FIFA 07

Infobox VG
title = FIFA 07


caption = Cover art for United States and Mexico release.
developer = EA Canada
publisher = Electronic Arts
designer = Joe Booth (PS2, Xbox, PC, GameCube.) Hugues Ricour & Kaz Makita (Xbox 360)
series = FIFA Series
release =
genre = Sports
modes = Single player, Multiplayer, Multiplayer online
ratings = vgratings|OFLCA=G|PEGI=3+|ESRB=E
platforms = GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox, Game Boy Advance, Nintendo DS, PC, PlayStation Portable, Xbox 360, Mobile Phone (Java)
media = DVD, UMD, Cartridge
requirements =
input = Gamepad, Mouse & Keyboard

"FIFA 07" (also known as "FIFA Football 07" and "FIFA Soccer 07") is the 2007 edition of the Electronic Arts' series of football (soccer) simulator video games. Developed by EA Canada, it is published by Electronic Arts. The game was released on 24 September, 2006 in Europe, and October 3, 2006 in the United States on GameCube, PC, PlayStation 2, Game Boy Advance, PlayStation Portable, Nintendo DS and Xbox. It was the last game in the FIFA series to be released for the GameCube, Xbox, and Game Boy Advance, and the first to be released for the Xbox 360. The Xbox 360 version of the game was released on 27 October, 2006 in Europe, and in the United States on October 31, 2006. The next-generation graphics and physics engine used in the Xbox 360 version will be exclusive to the console for a period of 12 months.cite web|first=Tal|last=Blevins|date=2006-08-23|url=http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/727/727476p1.html|title=GC 2006: Microsoft Press Conference|publisher=IGN] The tagline for the game is "This is the season".

There are seven different covers of FIFA 07, each with a different player, depending on which region the game is sold in. Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona) graced the cover of all the games and was joined by Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy) and Francisco Fonseca (Benfica) in the United States, Canada and Mexico, Wayne Rooney (Manchester United) in the UK, Australia and the Benelux, Lukas Podolski (Bayern Munich) in Germany, David Villa (Valencia) in Spain, Kaká (AC Milan) in Italy, Juninho (Olympique Lyonnais) in France, Tranquillo Barnetta (Bayer Leverkusen) in Switzerland and Kim Nam-Il (Suwon Samsung Bluewings) in South Korea.

Game features

The following features are in the game:
* More than 510 teams in 27 leagues and 20 countries and over 10,000 licensed players.
* Interactive Leagues: An interactive online league has been introduced which creates interactive versions of the FA Premier League, French Division 1, Bundesliga and the Mexican League. Tracking the weekly real world fixtures, it matches up fans of one club against the fans of that week's fixture.
* More interactive crowds that react to every move during a game. Crowds also sound like the region the player is playing in. Home and away fans react differently to different incidents on the pitch, such as a small corner of the stadium cheering the away support.
* Manager Mode is enhanced to match realistic player experience rates. Players age and gain more experience, which improves their overall rating.
* Improved passing, crossing and free kick techniques and advanced goalkeeper Artificial intelligence (AI).
* Improved shooting techniques that measure up a player's space, composure and technique to decide what will happen to the shot. A new "finesse" shot has been included that requires a lot more space and composure, but has less power, and can curl.
* Manager Mode can be transferred between the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable with a simple USB cable. Manager Mode also features player growth and development, as well as youth training camps to produce more players (with older youth players moving up to the main team).
* New ball physics such as top spin and backspin take into account the pitch, weather and player conditions. The player can add spin to free kicks in different directions, something which was not possible in FIFA 06.
* Ability to create original clubs (not in PSP version).
* Manager Mode money is measured in pounds sterling, euro or US dollars rather than points.
* Like its predecessor, FIFA 07 offers a World XI and a Classic XI, plus an MLS All-Star team.
* FIFA 07 takes into account the kicking strength of each player, which includes a weakness on a player's non-preferred foot.
* New unlockables in the Fan Shop.

Leagues

There are a total of 27 leagues available in FIFA 07. There is also an International league that features national football teams, and a Rest of World league that includes other notable clubs from around the world.

Playable Leagues

* Austrian Bundesliga³⁶⁰
* Belgian Jupiler League³⁶⁰
* Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro³⁶⁰
* Danish SAS Ligaen ^{1 360}
* Dutch Eredivisie ^{OL 360}
* FA Premier League^OL
* flagicon|Wales Football League Championship³⁶⁰
* flagicon|Wales Football League One³⁶⁰
* flagicon|Wales Football League Two³⁶⁰
* flagicon|Monaco French Ligue 1
* French Ligue 2³⁶⁰
* German Bundesliga 1
* German Bundesliga 2³⁶⁰
* Italian Serie A
* Italian Serie B^{2 360}
* Korean K-League³⁶⁰
* Major League Soccer³⁶⁰
* Mexican Primera Division
* Dutch Honorary Division³⁶⁰
* Norwegian Tippeligaen³⁶⁰
* Polish Orange Ekstraklasa^{GBA 360}
* Portuguese BWINLIGA³⁶⁰
* Scottish Premier League³⁶⁰
*flagicon|Spain Spanish Primera División
* Spanish Segunda División³⁶⁰
* Swedish Allsvenskan³⁶⁰
* Swiss Axpo Super League³⁶⁰
* Turkcell Super League ^{DS GBA 3 360}

Notes
³⁶⁰ - not available on the Xbox 360 Version.
^DS - not available in the DS version.
^GBA - not available in the Game Boy Advance version.
^OL - Interactive online league.
¹ - The Danish Ligaen will be a generic league on the Nintendo DS version.
² - Juventus was included in the Italian Serie B on the Xbox, Xbox 360, PS2, Gamecube, PSP and PC versions, and in Serie A on other consoles.
³ - New Inclusion

Rest of World

FIFA 07 has 14 clubs in its "Rest of World" division. This league is not available in the Nintendo DS console version or the Xbox 360 version.
*flagicon|Switzerland Lausanne-Sport
*flagicon|Switzerland Lugano
*flagicon|Switzerland La Chaux-de-Fonds
*flagicon|South Africa Orlando Pirates
*flagicon|South Africa Kaizer Chiefs
*flagicon|Argentina Boca Juniors
*flagicon|Argentina River Plate
*flagicon|Brazil Esporte Clube Bahia
*flagicon|Brazil Atlético Mineiro
*flagicon|Greece AEK Athens
*flagicon|Greece PAOK (As Thessaloniki)
*flagicon|Greece Panathinaikos
*flagicon|Greece Olympiacos
*flagicon|Czech Republic Sparta Prague

International

FIFA 07 has 43 teams in its international division. Some of the more notable exclusions are the Netherlands (who made it into the round of 16 in the 2006 World Cup) and Japan (who made it into the round of 16 in the 2002 World Cup, but whose licensing rights currently belong to Konami.) The following international teams are playable in the current generation consoles. Those national teams are fully licensed, even the kits are the real ones. In the next-generation version, you will surely regognise Wayne Rooney or Cristiano Ronaldo by their faces in the game.
*flagicon|Argentina Argentina
*flagicon|Australia Australia
*flagicon|Austria Austria
*flagicon|Belgium Belgium
*flagicon|Brazil Brazil
*flagicon|Bulgaria Bulgaria
*flagicon|Cameroon Cameroon
*flagicon|China China
*flagicon|Croatia Croatia
*flagicon|Czech Republic Czech Republic²
*flagicon|Denmark Denmark
*flagicon|Ecuador Ecuador¹
*flagicon|England England
*flagicon|Finland Finland
*flagicon|France France
*flagicon|Germany Germany
*flagicon|Greece Greece
*flagicon|Hungary Hungary
*flagicon|Italy Italy
*flagicon|Japan Japan²
*flagicon|KOR Korea Republic
*flagicon|Mexico Mexico
*flagicon|Nigeria Nigeria
*flagicon|Northern Ireland Northern Ireland
*flagicon|Norway Norway
*flagicon|Paraguay Paraguay
*flagicon|Poland Poland
*flagicon|Portugal Portugal
*flagicon|Ireland Republic of Ireland
*flagicon|Romania Romania
*flagicon|Russia Russia
*flagicon|Scotland Scotland
*flagicon|Serbia Serbia¹
*flagicon|Slovenia Slovenia
*flagicon|Spain Spain
*flagicon|Sweden Sweden
*flagicon|Switzerland Switzerland
*flagicon|TUN Tunisia
*flagicon|Turkey Turkey
*flagicon|Ukraine Ukraine¹
*flagicon|United States United States
*flagicon|Uruguay Uruguay
*flagicon|Wales Wales

¹ New inclusion
² Only on Xbox 360

tadiums

There are a total of 51 stadiums available:

*flagicon|Germany Allianz Arena (FC Bayern Munich)^1,2
*flagicon|Netherlands Amsterdam Arena (Ajax Amsterdam)
*flagicon|England Anfield (Liverpool F.C.)
*flagicon|Turkey Atatürk (Turkey national football team)
*flagicon|Germany BayArena (Bayer Leverkusen)
*flagicon|Spain Calderón (Atlético Madrid)
*flagicon|Spain Camp Nou (FC Barcelona)
*flagicon|Belgium Constant Vanden Stock (R.S.C. Anderlecht)
*flagicon|South Korea Daegu Sports Complex (Daegu FC)
*flagicon|England Emirates Stadium (Arsenal F.C.) ¹
*flagicon|Mexico Estadio Azteca (Club América, Mexico)
*flagicon|Portugal Estádio da Luz (S.L. Benfica)
*flagicon|Portugal Estádio do Bessa (Boavista F.C.)
*flagicon|Portugal Estádio do Dragão (F.C. Porto)
*flagicon|Portugal Estádio José Alvalade (Sporting Clube de Portugal)
*flagicon|Germany HSH Nordbank Arena (Hamburger SV)
*flagicon|France Stade Félix Bollaert (R.C. Lens)
*flagicon|Spain Mestalla (Valencia C.F.)
*flagicon|Wales Millennium Stadium (Wales)
*flagicon|England Old Trafford (Manchester United F.C.)
*flagicon|Germany Olympiastadion (Hertha BSC) ¹ (ECC final)
*flagicon|France Parc des Princes (PSG)
*flagicon|Italy San Siro (A.C. Milan, Inter Milan)
*flagicon|Spain Santiago Bernabeu (Real Madrid)
*flagicon|South Korea Seoul Sang-Am (FC Seoul)
*flagicon|Germany Westfalenstadion - Signal Iduna Park (Borussia Dortmund)
*flagicon|England St James' Park (Newcastle United F.C.)
*flagicon|France Stade de Gerland (Olympique Lyonnais)
*flagicon|Italy Stadio delle Alpi (Torino F.C., Juventus F.C.)
*flagicon|Italy Stadio Olimpico (A.S. Roma, S.S. Lazio)¹
*flagicon|France Stade Velodrome (Olympique Marseille)
*flagicon|England Stamford Bridge (Chelsea F.C.)
*flagicon|Germany Veltins Arena (FC Schalke 04)¹
*flagicon|England Wembley Stadium¹(England's Nat'l Team, FA Cup, Carling Cup, LDV Vans Trophy and FA Community Shield finals)

¹ New inclusion
² Only on Xbox 360

Xbox 360

Electronic Arts has developed a special dynamic new EA sports engine for the Xbox 360-version of FIFA 07. This does not only mean the Xbox 360-version promises to have improved graphics and better controls, but the physics and control will also be improved with this new engine. The game will also collect more data from the matches and thus be able to give a "man of the match"-award. The commentary in English is provided by Martin Tyler and the inimitable Mr. Andy Gray and the commentary in Mexican Spanish is provided by Enrique Bermudez and Ricardo Pelaez.

Extra features include up-to-the-minute real-world game results via real-time, weekly podcasts and news ticker, detailed football stats, information and real-world news available in five languages. Via Xbox Live, players will receive automatic transfer updates. While online, FIFA 07 will enable four friends to play together on one console against four of their rivals that share another console. Manager Mode features an all-new player evolution system that enables the player to develop his or her own players, and a Challenge mode offers a total of 85 scenarios. Each player in the game will be unique, even have dynamic clothes, and the game will have fully customizable characters. Finally, the Xbox 360-version will offer a mini-game while the game loads, dropping the player in a one on one face off against the goal keeper on a practice pitch there is also very limited leagues on the Xbox 360 compared to the other consoles. cite web|first=Martijn|last=Müller|date=2006-10-03|url=http://www.ng-gamer.nl/game-nieuws/2169_fifa-07-op-xbox360-uitgelegd|title=Fifa 07 op Xbox 360 uitgelegd (FIFA 07 on Xbox 360 explained) (FIFA 07 on Xbox360 explained)|publisher=NG-Gamer|language=Dutch]

EA has cut all but seven leagues from the Xbox 360-version of the game. In reality it is only 6, though, because one of these has only one team (Juventus). According to producer Jean-Charles Gaudechon this is because the new game engine used for the Xbox 360 version took them so long, they were not able to implement everything. Everything will be back to normal for the next installment, however.cite web|first=Kenny|last=Lammers|date=2006-09-29|url=http://www.ng-gamer.nl/game-nieuws/2149_fifa-08-zal-wel-compleet-zijn|title=FIFA 08 zal wel compleet zijn (FIFA 08 will be complete)|publisher=NG-Gamer]

A FIFA 07 demo was made available on Xbox Live Marketplace on October 6 2006.

Players

The following players were not included in the game: Marco Materazzi and Adrian Mutu. However, players with generic names and similar attributes were included in their respective teams: Inter Milan and Fiorentina. Their skills are identical to their in-game clones, even their shirt numbers and faces are being the same.

Tournaments

FIFA 07 is also included in the Championship Gaming Series and the World Cyber Games.

Game soundtrack

FIFA 07 features a wide variety of world music on its soundtrack. The songs featured are as follow:
* Angélique Kidjo - "Wele Wele"
* Belasco - "Chloroform"
* Bersuit Vergarabat - "O Vas a Misa..."
* Bitman & Roban - "Get On The Floor"
* Blasted Mechanism - "Blasted Empire"
* Boy Kill Boy - "Civil Sin"
* caBas - "La Cadena de Oro"
* Carlos Jean - "Get Down"
* D.O.C.H.! - "Was in der Zeitung Steht"
* Elefant - "Uh-oh Hello"
* Epik High - "Fly" ¹
* Fertig, Los! - "Sie ist in mich verliebt"
* Infadels - "Can't Get Enough (Mekon Remix)"
* Keane - "Nothing In My Way"
* Malibu Stacy - "Los AnGeles"
* Mellowdrone - "Oh My"
* Mobile - "New York Minute"
* Morning Runner - "Gone Up In Flames"
* Muse - "Supermassive Black Hole"
* Nightmare of You - "Dear Scene, I Wish I Were Deaf"
* Outlandish - "Kom Igen"
* Paul Oakenfold - "Beautiful Goal"
*flagicon|Russia Persephone's Bees - "Muzika Dlya Fil'ma"
* Plastilina Mosh - "Peligroso Pop"
* Polysics - "Tei! Tei! Tei!"
* The Prototypes - "Kaleidoscope"
* Ralph Myerz and the Jack Herren Band - "Deepest Red"
* Seu Jorge - "Tive Razão"
* Shiny Toy Guns - "You Are The One"
* Stijn - "Gasoline & Matches"
* Surferosa - "Royal Uniform"
* Tahiti 80 - "Big Day" ¹
* The Feeling - "Sewn"
* The Pinker Tones - "TMCr Grand Finale" ¹
* The Sheer - "Understand"
* The Young Punx - "You've Got To..." ¹
* Tigarah - "Girl Fight" ¹
* Trash Inc. - "Punk Rock Chick"
* Us3 - "Kick This" ¹
* Young Love - "Discotech"

¹Featured in the GBA version soundtrack.

Achievements and awards

* UK: Seventh fastest selling game of all time [http://www.gamespot.com/xbox/sports/fifasoccer07/news.html?sid=6159194&mode=all]
* IGN: Game of The Year 2006: Best Sports Game (Xbox, PC) [http://bestof.ign.com/2006/xbox/16.html] [http://bestof.ign.com/2006/pc/16.html]
* IGN: Game of The Year 2006: Best Licensed Soundtrack (Xbox 360) [http://bestof.ign.com/2006/xbox360/24.html]
* TeamXbox.com: Game of The Year 2006: Best Sports Game (Xbox) [http://features.teamxbox.com/xbox/1829/TeamXbox-Game-of-the-Year-Awards-2006/p5/]
* UK: First FIFA title to top the UK Christmas chart since FIFA 98 [http://www.pro-g.co.uk/news/19-12-2006-4326.html]
* AIAS Nominations (10th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards): Best Sports Game of 2006 [http://www.interactive.org/awards.php?winners&year=2007&cat=200717#200717] , Best Licenced Sound Track of 2006 [http://www.interactive.org/awards.php?winners&year=2007&cat=200707#200707]
* Average review score: 85% Xbox, 82% PS2, 80% Gamecube, 80% PSP, 78% PC, 73% Xbox 360. (metacritic.com) [http://www.metacritic.com/search/process?sort=relevance&termType=all&ts=fifa+07]
* BAFTA Nominations (2007 Video Game Awards): The PC World Gamers Award (voted for by the public) (PS2) [http://www.gamespot.com/news/6179820.html]
*EGM gave it an average of 6.5.

References

External links

* [http://www.fifa07.ea.com/ "FIFA 07" official website]
*"