EA Sports FIFA Soccer 08 Launched

REDWOOD CITY, CA --(BW)-- Electronic Arts Inc. shipped FIFA Soccer 08 to stores throughout North America on all platforms, providing sports fans with a soccer videogame experience that matches the complexity, finesse and beauty of the real-world game. Further extending the season for players on the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system and PlayStation3 computer entertainment system, next month, EA SPORTS will offer a free downloadable feature update1 to FIFA Soccer 08 called Be A Pro: Online Team Play that will enable ten people anywhere in the world to connect online to play a single match of FIFA Soccer 08.

Developed by EA, FIFA Soccer 08 challenges players to master the skills required to play like a pro soccer player by introducing a new mode called Be A Pro: Offline Training. Be A Pro locks you into the role of a single, fixed player the entire game and challenges you to master the same disciplines as a real soccer player — from positioning and tackling to reading the field and passing. Users receive real time feedback and analysis on the fly and a unique camera angle keeps both player and action in focus, zooming in when you’re on attack.

With the launch of FIFA Soccer 08 on PlayStation3, soccer fans and gamers can now kick-off their campaign to show off their gaming skills on the global stage as the online tournament of the fourth annual FIFA Interactive World Cup begins on PlayStationNetwork. The online leg will run parallel to numerous live qualifier events across the globe from October ’07 through April ’08. The tournament is the world’s only officially FIFA sanctioned global soccer gaming competition and delivers all the excitement of being on the real FIFA World Cup soccer pitch. It will culminate in the Grand Final in the Sony Centre in Berlin in May 2008 and will see the winner walk away with an invitation to the FIFA World Player Gala 2008 and USD $20,000 in prize money. For official rules and to register and keep track of your ranking on the FIFA Interactive World Cup leaderboard, go to www.FIFA.com/FIWC.

FIFA Soccer 08 features a new, organic building-block system that enables you to combine tricks and skill moves together to recreate signature moves from the real-world superstars or define your own style of play. You can even capture video of your best moves and goals in-game and upload to the FIFA Soccer 08 website to show off your style and celebrate your glory with friends across the globe. In addition, FIFA Soccer 08 features a true next-generation ball-striking engine that re-creates the drama and unpredictable nature of shooting, and the inclusion of 576 licensed teams, 30 leagues, and more than 15,000 players.

The new Be A Pro: Online Team Play feature, available for the Xbox 360 and the PLAYSTATION 3 in November, enables up to five friends on five different consoles to select and take control of their own individual players on the same team, supported by AI teammates, to play against up to five rivals of another team. Alternatively, online users can select to play with free roaming players, and teams can have a combination of both.

In addition to Be A Pro: Online Team Play, the online feature set in FIFA Soccer 08 includes the award-winning Interactive Leagues, where you represent your club online against your rivals throughout the season in the F.A. Premier League, Bundesliga, French League or Mexican 1st Division and features weekly in-game pod casts by the development team, and Online Leagues, where you create and organize your own multiplayer Friends Leagues and tournaments with all the tools in-game.

This year FIFA Soccer 08 debuts on the Wii, enabling fans to pass, shoot, and perform trick moves all with a flick of the wrist. The game’s revolutionary FreeMotion controls help level the playing field for all players and turns FIFA Soccer 08 on the Wii into a physical, social activity. Cover athlete Ronaldinho is the first professional soccer player to appear as a customized and playable character exclusively for the Wii. Ronaldinho will host a game mode called Footii Party with Ronaldinho. With this mode, EA introduces unique party games - including Table Soccer, Keep Up and Shoot Off – where you can play as your self-created Mii character to unlock Ronaldinho and take on the champ. Each Footii Party game is created as a multiplayer, social experience designed to engage and entertain fans of all ages.

FIFA Soccer 08, developed by EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C., is in stores now for the Xbox 360™, PlayStation3, PlayStation2 computer entertainment system, Wii, Nintendo DS, PSP (PlayStationPortable) system, PC and mobile. It is rated “E” (Everyone) by the ESRB and 3+ by PEGI.