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SCEE renews UEFA sponsorship to last until 2012

by Majed Athab { Jun 16th 2009 at 3:45PM }

According to MCV, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe has renewed its contract to continue sponsoring the UEFA Champions League until 2012. SCEE has been with the European football league for over nine years, bringing PlayStation products to footy fans.

For all the Americans reading this, wondering: wait, they play football in Europe?, here's a little clip to get you up to speed. Oh, that football.

[Via VG247]

Hands-on: Academy of Champions

by Kevin Kelly { Jun 13th 2009 at 11:30AM }

Ah, soccer ... the sport of kings. Oh, wait. That's chess. Or maybe that's the game of kings. Anyhow, we're talking about soccer. Well, soccer here in America, "football" to the rest of the known world. Ubisoft has a new soccer game coming out for the Wii called Academy of Champions, and despite the awkward combination of Pele (a legend) and Joel McHale (a goofball) at Ubisoft's E3 presser, the game is actually fun. Especially when you're playing with friends.

You can see new screenshots from the game below before heading beyond the break to read our hands-on and see the new trailer for Academy of Champions. It's a bit like a Hogwart's for soccer, except without all the death and killing and such. But is there magic? Oh yes ... you can actually play as Sam Fisher in full-stealth mode. Find out more inside.

Gallery: Academy of Champions

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Ubisoft to answer the question of how MotionPlus-enhanced soccer works

by JC Fletcher { May 20th 2009 at 4:30PM }

The MotionPlus peripheral provides more fine-grained motion recognition for hand movements. The defining characteristic of soccer is that the hands are not used. With that in mind, we can't wait to see how the new Academy of Champions arcade soccer game is going to make use of the device. It also supports the Balance Board, but that's a lot easier to figure out.

Academy of Champions is a new Wii soccer game that will feature soccer stars Pelé and Mia Hamm, as well as that kid with the weird-looking face. The game features a "rich, story-driven adventure" taking place in a fictitious soccer-centered school. Players "improve their skills, recruit new team members and build the best possible squad," making the game sound rather like a soccer-themed RPG (which isn't that outlandish).

Gallery: Academy of Champions

UK chart get: Wii Fit still on top, FIFA 09 takes 2nd spot

by David Hinkle { May 18th 2009 at 4:00PM }

Wii Fit has been selling extremely well, taking the top spot for the seventh week in a row, Chart-Track data shows. In fact, a record of nine weeks in a row was set by Who Wants to be a Millionaire (no platforms mentioned), and Nintendo's Balance Board bundle is on pace to tie that record should it frequent the top spot for the next two weeks.

Unsurprisingly, ~~soccer~~ football game FIFA 09 managed to take the second spot, pushing last week's second place holder, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, down to third. Interesting to note is the inclusion of Battlestations: Pacific on the list. The game only released in the UK last week for Xbox 360 and PC, and managed to win the battle for last place, taking up the tenth spot.

PES 2009 trailer includes footage of 'digital soccer'

by Xav de Matos { Mar 31st 2009 at 12:00AM }

Whether you're a fan or not, soccer is the world's most popular sport. So, for a console that has seen a lot of success from sports games, the Wii is probably going to see some frantic action in the sales department for Pro Evolution Soccer 2009! Well, maybe we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Joking aside, the latest trailer and word around the campfire points to Konami hitting the nail on the head with another great installment of the soccer franchise for the Wii. Interested? Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is in stores now.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 scores with fresh media, screens, trailer

by Chris Greenhough { Oct 10th 2008 at 6:13PM }

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 makes its western debut next week on most consoles, but Wii owners will have to wait a little longer -- like last year, the Wii iteration of PES 2009 will be released next spring.

Better news: it'll be keeping the same point-and-drag system that proved such a hit, and adding a few frills. There'll be a "new defensive system" in place (or: holding "Z" now sends your nearest player towards the man in possession), a fully licensed UEFA Champions League tournament, and a co-op mode which supports the Classic Controller. Even betterer news: it's PES. If you care one iota about soccer, you should care about PES.

Hit up the gallery for the first Wii screens, including shots of cover star Lionel Messi, "savior" of U.S. soccer David Beckham, and lots of screens of Manchester United, a.k.a. the Greatest Soccer Team in the Woooorld.

Gallery: Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2009

[Via press release]

Level-5 releases first Inazuma Eleven Break screens, still refuses to reveal platform

by JC Fletcher { Sep 26th 2008 at 2:30PM }

Professor Layton/Dragon Quest IX developers Level-5 held their "Level-5 Vision 2008" event this week, revealing new games for PSP, DS, and mobile phones, as well as the previously announced Inazuma Eleven Break, a spinoff of their DS soccer-RPG series. For some reason, they didn't specify what platform Inazuma Eleven Break was to be released on.

We find this odd -- and we're continuing to write here about this unknown-platform game -- because these screens look very Wii-like. It could be a very cheap 360/PS3 game, maybe, or a really nice-looking PS2 game. Maybe it is Wii, but they don't want to go into details yet, because they want to spring a "Surprise! It's WiiWare!" on us. In any case, we shouldn't expect news on Inazuma Eleven Break's platform until 2009, according to Level-5.

Supergrafx game leads Japanese Virtual Console lineup for October

by JC Fletcher { Sep 26th 2008 at 12:38PM }

Surprise! A new system is being added to the Japanese Virtual Console lineup -- the NEC SuperGrafx! Except Nintendo and Hudson aren't treating it like a new system, and are instead treating SuperGrafx games as 800-point PC Engine games, with no other indication of the system of origin. The lack of fanfare may be related to the fact that the whole released SuperGrafx library is seven games. In October, what may be the best-known SuperGrafx game, a quite good version of Ghouls 'n Ghosts, will be available for download.

Also good news: another Kunio sports game, known in the US as Nintendo World Cup; Castlevania II, a year after the US got it; and Enduro Racer (yay!). The full list is posted after the break!

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Virtually Overlooked: Mega Man Soccer

by JC Fletcher { Sep 18th 2008 at 9:00PM }

I'm in official PANIC MODE EXTREME over Mega Man 9. I basically freak out every time I see it or am otherwise reminded of its existence. A brand new 8-bit-style Mega Man game, that isn't a spinoff of any kind, is both far too good to be true and the weirdest thing Capcom's done in years. And it reminded me of other weird Mega Man games Capcom's put out over the years.

I can't decide what's weirder: an 8-bit game made in 2008 for all three of today's home game consoles, or a game in which robots built to shoot at each other face off in soccer matches.

Continued →

Konami scores UEFA assets for Pro Evolution Soccer franchise

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 14th 2008 at 7:00PM }

Electronic Arts has had the NFL completely monopolized since 2005, giving them exclusive rights to official league teams and players for their Madden franchise -- but did you also know that they've also traditionally had assets for most professional European soccer leagues tied up as well? (You did? Well aren't you awesome.) However, Konami recently released some details concerning the next installment in their Pro Evolution Soccer franchise -- chief among these being their new licensing deals with the UEFA, as well as the Manchester United and Liverpool football clubs.

Assets from the UEFA as well as the two clubs will be included in Pro Evolution Soccer 2009. It's quite a coup for Konami, whose sales figures for PES titles have traditionally paled in comparison to those of EA's FIFA series. We anticipate EA's retaliation -- we hear they're in talks with various athletic leagues to purchase the exclusive rights for sports.

FIFA 09 taking inspiration from closest rival

by Chris Greenhough { Sep 11th 2008 at 6:23PM }

The annual match-up between FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer is often a closely fought contest, though as last year's revelatory Wii version of PES ran away with the plaudits, EA has decided to play it safe: basically, it's copying the opposition.

Hence, FIFA 09 will ship with the same "point-and-pass" mechanics that received so much admiration in PES 2008, and we can't say we blame them. Combine this with EA's usual level of spit and polish, a Wii exclusive eight-on-eight mode, and a special casual-friendly mode with blobby, Mii-like players, and this year's winner may come from the EA camp. Hit the gallery for tubby versions of everybody's favorite soccer players, but sadly none of ENGLAND HERO Theo Walcott.

Gallery: FIFA 09

Another lengthy wait for next Pro Evolution Soccer

by Chris Greenhough { Aug 1st 2008 at 1:49PM }

Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 on the Wii was released some five months after other versions enjoyed their worldwide debut, and that won't be changing for the 2009 update. While the Xbox 360, and PlayStation editions will launch this fall in Europe, "Spring 2009" is officially the launch window for the Wii game, making it that rarest of things: a sports title with the correct year on the front of the box. It'll also be fronted by Barcelona and Argentina star Lionel Messi (above).

Even a five-month wait is worth the hassle, for PES 2008 on the Wii turned out to be an admirable and unique soccer experience all of its own, and the good news is that Konami will be keeping the same system for the 2009 game -- we're off to fight rival supporters and perhaps smash up a café to celebrate.

[Via press release]

Wii scores a Pro Evolution Soccer follow-up

by Chris Greenhough { Jul 9th 2008 at 11:45AM }

Against all of our expectations, Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for the Wii was a brilliant reinvention of an already brilliant series, so here's some brilliant news: we'll be getting a 2009 edition. Konami has the Wii version listed on its own site for a "Winter 2008" launch (as World Soccer Winning Eleven 2009, the Japanese name), which should come as a relief to those who caught an earlier press release that didn't mention the Wii at all.

Indeed, the news brought about an impromptu Mexican wave amongst the Wii Fanboy staff. Or it would have done, if we didn't all work in different rooms in different countries.

[Via Go Nintendo]

Inazuma Eleven on TV tells you to buy, buy, buy!

by Phil Larsen { Jul 7th 2008 at 1:15PM }

It's true -- Inazuma Eleven looks great, and each piece of media has been drooled upon by RPG, anime and even general soccer fans alike. With the imminent Japanese release on August 22nd, Level-5 has begun advertising on television, and this commercial is a perfect place for gamers in the dark about Inazuma to take a first look and become ultra-interested.

Inazuma Eleven is incredibly original, featuring real-time strategy gameplay on the field, as players draw on the touch screen to direct positions of team members. Hopefully the gameplay is easy enough to understand for keen importers, because the chances of localization are not that great. Well, anything less than 100 percent won't be good enough!

EA sorry over Irish anthem gaffe in UEFA Euro 2008

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 4th 2008 at 7:00AM }

EA Sports has apologized for putting "The Soldier's Song," traditionally sung at United Ireland games, in place of Northern Ireland's national anthem, "God Save the Queen," in UEFA Euro 2008. Northern Ireland's Londonderry Sentinel reports fans were surprised to hear the anthem representing their country's victory in the game.

What we're surprised to hear is that it took until now for this faux pas to come out. UEFA Euro 2008 released back in April. Was nobody playing as the Northern Irish team?

[Via MCV]