To EA Sports:
I have been a regular FIFA player from 1998 to 2000.
But the minute I got my hands on Winning Eleven from Konami
I completely stopped playing FIFA.
There is one reason why I have "converted" to Winning Eleven.
"GAMEPLAY".
No other game in the market comes close to Konami's accurate representation of the sport of Football/Soccer.
Most of the major teams play differently. Man United, Arsenal,
Real Madrid, AC Milan ....all of them play differently.
Different teams play with different styles.
The best players are immediately recognizable through their
different style and quality of play.
There are endless formations you can apply to your team.
There are endless strategies that can be applied to the
team you control.
Players have random "Form" which affects their ability to play.
Player performance is based on a mind-boggling set of statistics and attributes specific to that player.
Winning Eleven is the closest thing to real-life football/gaming on a computer/PS2.
Last year when EA made a big hype about FIFA 2003 and it's revolutionary gameplay, I was tempted.
I bought the game, played it for a week........
and I returned it. I went straight back to Winning Eleven.
Don't get me wrong. FIFA 2003 is the best FIFA game since 1999.
I admire the fact that you have so many leagues and Stadia.
But these things are mainly cosmetic attractions. Once the player
starts digging into the game, the gameplay becomes repetitive
and boring. There is no replay value to this game.
All the teams play the same style. The best players are only distinguishable through their looks.
In the next FIFA 2004, you should try to improve the gameplay
to make it more varied and as close as possible to Winning Eleven. Konami has the best gameplay.
You must try to compete in terms of gameplay.
Try to make the performance of the player based on a much larger amount of statistics and attributes and "form".
Also improve the transfer system. I think World Tour Soccer has
the best transfer system. You select a team to play and it accumulates money through good performances.
FIFA has strived for realism in the graphics. And it has done a good job. In the Audio some of the chants can be improved.
For chants, it's a good idea to take it directly from real-life instead of morphing the sounds and tunes.
The stadia are great. But some of the goal-nets need to be different at different stadia.
Ball-physics is another area that needs a lot of improvement in FIFA. EA sports has made a first step by detaching the ball from the player. But shooting is still ridiculously scripted.
Look at Konami and see the level of control a player has when he shoots the ball. There is a power bar plus the best controls for chipping or lobbing.
You will need to add all this for FIFA.
Plus what happened to the heading in FIFA ?
Heading and shooting should be based on skill. Again look
at konami for reference.
The free-kick system is total garbage in FIFA. Look at Konami and see how they make it an art form. You can add power, pace, curve and placement. You need skill to score goals.
Different player have free-kick attributes. In winning eleven
Beckham curves the ball beautifully even using his famous
action. Roberto Carlos uses his long run-up of blasts thunderbolts with pace and power.
Animations : I think Winning Eleven and World Tour Soccer have the best animations. Much better than FIFA.
FIFA's animations are so repetitive. You get bored after a while.
Get an editor....Winning Eleven has an editor in which you can
edit teams, players....
Get a training mode....but this would only be applicable if you make the gameplay realistic and challenging enough to require a training mode.
That's all I can think of now.
In summary, FIFA 2004 should have all the leagues, stadia, licenses PLUS the GAMEPLAY.
If you can spend 90% of your time on gameplay improvements
and try to mimic Winning Eleven, then you will get a much better
game.
Till then, I will not buy FIFA anymore.
-Mathew
I have been a regular FIFA player from 1998 to 2000.
But the minute I got my hands on Winning Eleven from Konami
I completely stopped playing FIFA.
There is one reason why I have "converted" to Winning Eleven.
"GAMEPLAY".
No other game in the market comes close to Konami's accurate representation of the sport of Football/Soccer.
Most of the major teams play differently. Man United, Arsenal,
Real Madrid, AC Milan ....all of them play differently.
Different teams play with different styles.
The best players are immediately recognizable through their
different style and quality of play.
There are endless formations you can apply to your team.
There are endless strategies that can be applied to the
team you control.
Players have random "Form" which affects their ability to play.
Player performance is based on a mind-boggling set of statistics and attributes specific to that player.
Winning Eleven is the closest thing to real-life football/gaming on a computer/PS2.
Last year when EA made a big hype about FIFA 2003 and it's revolutionary gameplay, I was tempted.
I bought the game, played it for a week........
and I returned it. I went straight back to Winning Eleven.
Don't get me wrong. FIFA 2003 is the best FIFA game since 1999.
I admire the fact that you have so many leagues and Stadia.
But these things are mainly cosmetic attractions. Once the player
starts digging into the game, the gameplay becomes repetitive
and boring. There is no replay value to this game.
All the teams play the same style. The best players are only distinguishable through their looks.
In the next FIFA 2004, you should try to improve the gameplay
to make it more varied and as close as possible to Winning Eleven. Konami has the best gameplay.
You must try to compete in terms of gameplay.
Try to make the performance of the player based on a much larger amount of statistics and attributes and "form".
Also improve the transfer system. I think World Tour Soccer has
the best transfer system. You select a team to play and it accumulates money through good performances.
FIFA has strived for realism in the graphics. And it has done a good job. In the Audio some of the chants can be improved.
For chants, it's a good idea to take it directly from real-life instead of morphing the sounds and tunes.
The stadia are great. But some of the goal-nets need to be different at different stadia.
Ball-physics is another area that needs a lot of improvement in FIFA. EA sports has made a first step by detaching the ball from the player. But shooting is still ridiculously scripted.
Look at Konami and see the level of control a player has when he shoots the ball. There is a power bar plus the best controls for chipping or lobbing.
You will need to add all this for FIFA.
Plus what happened to the heading in FIFA ?
Heading and shooting should be based on skill. Again look
at konami for reference.
The free-kick system is total garbage in FIFA. Look at Konami and see how they make it an art form. You can add power, pace, curve and placement. You need skill to score goals.
Different player have free-kick attributes. In winning eleven
Beckham curves the ball beautifully even using his famous
action. Roberto Carlos uses his long run-up of blasts thunderbolts with pace and power.
Animations : I think Winning Eleven and World Tour Soccer have the best animations. Much better than FIFA.
FIFA's animations are so repetitive. You get bored after a while.
Get an editor....Winning Eleven has an editor in which you can
edit teams, players....
Get a training mode....but this would only be applicable if you make the gameplay realistic and challenging enough to require a training mode.
That's all I can think of now.
In summary, FIFA 2004 should have all the leagues, stadia, licenses PLUS the GAMEPLAY.
If you can spend 90% of your time on gameplay improvements
and try to mimic Winning Eleven, then you will get a much better
game.
Till then, I will not buy FIFA anymore.
-Mathew
