowed online players to get automatic updates on the players form and stats. This feature was very popular because some people were annoyed that the best players during the time of game release were not the greatest at the end of the season, yet on the game they still would be, and this was no longer the case.

The sheer amount of changes to the features made it a success. FIFA had managed to make a vast amount of changes without changing how the game was played.

FIFA 10

After the success of FIFA 09, FIFA 10 hit the market with people expecting a lot, and this is exactly what it delivered. This is because FIFA focused on developing features of the game rather than making wholesale changes.

Changes to the manager mode meant that the assistant manager was more intelligent than previous games. This was a huge development as it allowed you to simulate games and not worry about getting key injuries in games that did not mean a lot. For example, if you were playing a game that did not mean much then your assistant manager would put out a weekend team.

It became apparent that the game had become much more intelligent than FIFA 09. The player growth system had changed to focus more on form rather than 'automatic' development. If a player was playing well (especially in the Be A Pro mode) then their development would be quicker. Furthermore, FIFA 10 was the first game in which 360 degree player control was used. This meant that passing and shooting were much harder but ultimately much more rewarding than FIFA 09.

The game received so much critical praise, which made it a real success in the charts. The game was the fastest selling addition in Europe, and even sold more copies than the Madden series. To put it in perspective, FIFA 10 sold almost 50% more copies than FIFA 09. Currently, Fifa 2010 has sold 10 million copies.

2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa

Following on from the 2006 game, the developers decided to focus on qualification to the tournament as well as the tournament itself. In this game, you could play as one of 199 teams, and all official stadiums were fully licensed as well.

It appeared that the developers had once again focused on this game rather than just using it as a 'filler'. There were an additional 55 playable scenarios to choose from, as well as an online update which allowed players to complete scenarios directly from the 2010 world cup. Developers also added the feature in which players could be injured outside a match itself, which added realism to the way the game was played.

On the two main consoles the game had to be deemed a success. For a start, the game retailed 2 million copies, and both IGN and Gamespot gave the game an average of 84/100 on the PS3 and X Box 360. However, the same could not be said for the other consoles on the Wii, PSP and iOS the game scored 6.3/10 on average.

FIFA 11

In the latest version of the game, FIFA 11 has once again focused on minor game developments rather than wholesale changes.

To satisfy those who enjoyed management and simulation at the same time the career mode was introduced by EA Sports. This mode replaced Be A Pro and Manager Mode but had been designed in such a way that still allowed you to play both games. In this mode, you could play as a player (old Be A Pro mode), player-manager (Career mode) or just a manager (old Manager mode). This mode allowed you to test your skills for 15 seasons.

There were vast improvements to the way the game was played on the PC. Even though this format was not the most popular, the PC game did need an overhaul, and this is exactly what the developers delivered. The whole menu layout has been changed from FIFA 2010, Be A Pro had been revamped, and a practice arena could be accessed for the first time on the PC.

Another popular addition was Street Football on the Wii and Nintendo DS, much like the FIFA Street games. This essentially meant that Fifa 2011 had two games for the price of one. In fact, many people preferred this game mode to the normal game on the DS and Wii because it allowed for much quicker gameplay.

The tagline for the new game was "We Are 11", and the reason for this was because FIFA 11 was the first game in which you could control the goalkeeper as well as every other player. Furthermore, in 'normal' gameplay (when you were not in control of them), goalkeepers had a much higher level of intelligence, which meant that scoring goals was tougher than before.

FIFA 11 cut down on its amount of leagues and national teams that were available. This was because the developers at FIFA realised that the majority of leagues were not being played; therefore, continuing to focus on the minor leagues was a waste of time.

FIFA 11 has received the highest ratings out of any FIFA game on the market. Many game critics were so impressed with FIFA that they said they would be surprised if they could continue for such a long time at the same rate. The official Playstation magazine gave the game 10/10, IGN UK gave Fifa 11 9.5/10 and Gamesmaster rated the game at 94%. In fact, the lowest rating the game received was an 8.5/10 from IGN international.

FIFA 12

FIFA 12 is the first edition of the series to feature Arabic commentary. The Czech Gambrinus Liga and Turkish Süper Lig are removed from the game (though Turkish side Galatasaray S.K. is still featured) and a third Argentine team, Racing Club de Avellaneda, is added to the Rest of World bracket. The Xbox 360 and thePlayStation 3 were the main consoles for the game, and for the first time, the PC version was feature-identical. In May, EA announced that a Nintendo 3DS version would be available, including career mode, 11 vs 11, street mode and Be a Pro, but excluding any online mode. On 27 May, it was confirmed that FIFA 12 would be released on PlayStation 2. On June 7, it was confirmed that the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch will also be included and others are to come in the next few months. On July 11, photos of the Career Mode were released.^[18] During the demo launch on September 13, 2011, both FIFA 12 and Xbox Live were trending on social networking site Twitter. For the first time in the series, the game has been officially ported to the Mac OS X operating system by TransGaming Technologies.^[19] In March 2012, FIFA Football was released as a launch title for the PS Vita, which despite the different name was a port of FIFA 12.

FIFA 13

On Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the game is the first of the series compatible with Kinect and PlayStation Move, respectively. The game also features the Saudi Professional League, the first time Arabic football is represented in the series^[21] (whileFIFA 2000 did include club teams from the Arab World, it was generic teams with non-distinctive uniforms).

FIFA 14

Release date: September 24, 2013 (USA), September 26, 2013 (Europe)

For the newest generation of video game consoles PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, the game showcases a new engine, Ignite, which allows not only for graphical enhancements, like shifting weather conditions and dynamic environment, but also for changes in gameplay, with features like Human Intelligence (which brings the AI closer to real player behavior) and True Player Motion (which gives the players more realistic animations). Also, all versions have an all-new Co-op Seasons online mode, in which two players can play a season for the same team. As for the team selection, the game features, for the first time, the top leagues from Argentina,Chile and Colombia, the first time South American leagues other than the Brazilian one are featured in a FIFA game.
The PC version does not feature the Ignite engine (which will be exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One releases); rather than that, they will feature the Impact engine, same as used in the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions (which the PC versions have been using since 11), with minor improvements. This is reportedly due to Electronic Arts' claims that most PC players do not own a machine powerful enough for the Ignite engine, therefore it would only be featured in the next edition.

 This is the last FIFA game to be released for the Playstation Portable and FIFA 14 would eventually become the last PlayStation 2 game produced and released in South America. The game features new signature goal celebrations from a number of players including Cristiano Ronaldo, Gareth Bale, and Lionel Messi among others.

FIFA 15

Released date: September 23, 2014 (USA), September 25, 2014 (Europe), September 26, 2014 (UK)

                                                                                                                                        source : wikipedia , samba foot google image