Tag: fifa

EA Sports FC 24 Revealed: Release Date, Women’s Football in Ultimate Team, More

EA Sports FC 24, the newly rebranded football simulation game franchise, has been fully revealed with a release date of September 29. The date matches leaks from last week, which suggested that the game would debut in early access seven days prior — on September 22 — available to those who pre-order the Ultimate Edition. Manchester City F.C. footballer Erling Haaland was revealed as the cover star, putting in a surprise appearance at EA’s global event in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson was present, of course, delivering a lengthy monologue about his love for football, while somehow managing to not slip up a single time and accidentally blurting out the word ‘FIFA.’

In a sense, FC24 is basically the same FIFA game you’ve known for years, but with new branding and a couple of additional features that are entirely novel to the franchise. First up, EA Sports will continue to expand on the presence of women’s football in the game, by bringing them to the Ultimate Team mode for the first time. Judging by the trailer, it appears as though the division won’t be separated as men’s or women’s FUT, but rather combine the two so you can have either gender on the same team and on the pitch. The studio previously brought the National Women’s Soccer League to FIFA 23 and it seems like the trend will carry over to this new iteration, thanks to the addition of two new women’s leagues — Liga F and Frauen-Bundesliga, the main women’s leagues in Spain and Germany, respectively.

EA Sports has secured agreements with various footballing leagues to keep FC24 as true to the actual sport, bringing in hundreds of stadiums, over 19,000 players, and more than 30 official leagues including the Premier League, La Liga, and the UEFA Champions League. For the uninitiated, EA Sports ditched the FIFA brand following a financial disagreement with the footballing body, which reportedly asked for a $1 billion (about Rs. 8,216 crore) payment every four years. Electronic Arts then withdrew from the agreement, with CEO Wilson claiming that the only value it ever got from the FIFA deal was the “four letters on the box.”

An enhanced version of the Frostbite Engine serves as the foundation of the game, which boasts smoother animations and redesigned player models. HyperMotionV serves to offer realism in the game, having captured volumetric data from over 180 professional men’s and women’s football matches to deliver realistic movement. Meanwhile, PlayStyles goes beyond overall player ratings to bring to life the on-pitch abilities that are said to make players special. Each PlayStyle gives players unique capabilities you’ll see and feel that make their way of playing more ‘authentic’. The company also introduced Ultimate Team Evolutions, allowing you to upgrade players throughout the season based on individual objectives, granting additional stat boosts and skills.

EA Sports FC 24 pre-order

Pre-orders are now live, with the EA Sports FC 24’s Standard Edition offering a cover star loan player item, a male and a female ambassador loan items, Player Career Personality Points, and a 5-star coach for the manager mode. The Ultimate Edition comes with all the above bonuses, alongside seven days of early access, 4,600 FIFA Points, a UCL Ultimate Team Hero, and a Team of the Week 1 player.

EA Sports FC 24 Standard Edition starts at Rs. 3,499 on Steam and Epic Games Store for PC, and Rs. 4,499 on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series S/X. FC24 Ultimate Edition is priced at Rs. 5,199 on Steam and Epic Games, and Rs. 6,499 on the Xbox Store and PlayStation Store. You can save 10 percent with EA Play on both editions on consoles.

EA Sports FC 24 system requirements

EA Sports FC 24 minimum PC requirements

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  • Processor (CPU): Intel Core i5-6600K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600
  • RAM: 8GB
  • Graphics (GPU): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti (4GB) or AMD Radeon RX 570 (4GB)
  • Storage: 100GB

EA Sports FC 24 recommended PC requirements

  • OS: 64-bit Windows 10
  • Processor (CPU): Intel Core i7-6700 or AMD Ryzen 7 2700X
  • RAM: 12GB
  • Graphics (GPU): Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 or AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT
  • Storage: 100GB

EA Sports FC 24 is out September 29 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S/X, and the Nintendo Switch. Pre-ordering the Ultimate Edition grants you seven-day early access from September 22.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Wizardry, warfare, Wii on ballot for World Video Game HOF

Wizardry, warfare and Wii are on the ballot as the World Video Game Hall of Fame narrows down its contenders for the class of 2023.

The Hall of Fame on Wednesday announced 12 finalists that are being considered for induction in May.

The games for consideration include Age of Empires, Angry Birds, Barbie Faauthshion Designer, Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Computer Space, FIFA International Soccer, GoldenEye 007, The Last of Us, NBA 2K, Quake, Wii Sports and Wizardry.

A panel of experts and the public will vote on the winners.

“It’s always difficult to narrow the World Video Game Hall of Fame nominations down to just 12 finalists because there are so many games that have had an enormous influence on popular culture or the video game industry itself,” said Jon-Paul C. Dyson, director of the The Strong’s International Center for the History of Electronic Games in Rochester, where the hall is based.

“This year’s finalists are some heavy-hitters,” he said.


Twelve finalists are being considered for entry to the World Video Game Hall of Fame this May.
AP

The Hall of Fame recognizes arcade, console, computer, handheld, and mobile games whose popularity has been far-reaching and influenced other games or society at large.

Finalist FIFA International Soccer is the most popular sports game franchise of all time, according to the hall, and is a worldwide best-seller with updates every year from publisher Electronic Arts.

And then there’s Rovio’s Angry Birds, with 2 billion downloads, which is nominated for turning millions of smartphone users into gamers.

The 1996 Barbie Fashion Designer game broke with the pattern of the industry marketing to male players; Wii Sports became a hit among older adults; and Nutting Associate’s coin-operated Computer Space from 1971 proved video games could exist outside of computer labs as the first commercial video game, according to the hall.

The post-apocalyptic The Last of Us, released by Naughty Dog and Sony Interactive Entertainment in 2013, is now a hit TV show for HBO.

Anyone can nominate a game for the hall.

Thousands of nominations came in for consideration for this year’s class, The Strong museum said.

Fan voting is underway online through March 22 as part of what’s called the “Player’s Choice” ballot.

The three games that receive the most public votes will form one ballot that will be counted alongside ballots submitted by members of an international committee of experts.

The winners will be inducted in a virtual ceremony on May 4.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Argentina team greeted by huge crowd after returning from World Cup

Thousands of fans lined up in the middle of the night to try to get a glimpse of the Argentina soccer team that won one of the greatest World Cup finals of all time ahead what is scheduled to be a day of celebrations in Buenos Aires.

Members of the team, led by captain Lionel Messi, were all smiles as they descended from the plane in Ezeiza, right outside Argentina’s capital, shortly before 3 a.m. Tuesday onto a red carpet that had been rolled out for the squad.

Messi was the first player from the plane carrying the World Cup, flanked by coach Lionel Scaloni, who put his arm around the captain as they walked past a sign that read, “Thank you, champions.”

The players were welcomed by rock band La Mosca singing “Muchachos,” a song that was written by a fan to the tune of an old song by the band and became a popular unofficial anthem for Argentine fans at the World Cup in Qatar.

Fans welcome home the players from the Argentine soccer team that won the World Cup after they landed at Ezeiza airport in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Dec. 20, 2022.
AP

The newly crowned champions of the world boarded an open top bus and several, including Messi, could be seen singing the words to “Muchachos” while they waited for everyone to get on to travel to the headquarters of the Argentine Football Association.

The bus moved at a snail’s pace as fans, many of whom were waving Argentine flags, swarmed the bus on a highway, eager for a glimpse of the players as law enforcement officers tried to keep them at bay.

Throughout the trip, Messi held on the World Cup as players waved to fans and often sang along with them.

It took the bus around one hour to travel approximately 11 kilometers (6.8 miles) from the airport to AFA headquarters, where the players were welcomed with fireworks.

Players from the Argentine soccer team that won the World Cup wave from the bus that takes them to the Argentina Soccer Association, where they will spend the night after landing at Ezeiza airport on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, Argentina.
AP

They will sleep at AFA headquarters for a few hours before boarding the bus later Tuesday to the Obelisk, the iconic Buenos Aires landmark that was a sea of people Sunday afternoon after the team won the country’s third World Cup, and its first since 1986.

President Alberto Fernández declared a national holiday Tuesday so the country could celebrate the victory.

The day after the streets of Argentina turned into massive parties following the Sunday victory, many kept a close eye on the flight that brought the players home to celebrate. As the plane got closer to Argentine soil, almost 200,000 people were tracking its path online and news channels gave live coverage of the arrival.

In the afternoon, people started arriving at the airport and outside the AFA headquarters in hopes of getting a glimpse of the team.

Goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez waves upon the arrival of players from the Argentine soccer team in Buenos Aires, Argentina on Dec. 20, 2022.
AP

Many were also already at the Obelisk, seemingly ready to spend the night there to ensure a prime spot for Tuesday’s festivities.

Several players posted photos of the plane ride on social media.

Messi held the World Cup on the plane. Nicolás Tagliafico, meanwhile, posted a photo of the World Cup buckled into an airplane seat as if it were just another passenger.

As of early Tuesday morning there were no official plans for Fernández, or any other political leaders, to take part in the celebrations despite earlier rumors that the players would go to Government House, which was offered up for the celebrations, according to Security Minister Aníbal Fernández.

Lionel Messi holds the FIFA World Cup trophy as he deplanes with coach Lionel Scaloni.
AP

The World Cup and the success of the Messi-led squad has brought much-needed good news for a country that has been stuck in economic doldrums for years, is suffering one of the world’s highest inflation rates and where almost four-in-10 people live in poverty.

Fernández retweeted several messages of congratulations for the World Cup victory from other world leaders, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“Thank you for this greeting President Putin,” Fernández wrote on Twitter after a telephone call with the Russian leader. “Let the happiness that today unites Argentina with so many countries in the world serve as an example: Our societies need unity and peace.”

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

FIFA World Cup 2022: Cybercriminals Using Fake Sites to Steal Personal Information, IT Security Firm Says

From fake entry permits and betting sites to fake cryptocurrency, cybercriminals have spun all the tricks to lure football fans in the name of the FIFA World Cup, IT security intelligence firm CloudSEK warned on Monday.

While India is not part of the FIFA World Cup, the Indian community is reportedly estimated to be the largest among the expatriate population in Qatar which is hosting the biggest football tournament.

The Bengaluru-based cyber security firm said that several Telegram channels were found selling Hayya cards (FIFA entry permit) for prices ranging from $50 (roughly Rs. 4,300) to $150 (roughly Rs. Rs. 12,300).

“To create Hayya cards, the threat actors claim to require the buyer’s valid IDs like passports. And payment is only accepted in Bitcoin,” CloudSEK said in a report.

Cyber criminals are also sharing hacking techniques that purportedly allow one to register for a Hayya card without a valid FIFA ticket number, for free.

The technique is based on brute forcing the ticket number based on an alleged ticket number pattern that the threat actor shared.

“Since the FIFA world cup is a popular event, the demand for tickets far exceeds the supply. To exploit this gap between the supply and demand, scammers have set up websites that sell fake tickets,” CloudSEK said.

The threat actors are trying to cheat netizens by selling limited edition fake cryptocurrency as crypto currency platform Crypto.com is an official FIFA sponsor and Binance has partnered with Cristiano Ronaldo to promote soccer-themed NFTs.

“Threat actors are piggy-backing on this hype to sell fake ‘World Cup Coin’ and ‘World Cup Token’ by promoting them as limited edition cryptocurrency. However, most of these purported coins don’t exist,” the report said.

CloudSEK researchers in the report said FIFA sponsors should bolster their security mechanisms and stay up to date on threat actors’ tactics and techniques.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

FIFA NFT Platform Announced for Football-Themed Digital Collectibles Ahead of Qatar World Cup

Global football governing body FIFA is gearing up to launch a non-fungible token (NFT) platform ‘dubbed FIFA+ Collect’ for digital collectibles with soccer themes ahead of the much-awaited 2022 World Cup in Qatar. According to an announcement, the said NFT platform, built in partnership with Algorand, will offer “football fans around the world the chance to affordably own unique digital collectibles – from the greatest game moments to the most iconic FIFA World Cup and FIFA Women’s World Cup art and imagery.”

FIFA announced that it would launch FIFA+ Collect later this month on FIFA+, and fans will be able to own digital collectibles of great football moments and art.

The global football body is partnering with Algorand for the NFTs. The blockchain became FIFA’s official blockchain platform in May and will support the FIFA+ Collect NFT platform.

FIFA Chief Business Officer Romy Gai stated in a blog post around the announcement, “Fandom is changing and football fans around the world engage with the game in new and exciting ways. This exciting announcement makes FIFA collectibles available to any football fan, democratising the ability to own a part of the FIFA World Cup.”

According to the acting CEO of Algorand, W. Sean Ford, “The commitment FIFA has made to bridge to Web3 enabled by Algorand is a testament to their innovative spirit and desire to directly and seamlessly engage with football fans around the world.”

According to available information, the project is similar to the basketball-focused NBA Top Shot. FIFA is yet to reveal all the details about when the NFT collections will be available. But the governing body plans to include the release of NFTs during the 2022 Qatar World Cup in November.

We also know so far that FIFA+ Collect will be accessible at launch on all Web-enabled and mobile platforms, and will initially be offered in three language editions, namely, English, French, and Spanish, with plans to add more languages in the future.



Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

FIFA World Cup 2022 to Use Semi-Automated Offside Technology for Accurate Decisions

FIFA has announced that semi-automated offside technology will be used at the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar starting on November 21, offering a support tool for the video match officials and the on-field officials to help them make faster, more accurate and more reproducible offside decisions on the biggest stage of all.

Following the successful use of VAR technology at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, FIFA President Gianni Infantino declared in The Vision 2020-23 that FIFA would strive to harness the full potential of technology in football and further enhance VAR.

In the ensuing three years, FIFA has indeed continued to be at the cutting edge of technology in the game. By working with Adidas and various partners, and especially with the Working Group for Innovation Excellence and technology providers, FIFA has spent the last few years further improving the VAR system, including the use of semi-automated offside technology.

The new technology uses 12 dedicated tracking cameras mounted underneath the roof of the stadium to track the ball and up to 29 data points of each individual player, 50 times per second, calculating their exact position on the pitch.

The 29 collected data points include all limbs and extremities that are relevant for making offside calls. Al Rihla, Adidas official match ball for Qatar 2022, will provide a further vital element for the detection of tight offside incidents as an inertial measurement unit (IMU) sensor will be placed inside the ball.

This sensor, positioned in the centre of the ball, sends ball data to the video operation room 500 times per second, allowing a very precise detection of the kick point.

By combining the limb- and ball-tracking data and applying artificial intelligence, the new technology provides an automated offside alert to the video match officials inside the video operation room whenever the ball is received by an attacker who was in an offside position at the moment the ball was played by a team-mate.

Before informing the on-field referee, the video match officials validate the proposed decision by manually checking the automatically selected kick point and the automatically created offside line, which is based on the calculated positions of the players’ limbs. This process happens within a few seconds and means that offside decisions can be made faster and more accurately.

After the decision has been confirmed by the video match officials and the referee on the pitch, the exact same positional data points that were used to make the decision are then generated into a 3D animation that perfectly details the position of the players’ limbs at the moment the ball was played.

This 3D animation, which will always show the best possible perspectives for an offside situation, will then be shown on the giant screens in the stadium and will also be made available to FIFA’s broadcast partners to inform all spectators in the clearest possible way.

The workflow of semi-automated offside technology and the connected ball technology have been successfully trialled at numerous test events and live at FIFA tournaments, including the FIFA Arab Cup 2021 and the FIFA Club World Cup 2021.

During these matches, the new technology was able to support the video match officials by helping them to make more accurate and more reproducible offside decisions in a shorter period of time.

The data collected during online and offline tests has been analysed and validated by the MIT Sports Lab, with TRACK at Victoria University scientifically validating the limb-tracking technology. Further insights into the technological capabilities of such multi-camera tracking systems are being provided by a research team at ETH Zurich.

More tests will be conducted in the coming months to fine-tune the system before a global standard is implemented to ensure that the new technology can be used in the world of football. All details on the semi-automated offside technology set-up and the connected ball technology will be presented to the teams that have qualified for the FIFA World Cup 2022 at the Team Workshop in Doha on 4 and 5 July and then shared with the public.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

FIFA 22 Is Coming to EA Play, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on June 23

FIFA 22 is coming to the Play List later this month, Electronic Arts announced on Tuesday. EA’s latest entry its popular FIFA series will be available at no extra cost with an EA Play or an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. FIFA 22 is the last of EA Sports’ titles from 2021 — including F1 2021, Madden NFL 22, and NHL 22 — to become part of the Play List. Meanwhile, the publisher also announced recurring member-only benefits for subscribers while playing FIFA 22.

In a post on Microsoft’s Xbox blog, EA revealed on Tuesday that FIFA 22 is coming to the Play List on June 23. EA’s Play List includes a list of several popular titles including It Takes Two, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Star Wars: Squadrons, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit Remastered, as well as other 2021 EA Sports titles such as F1 2021, Madden NFL 22, and NHL 22.

EA Play, which is included as part of an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, will offer member-only challenges and in-game rewards on FIFA 22 later this month, according to the publisher. These rewards include Volta Apparel, coins, Ultimate Team Seasonal XP Boosts, and Stadium Sets. Members also have access to 10 hours of free playtime for new releases, and can purchase EA digital content at a 10 percent discount.

FIFA 22 Review: More Arcade Than Ever

Last month, EA announced that FIFA 23 would be the last FIFA-branded game from EA Sports — following titles will switch to EA Sports FC from next year. EA parted ways with world football governing body FIFA which it had partnered with nearly three-decades ago, after they failed to strike a new licensing deal. The first EA Sports FC title after FIFA 23 will be unable to include FIFA-specific content such as the World Cup.

EA also began testing cross-play — also known as cross-platform play support — for multiplayer matches for current generation consoles last month. This means that gamers on the PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and Google Stadia can play Online Seasons and Online Friendlies modes with others across these devices. EA Sports could be working on adding support for cross-play on other game modes for the upcoming FIFA 23 title, which expected to release later this year.

Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate — including EA Play, Xbox Live Gold/ Xbox network, as well as game streaming in select markets — is priced at Rs. 499 per month, or Rs. 5,999 per year on PC and console in India. EA Play is priced at Rs. 315 a month, or Rs. 1,990 a year, while EA Play Pro is priced at Rs. 999 a month, and Rs. 6,499 a year. Gamers can subscribe via the EA App, stores for PlayStation and Xbox, and Steam.

Check out our Latest News and Follow us at Facebook

Original Source

Exit mobile version