FIFA 13

FIFA 13

Cover art featuring Lionel Messi
Developer(s) EA Canada
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Series FIFA
Engine Impact engine
Platform(s) Microsoft Windows
Xbox 360
PlayStation 2
PlayStation 3
PlayStation Portable
PlayStation Vita
Wii
Wii U
Nintendo 3DS
iOS
Windows Phone 8
Java ME
Release date(s) NA 25 September 2012
AUS 27 September 2012
EU 28 September 2012
JP 18 October 2012
Wii U
NA 18 November 2012
AUS 30 November 2012
EU 30 November 2012
JP 8 December 2012
Windows Phone
INT 8 July 2013
Genre(s) Sports game
Association Football Simulation
Mode(s) Single-player
Multiplayer

FIFA 13 (also known as FIFA Soccer 13 in North America) is the 2012 edition of Electronic Arts' association football FIFA video game series. It was developed by EA Canada. A demo of the game was released on 11 September 2012; the demo teams included Borussia Dortmund, Manchester City, Juventus, A.C. Milan and Arsenal.[1] The demo was downloaded a record 1.99 million times within three days.[2][3][4] The game was released in late September 2012 in most regions, and in Japan in October.[a] The Wii U version was released alongside the console on its launch day in all regions. FIFA 13 included new features to the FIFA franchise such as the First Touch Control.[2][5][6][7]As of December 2014, the game remains the only FIFA title released for the Wii U, despite other Nintendo consoles receiving later games. New celebrations were also added as a new feature.[8] The game received overwhelmingly positive reviews as one of the best FIFA's yet, praised for its fast-paced, fun feel. [9]

Features

A new additional feature in FIFA 13 is to support Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move for PlayStation 3.[10] The Wii U version includes some exclusive touch-based features including the ability to shoot precisely by tapping an image of the goal and managing the match in real-time.

Leagues

The leagues in FIFA 13 have been confirmed by EA Sports through their website, with EA calling it "the most authentic football game on the planet with 30 of the world's best leagues" All leagues from FIFA 12 are included, with the addition of the Saudi Professional League for the first time in the series history.[11]

Bundesliga clubs Borussia Dortmund against Bayern Munich in FIFA 13

National teams

There are 46 international teams on FIFA 13 as confirmed on the EA website. The Czech Republic and Paraguay are returning. India, Bolivia and Venezuela return to the main series after an 11-year hiatus since FIFA Football 2002. Croatia was removed from the international teams, as they could not reach the licensing agreement.[12]

Career Mode

Career Mode this year has been updated, with players being able to manage an international team as well as a club. In which also Players managing their particular clubs can manage to quite their jobs as a national coach. Players can choose their international squad to be played for international matches in career mode. In each match, players can decided if the football players are able to play on the next international squad. Options in transfers include counter-offers and offering a player as well as money. On the iOS platform, players cannot manage national teams and can only offer money to get players.

Seasons Mode

Seasons mode allows players to progress through an online league system by being pitted against players of a similar skill level. After the user chooses a real-world team to play as, an online player with similar skills and a similar star level team is found as an opponent.

The football player plays ten matches per season with a specific number of points required for promotion to the league above.

Ultimate Team

FIFA Ultimate team, commonly abbreviated to 'FUT', is an additional feature of FIFA 13. This game mode allows the player to build their own team from real world players, which they can then use to compete in tournaments and divisions over the internet. For each game complete, players earn coins to spend on improving their team.

Players and other items in this mode take the form of cards, which are obtained through buying packs or from buying directly from other players through the auction house. There are three different tiers of cards; bronze, silver and gold, indicating their quality (lowest being non-rare bronze, highest being rare gold). These cards can be obtained in two ways; buying packs or buying directly from other players. Player cards have an overall rating, which is an estimate of their overall in game quality. Players with overall rating of 64 or lower are bronze rated, players between 65 and 74 rated are silver and finally players rated 75 and above are gold.

The FIFA Ultimate team web app was released on September 18, 2012. This allows players to access their ultimate team from their computer and a variety of other devices, such as an iPhone app and on Android. According to EA, "A very small number of users have attempted to gain an unfair advantage" of the web application. Responding EA issued permanent bans on players who have attempted to exploit the web application. [12 ] [13] There have been reports of problems concerning the non-exploiting players failing to connect to the application due to a "mistake" in the safety of the player account. EA has attempted to solve this problem than other reports show complaints by players who have not yet been pre-published in the bonus games.

La Liga clubs Real Madrid & Bacerlona in the El Clásico FIFA 13

Scoreboard/Presentation

It has been shown that at least one scoreboard from ESPN is included in the game.[13] An ESPN presentation for the intro to the match has also been seen.

Stadiums

There are 26 stadiums in FIFA 13, including two new real ones: Tottenham Hotspur's White Hart Lane and the Saudi Arabia's King Fahd International Stadium. and one new generic stadium, Sanderson Park. FC Barcelona's Camp Nou, present in previous editions of the game, does not appear in FIFA 13, as EA could not reach a licensing agreement with the club.[14]

Commentary

FIFA 13 again features Sky Sports main commentators Martin Tyler & Alan Smith commentating on League Matches with ITV main commentators Clive Tyldesley & Andy Townsend on the Cup Matches. 3 new voices have been added to FIFA 13: Sky Sports Reporter Geoff Shreeves is touchline reporter explaining the severity of an injury, Alan McInally has goals as they go in from the other matches in a role he performs on Soccer Saturday on Sky Sports and Mike West reads out the classified results from the league or cup your team is in, he performs this role on BBC football results show Final Score.[15]

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack for FIFA 13 was announced on 6 September 2012.[16]

Track listing
No. TitleArtist Length
1. "Get Away with It"  Animal Kingdom  
2. "Mark IV"  Ashtar Command feat. Joshua Radin  
3. "Panda"  Astro  
4. "If So"  Atlas Genius  
5. "Feud"  Band of Horses  
6. "Weight of Living, Part 2"  Bastille  
7. "We Are Not Good People"  Bloc Party  
8. "Outta My Mind"  Cali  
9. "Us Against the World"  Clement Marfo & The Frontline  
10. "Follow"  Crystal Fighters  
11. "Professional Griefers"  deadmau5 feat. Gerard Way  
12. "Hail Bop"  Django Django  
13. "Get Out While You Can"  Duologue  
14. "TeKKno Scene"  Elliphant feat. Adam Kanyama  
15. "Got That Fire (Oh La Ha)"  Featurecast feat. Pugs Atomz  
16. "Spark"  Fitz and The Tantrums  
17. "Let It Roll, Part 2"  Flo Rida feat. Lil Wayne  
18. "See the Light"  Foreign Beggars & Bare Noize  
19. "Bliss Out"  Hadouken!  
20. "On Top of the World"  Imagine Dragons  
21. "What Love"  Jagwar Ma  
22. "You're A Animal"  Jonathan Boulet  
23. "Club Foot"  Kasabian  
24. "Come into My Head"  Kimbra  
25. "G#"  Kitten  
26. "Eure Mädchen"  Kraftklub  
27. "Black White & Blue"  Ladyhawke  
28. "Finale"  Madeon  
29. "Searchin"  Matisyahu  
30. "Speed the Collapse"  Metric  
31. "Paddling Out"  Miike Snow  
32. "I'll Be Alright"  Passion Pit  
33. "Sweet Sipping Soda"  Reptar  
34. "Shine the Light"  Reverend and The Makers  
35. "Fly or Die"  Rock Mafia  
36. "Goldrushed"  The Royal Concept  
37. "Wild"  Royal Teeth  
38. "Big Mouth"  Santigold  
39. "September"  St. Lucia  
40. "Jungles"  Stepdad  
41. "Champion"  The Chevin  
42. "Saturday"  The Enemy  
43. "Don't Say Nothing"  The Heavy  
44. "Ghosts"  The Presets  
45. "Sleep Alone"  Two Door Cinema Club  
46. "Quesadilla"  Walk the Moon  
47. "Blur"  Wretch 32  
48. "We Come Running"  Youngblood Hawke  
49. "Rain of Gold"  Young Empires  
50. "Past 2"  Zemaria  

Covers

The North American cover for the game features Lionel Messi,[17] whilst St James' Park, Newcastle, has been included as the background. Other location-based covers will be used, as in previous years, and feature Messi and other players from the respective region, except North America, which only features Messi.[18] This is the first time since FIFA Soccer 2003 that the North American version had a single cover athlete.

Other players featured in their respective regions include:

EA Sports offered downloadable "Custom Club Sleeve" covers with players from the Premier League after the game's release. The teams and players include:[24]

EA Sports also offered a downloadable cover for FIFA 13 for Major League Soccer, featuring Chris Wondolowski of the San Jose Earthquakes, Fredy Montero of Seattle Sounders FC, Tim Cahill of the New York Red Bulls, and Darren Mattocks of Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Wondolowski, Montero, and Cahill were elected by vote on EA Sports' website, while Mattocks was included for being named Best Player Under 24 in MLS by MLS. EA Sports also offered downloadable covers for each MLS team with a player from that club being featured. The teams and players were:

Wii and PlayStation Vita versions

The Wii and PlayStation Vita versions of FIFA 13 are recycled previous year titles rather than brand new, ground-up developments. Media outlet Nintendo Gamer pointed out using various comparison screenshots that FIFA 13 on Wii is actually the Wii version of FIFA 12 with some minor updates to club kits, listings and graphics textures, whilst menu designs and game mechanics are mostly identical.[25] IGN also pointed out that Electronic Arts treated the PlayStation Vita version of FIFA 13 in a similar manner, calling it a "cynically re-skinned" version of the console's previous title FIFA Football (FIFA Soccer in North America; which is actually the title of FIFA 12 on the console). Whilst this version does include some of the new online features found on the PlayStation 3 version, the menus, backgrounds, modes, and most game mechanics are largely identical to the previous title.[26] IGN justifies that the Wii version as a recycled development since the game was released in the console's twilight period,[26] and additionally considering the game is also available on the console's successor, the Wii U, which is confirmed as a completely new development.[27] Additionally, in an interview with Wired, EA's COO Peter Moore says, "Year on year, Wii has just dropped, and clearly we don’t make games for it anymore."[28] However, IGN states there is no justification for the PlayStation Vita's version in either its development or the game's price, as the console itself is still in its early years, and questioning EA's official comment, “It is the same great FIFA gameplay for the PS Vita.”[26]

Reception

IGN gave FIFA 13 a 9/10.[29] GamesRadar called FIFA 13 "a great evolutionary step for EA's footy juggernaut", but criticised the collision engine as "unnatural", and the newly revamped Career Mode as "forced and artificial" and "archaic" – awarding it 4 stars.[30] GameSpot gave FIFA 13 a score of 8/10, praising the new skill games, but bemoaning the lack of improvement over FIFA 12.[31] OXM reported that the seven biggest flaws of FIFA 12 were, for the most part, fixed in FIFA 13.[32] PC Gamer awarded the Microsoft Windows version of the game a score of 86/100, stating that it is still an "excellent football game", but "has been overburdened by features and is hungry for some real innovation".[33] The PSP version of the game was also praised, garnering a favourable review Pocket Gamer, who described it as "worthwhile addition to the handheld's already vast repertoire", giving it an 8/10 score.[34] FIFA 13 received a positive review on iOS from CNET, proclaiming it "not only the best soccer game, but the best sports game on an iOS device", bestowing upon it 4.5/5 rating.[35]

Reviews for other platforms were more negative. Nintendo's Wii version received a negative review from ONM, who stated that the game was a "shamefully cynical 'update' that brings absolutely nothing new to the table", giving the game a 30% rating.[36] Reviews for the PS Vita were equally cynical about the amount of work EA had put into the latest version of the series, with OPM calling the game an "exact clone" of FIFA Football, and stating that "there isn’t a single new feature in FIFA 13" – awarding the game 5/10.[37] The 3DS edition received a poor review from GamingXP, with "clumsy controls" being an overriding complaint.[38] IGN gave the PlayStation Vita version a 4.0/10, stating, "There's nothing inherently wrong with FIFA 13 on the Vita from a mechanical point of view. But something went wrong. EA has chosen not to get behind Sony's latest handheld. The potential of FIFA on a handheld certainly hasn't been realised."[39]

Sales and revenue

FIFA 13 sold more than one million copies (1.23 million units in 48 hours) in the United Kingdom in its first week of release (the fourth game to do so after Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Call of Duty: Black Ops and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3),[40] [41] and topped the UKIE charts on all formats week ending September 29, 2012.[42] 4.5 million copies were sold worldwide in five days, with 7.4 millions units sold four weeks after its release, which makes the game the biggest videogame launch of 2012 and biggest sports videogame launch of all-time according to EA.[43][44] As of May 2013, FIFA 13 has sold 14.5 million copies.[45]

Notes

^ a In Japan, the game was published only on the following console platforms: PlayStation 3, PlayStation Vita, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, and Wii U. It is also available for Microsoft Windows and iOS, but those versions are without Japan's localised packaging/presentation.

^ b Localised covers are not included on Nintendo's platforms in the Middle East and Poland since Nintendo of Europe has no localisation offices in either territories, albeit it distributes its games in those places. In the case of the Middle East, official localisation of Nintendo's products is handled by an Emirati company called Active Gulf, a branch of a licensed Japanese distributor called Active Boeki, which imports all of its games, including third-party titles, from the North American region, in which only some Nintendo-published titles have a localised packaging. Stadlbauer Sp., Nintendo's last licensed trader in Poland since 2012, was responsible for distribution of Nintendo's products in the country before ceasing their operations in August 2013. They only locally distributed pan-European editions of Nintendo's licensed games as published for "other" European markets.

References

  1. ↑ "Twitter / EASPORTSFIFA: #FIFA13Demo teams: AC Milan". Twitter. September 10, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Sam Dwyer (September 14, 2012). "FIFA 13 Demo Breaks Records, New Trailer Flaunts Upgrades [VIDEO]". BostInno. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  3. ↑ Matt Liebl (September 14, 2012). "FIFA 13 demo has record 1.99 million downloads". GameZone. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  4. ↑ "FIFA 13 Demo Downloads Reach Record 2 Million in 3 Days Ahead of Release Date [VIDEO TRAILER]". International Business Times. September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  5. ↑ "FIFA 13 Available for Preorder at MyHotElectronics.com; Man U gear available at SportsFanPlayground.com". PRWeb. September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  6. ↑ Nick Cowen (May 30, 2012). "FIFA 13: Predicting the Unpredictable". IGN. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  7. ↑ Hayden Deitrick (September 21, 2012). "FIFA 13: Five Things to Look Forward to". Bleacher Report. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  8. ↑ Owen Good (September 21, 2012). "FIFA 13's Early Release is Here, So Let's See Some Celebrating". Kotaku. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  9. ↑ {http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1343603-fifa-13-the-top-5-teams-most-entertaining-teams-to-use}
  10. ↑ Matthew Reynolds (May 15, 2012). "'FIFA 13' to offer Kinect, Move support, "game-changing innovations"". Digital Spy UK. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  11. ↑ "FIFA 13 Leagues List". EA.com. September 6, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  12. ↑ "FIFA 13 Leagues List". EA.com. September 6, 2012. Retrieved September 6, 2012.
  13. ↑ "FIFA 13 Caters to all Gamers on the Wii U". ESPN. September 14, 2012. Retrieved September 15, 2012.
  14. ↑ "FIFA 13 Stadium List". FIFA Soccer Blog. September 6, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  15. ↑ "BBC One Final Score". Retrieved 11 October 2013.
  16. ↑ "FIFA 13 Soundtrack". EA.com. 6 September 2012. Retrieved 7 September 2012.
  17. ↑ milfchat (July 18, 2012). "Lionel Messi on the front cover of Fifa 13 « Fifa 13 Cheats and Tips". Fifa13-cheats.com. Retrieved August 16, 2012.
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "FIFA 13 Packshot". Fifplay.com. August 13, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  19. ↑ "Quigley on FIFA 13 Cover". September 26, 2012. Retrieved September 26, 2012.
  20. ↑ "FIFA 13 Cover Stars Revealed". Mirror.co.uk. August 20, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
  21. ↑ "FIFA 13 - ismét Dzsudzsák Balázs a borítón" (in Hungarian). Gamekapocs.hu. August 22, 2012. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
  22. ↑ "FIFA 13 Cover for Italy Revealed". Fifplay.com. August 5, 2012. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  23. ↑ Fakhruddin, Mufaddal (2012-08-24). "FIFA 13 Adds KSA League Teams, Features Abdullaziz Aldossari On Cover". IGN Middle East. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  24. ↑ "FIFA 13 Club Pack Download". EA Sports. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  25. ↑ Scullion, Chris (2012-09-27). "FIFA 13 Wii vs FIFA 12 Wii – The shocking truth". Nintendo Gamer. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  26. ↑ 26.0 26.1 26.2 Krupa, Daniel (2012-10-12). "FIFA 13: EA Sells Old Games as New". IGN UK. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  27. ↑ Rowe, Sam (2012-08-02). "How Wii U Changes FIFA 13". IGN UK. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  28. ↑ Rigney, Ryan; Kohler, Chris (2012-10-04). "FIFA Fake-Out: EA Sells Last Year's Soccer Game as New". Wired. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  29. ↑ Krupa, Daniel (September 20, 2012). "TIME TO RENEW YOUR SEASON TICKET.". IGN. Retrieved September 22, 2012.
  30. ↑ McGarvey, Sterling (September 24, 2012). "It's a great evolutionary step for EA's footy juggernaut". GamesRader. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  31. ↑ Walton, Mark (September 27, 2012). "FIFA Soccer 13 isn't all that different from last year's outing, but it still remains the most in-depth, entertaining, and compelling football game out there.". GameSpot. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  32. ↑ Horti, Sam (August 19, 2012). "Has FIFA 13 fixed FIFA 12's seven greatest flaws?". Official Xbox Magazine. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  33. ↑ Ditum, Nathan (October 21, 2012). "Fifa 13 review". PC Gamer. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  34. ↑ Highfield, Vaughn (October 15, 2012). "FIFA 13: A winning squad?". Pocket Gamer. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  35. ↑ Parker, Jason (September 28, 2012). "FIFA Soccer 13 review (iOS)". CNET. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  36. ↑ Scullion, Chris (September 27, 2012). "FIFA 13 Wii review: Just ignore that Tippex mark, that's where it used to say 12.". Official Nintendo Magazine. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  37. ↑ Meikleham, David (October 7, 2012). "FIFA 13 PS Vita review – Lazier than a back-tracking Berbatov". PlayStation Official Magazine. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  38. ↑ FelixM (October 21, 2012). "FIFA 13 3DS Review" (in German). GamingXP. Retrieved November 11, 2012.
  39. ↑ Krupa, Daniel (2012-10-12). "FIFA Soccer 13 Vita Review". IGN UK. Retrieved 2012-11-12.
  40. ↑ Stuart, Keith (October 1, 2012). "Fifa 13 blasts to top of UK charts with one million sales". Guardian Uk (London). Retrieved 18 December 2012.
  41. ↑ Ben Parfitt (2012). "UK CHARTS: Million-selling FIFA 13 is No.1". MCVUK. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  42. ↑ "Ukie Week 39 2012 UK Video Games Charts". The Association for UK Interactive Entertainment. 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-04.
  43. ↑ "FIFA 13 sales hit 7.4 million in four weeks". Computer and Video Games. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  44. ↑ "FIFA 13 – The Sales are in". Soccer Gaming. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  45. ↑ Matulef, Jeffrey (7 May 2013). "SimCity has sold over 1.6 million units". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved 7 May 2013.

External links