EA SPORTS PREDICTS GERMANY WILL WIN UEFA EURO 2012
Electronic Arts declared Germany the winner of UEFA EURO 2012 after running a tournament simulation using the market-leading football engine that drives EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2012 on the PlayStation3, Xbox 360 and PC. EA SPORTS was able to simulate the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship and test all 16 teams under the same conditions they will face in the weeks ahead. It was determined that Germany will defeat Netherlands 2-1 at Olympic Stadium in Kyiv on July 1 to win The Henri Delaunay Trophy.
The final itself saw the Germans fall behind 1-0 after Robin van Persie struck home a left-footed rocket from just outside the box in the 24th minute. Van Persie finished as the tournament’s top goal scorer with five goals. However, the Dutch lead did not last long as Mesut Özil leveled the score 12 minutes later, setting the stage for the golden goal from Mario Gómez, his fourth of the tournament. Gómez went high into the air between two Dutch defenders on a corner kick by Bastian Schweinsteiger to knock home the winner in the 78th minute, delivering Germany its fourth UEFA EURO championship.
Fans around the globe will compare these results to the real-world tournament as it unfolds beginning June 8. EA SPORTS has predicted that the Germans will win all three group stage matches, and maintain their form throughout the knockout phase, but it took a Miroslav Klose goal in extra time to propel the Germans past Italy 1-0 in the semi-final. Germany’s path to the Final included a 3-2 victory over Netherlands in the group stage and a 3-1 victory over Poland in the quarter-final.
Netherlands finished second behind Germany in the Group Stage after wins over Portugal and Denmark. Their road to the final included a 2-0 victory over Russia in the quarter-finals and a thrilling 3-1 semi-final victory over defending champion and pre-tournament favourite, Spain. In the semi-final match, Arjen Robben and David Villa traded first half goals before Van Persie put the Dutch ahead in the 64th minute. Spain had several efforts on goal in the final third of the match but couldn’t capitalize on its chances as they pushed all players forward in an attempt to draw even, eventually conceding a counter attack goal in the 86th minute from striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.
England had its hearts broken in the quarter-finals. After an absorbing 2-2 draw with Spain, England went out 4-3 on penalty kicks. The fifth English shooter, striker Andy Carroll, was stopped when keeper Iker Casillas guessed correctly, diving to his right to get a hand on the hard low shot that propelled Spain into the semi-finals. Wayne Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard all notched goals for England in the penalty shootout while Carroll and Jermain Defoe were stopped. Spain goals came from David Silva, Xabi Alonso, Andrés Iniesta, and Fernando Llorente.
Italy, after finishing second behind Spain in Group C with a 1-1-1 record, got a goal in the 77th minute from striker Mario Balotelli to defeat Group D winner France, 2-1, in their quarter-final match. Italy scored just four goals in the tournament and couldn’t generate any offence in its semi-final match against the Germans, finally succumbing 1-0 in extra time. The French suffered their only loss in the tournament to Italy, after drawing 2-2 with England and posting 2-0 wins over Ukraine and Sweden in the Group Stage.
EA SPORTS has a proven track record of correctly predicting winners using its game engines across all of its simulation sports franchises. EA SPORTS correctly predicted Chelsea would defeat Liverpool 2-1 to capture this year’s FA Cup and Spain would win the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. (The Madden NFL franchise has correctly predicted seven of the past nine Super Bowl champions.)
EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2012, the officially licensed videogame of UEFA EURO 2012™, is available now to purchase as a digital expansion pack on EA SPORTS FIFA 12. Visit http://www.ea.com/uk/football/euro12 for more information about the game features.
EA SPORTS CELEBRATES UEFA EURO 2012 WITH EXCLUSIVE FIFA 12 EXPANSION PACK
EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2012 Digital Expansion Pack To FIFA 12
Gives Fans The Best Way To Experience The Drama Of The Real-World Tournament
Electronic Arts Inc. announced today that EA SPORTS will celebrate UEFA EURO 2012 with the only officially licensed videogame of the 2012 European Football Championship which begins June 8 in Poland and Ukraine. EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2012 will be available as a paid digital expansion pack to fans who own EA SPORTS FIFA 12 on the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system, and PC. The videogame will be available to fans beginning April 24, 2012.
EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2012 recreates all the drama and excitement of the official tournament with all 53 UEFA member national teams, all eight official stadiums in the tournament, and all the pageantry and atmosphere of one of the largest and most-watched sporting events on the planet. Fans will be able to compete online* for national pride and glory as their favourite European country in the UEFA EURO 2012™ tournament against rival nations in the group stage, progress through the sudden victory knockout rounds, and ultimately compete for the chance to be crowned UEFA EURO 2012™ champion. Plus, a live service will drive real-life story lines from the UEFA EURO 2012™ qualifying campaign and during the tournament into the game, enabling fans to relive dramatic moments with challenges based on real-life matches. Challenges will enable fans to earn experience points and level up their EA SPORTS Football Club profile.
“This game will tap into the passion fans have for their national teams by capturing all of the national rivalries in-game, and re-creating all the emotion of the UEFA EURO 2012™ tournament,” said Producer Sebastian Enrique. “We are utilizing the best-playing FIFA videogame ever, driving live, digital content created from the biggest headlines from the tournament into the game, and offering an exclusive new mode that will challenge gamers in unique and compelling ways.”
The all-new Expedition Mode designed exclusively for UEFA EURO 2012 enables fans to build, manage and compete with a customized team against other European nations, crafting the perfect strategy for European domination. Fans will choose their favourite European player or FIFA 12 Virtual Pro to captain their customized team, win matches to earn better players from defeated nations, and then defeat the best nations to earn the best players in a campaign quest to defeat all 53 countries and complete the journey to conquer Europe.
UEFA EURO 2012 is developed by EA Canada in Burnaby, B.C and is scheduled for release on April 24, 2012 in North America and Europe, and April 25 in other countries around the world. It did escape our attention that the screenshots feature up-to-date federation kits. The new Tango 12 Adidas match ball doesn’t feature yet and we expect all the boots on display to be replaced by the time Eur 2012 comes around. We expect Ea Sports to be up-to-date when the expansion pack is released however.
FIFA 12 BOOT SPOTTING
It has been nearly two weeks since the launch of EA Sports’ Fifa 12 and here at TRW we can’t get enough of it. The game launched worldwide on the 30th September and within a week had broken a few records. 3.2 million units across all consoles worldwide in the opening week made it the biggest launch in the history of sports videogames and the biggest videogame launch of 2011 to date. As well love to do, we bring you a few interesting boots spots from the game.
Last year Fifa 11 gave a few surprises with some unreleased colourways but Fifa 12 has no such suprises. The biggest talking point in regards to boots in the game is the Puma factor. Puma have gone on a signing spree and have added a host of star players to their roster.
Steven Pienaar was one of the first players to join Puma however the Spurs winger, who hasn’t featured this season due to injury is in Electricity/Purple Adidas AdiZero boots.
Sergio Aguero was next to officially announce his joining up with Puma having worn a black-out pair of V1.11 boots at the start of the season. Aguero also tested Adidas AdiPure boots over the close season but ended up Nike Superfly III boots for the game.
Arguably the biggest boot change of the season has been Cesc Fabregas’ sensational switch from Nike CTR360 boots to become the new face of Puma’s PowerCat range. This deal is only a few weeks old so it is no surprise that Cesc is still in Nike White/Silver/Purple CTR360 boots in the game.
One player who did make it onto Fifa 12 with his new boots is Tierry Henry. The ex-Arsenal and Barcelona man recently switched from Reebok to Puma and wears the New York Red Bull kit matching Black/Red/White King Finale boots.
Joey Barton has spent most of the season in white or black-out Puma boots. The QPR midfielder has been testing out the soon to be released PowerCat 1.12 but will be in V1.11 boots in Fifa 12. Barton did start the season in V1.11 SL boots but these are surprisingly not even featured on the game.
So some official Puma players wont be in Puma boots in the game for some reason Arsenal’s Gervinho will be. Gervinho is very much a Nike Superfly III wearer so we were a little surprised to see that he some how ended up in V1.11 boots.
A few players also found their way into Nike T90 Laser IV boots. The likes of Rooney and Torres are expected to be in the new Nike power boots but we didn’t think we would see Rooney’s Manchester United strike partner Javier Hernandez in them as well. Hernandez has changed out of his White/Volt Tiempo Legend III boots since his arrival at United.
The same can be said of Mario Balotelli. The Italian striker has been an avid CTR360 Maestri wearer since his days at Inter Milan but was put in T90 boots for the game.
Hernandez’ teammate Antonio Valencia also had an interesting pair of boots assigned to him. Valencia has been wearing a badly blacked-out pair of Adidas AdiZero boots since returning from injury and was even spotted in Nike Tiempo Legend IV boots over the weekend but you will see him wearing Adidas AdiPower Predators in the game.
A player who should be in the new Predator is Everton’s Leighton Baines. The England fullback recently switched to the AdiPower but his artificial self wears Umbro Geometra Pro boots.
It is next to impossible to all the boots 1005 right but Fifa 12 is pretty accurate and features some really great boots. In the end though the game is about playing football and not the boots and that’s where Fifa 12 really excels. 200 million minutes of football were played in the opening week and there is no doubt there are billions more to be played.
EA SPORTS FIFA 12 PREVIEW
We aren’t that far from the launch of the new EA Sports Fifa 12. We are huge fans of the Fifa franchise here at TRW and cannot wait for our copy of Fifa 12 to arrive. Here in South Africa we were originally going to get the UK version cover featuring Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshire but have instead opted to go with Rooney and Kaka.
Fifa 12’s PC version promises to be better than ever as for the first time ever it features the award-winning gameplay and modes identical to PlayStation®3 and Xbox 360®, powered by the all-new Player Impact Engine.
FIFA 12 brings to the pitch the game-changing new Player Impact Engine, a physics engine built to deliver real-world physicality in every interaction on the pitch. Revolutionary gameplay innovations inspired by the real-world of football make FIFA 12 deeper and more engaging. All-new Precision Dribbling delivers a higher fidelity of touch on the ball for attacking players, while Tactical Defending fundamentally changes the approach to defending by placing equal importance on positioning, intercepting passes and tackling. Plus, CPU players have been infused with Pro Player Intelligence, the next generation of player intelligence and performance.
We are eager to get playing the new Fifa 12 but more importantly, we are eager to see if there are any boot surprises in the new game. Puma gave us a sneak peak at an unrealised colourway in Fifa 11 and we wonder if there will be any surprises this time around.