EA has formally announced FIFA 12, "a revolutionary not evolutionary" next step for the series.

The crux of the "transformation" stems from a Player Impact Engine that EA has been beavering away at for two years.

"The Player Impact Engine processes decisions continuously in real-time at every point of contact on a player's body to create an infinite variety of natural and believable outcomes in every collision," EA explained.

These physics also apply to injuries, as the game analyses "the force of the collision and impact on the body". Send a non-fully recovered player out at your own peril.

We've already seen the results of the Player Impact Engine in a leaked FIFA 12 video.

However, the Impact Engine will only power the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of the game. FIFA 12 will also be released on PC, Wii, PS2, 3DS, PSP and the iOS trinity of platforms.

Complimenting the Impact Engine will be precision dribbling for tight control, tactical defending and pro player intelligence. The latter bestows rudimentary personalities upon footballers. Kaka will apparently be "more likely - and quicker - to pick out a run from a teammate farther away than a player with poorer vision".

Elsewhere, the Career mode will expand to tell "real-world storylines" that involve player morale, on-pitch form and league position.

There's a "brand new", customisable menu system tailored towards your choice of arena player, Virtual Pro and favourite club.

Matches gain a "real-world broadcast look and feel", "dramatically improved lighting", "more authentic crowds" and a new default camera angle.

On PS3, up to seven people can play FIFA 12 together offline. On Xbox 360, that number is four.

Online, up to 22 people can play FIFA 12 together in full 11 vs. 11 matches.

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...reveal-details ...

60-second ad during tomorrow’s final will bring Activision’s largest ever reveal campaign to a close
A trailer for Modern Warfare 3 will be shown during tomorrow’s Champions League final on Sky Sports and ITV1.
The ad will mark the culmination of what Activision described to MCV as “the largest ever reveal campaign undertaken so far for the Call of Duty franchise in the UK�.
The campaign kicked off on Saturday, May 14th with four teaser trailers, which have generated over 7.8m views on YouTube alone so far.
Earlier this week, the full reveal trailer was released worldwide, and aired during the US broadcast of the NBA Western Conference finals. Activision has also launched its UK online campaign with an MSN homepage takeover and ran the first TV teaser spots on Sky Sports News.
“We’re really excited to start showing our fans what they can expect from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3,� Activision’s European marketing director for COD Daniel Green told MCV.
“With over 7m YouTube views of our reveal trailer since it was released on Tuesday, it seems our fans are just as excited.�
Other major upcoming games due to be advertised during the Champions League final include Microsoft’s Gears of War 3 and Sony’s Infamous 2.

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/44523/MW3-...ns-League-spot ...

New release from Tantric (and missed in our downtime) of the GBA emulator for Wii And Gamecube:


Visual Boy Advance GX is a modified port of VBA-M.
With it you can play GBA/Game Boy Color/Game Boy games on your Wii/GameCube.

-=[ Features ]=-

* Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic, and Gamecube controller support
* Rotation sensors, Solar sensors, and Rumble support
* Optional special Wii controls built-in for some games
* SRAM and State saving
* IPS/UPS patch support
* Custom controller configurations
* SD, USB, DVD, SMB, Zip, and 7z support
* Compatibility based on VBA-M r927
* MEM2 ROM Storage for fast access
* Auto frame skip for those core heavy games
* Turbo speed, video zooming, widescreen, and unfiltered video options

×—–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ –­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”â €“­â€”–­â€”–­â€” ­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ —-­â€”–­-–•¬
|0O×øo· UPDATE HISTORY ·oø×O0|
`¨•¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨'

[2.2.5 - May 15, 2011]

* Added Turkish translation

Download Via Comments

http://code.google.com/p/vba-wii/ ...

New release from Tantric (and missed in our downtime) of the Nes emulator for Wii And Gamecube:

FCE Ultra GX is a modified port of the FCE Ultra Nintendo Entertainment
system for x86 (Windows/Linux) PCs. With it you can play NES games on your
Wii/GameCube.

-=[ Features ]=-

* Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic, and Gamecube controller support
* iNES, FDS, VS, UNIF, and NSF ROM support
* 1-4 Player Support
* Zapper support
* Auto Load/Save Game States and RAM
* Custom controller configurations
* SD, USB, DVD, SMB, Zip, and 7z support
* Custom controller configurations
* 16:9 widescreen support
* Original/filtered/unfiltered video modes
* Turbo Mode - up to 2x the normal speed
* Cheat support (.CHT files and Game Genie)
* Famicom 3D System support
* IPS/UPS automatic patching support
* NES Compatibility Based on FCEUX 2.1.4
* Open Source!

×—–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ –­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”â €“­â€”–­â€”–­â€” ­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­â€”–­ —-­â€”–­-–•¬
|0O×øo· UPDATE HISTORY ·oø×O0|
`¨•¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨ ¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨¨'

[3.2.6 - May 15, 2011]

* Fixed audio skipping (thanks thiagoalvesdealmeida!)
* Added Turkish translation

Download Via Comments

http://code.google.com/p/fceugc/ ...

New release from Tantric (and missed in our downtime) of the Snes emulator for Wii And Gamecube:

Snes9x GX is a Super Nintendoâ„¢ / Super Famicom emulator for the Nintendo Wii.
Snes9x GX is a port of Snes9x (http://www.snes9x.com).

Snes9x GX is a "homebrew application" which means you will need a way to run
unsigned code on your Nintendo Wii. The best website for getting started with
Wii homebrew is WiiBrew (www.wiibrew.org).

•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•
| FEATURES |
•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•

* Based on Snes9x 1.52
* Wiimote, Nunchuk, Classic, and Gamecube controller support
* SNES Superscope, Mouse, Justifier support
* Cheat support
* Auto Load/Save Game Snapshots and SRAM
* Custom controller configurations
* SD, USB, DVD, SMB, Zip, and 7z support
* Autodetect PAL/NTSC, 16:9 widescreen support
* Original/filtered/unfiltered video modes
* Turbo Mode - up to 2x the normal speed
* Zoom option to zoom in/out
* Open Source!

•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•
| UPDATE HISTORY |
•˜———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - —————————––––– ———–—––-- - ————————•

[4.2.8 - May 15, 2011]

* Ported a few upstream game fixes for: Mutant Chronicles - Doom Troopers,
Porky Pig's Haunted Holiday, Big Sky Trooper, and Mechwarrior 3050 / Battle
Tech 3050
* Added Turkish translation

Download Via Comments

http://code.google.com/p/snes9x-gx/ ...

The Japanese games market finally has a new number one, although sales for both software and hardware remain in the doldrums.

Acquire's self-published Akiba's Trip involves defeating vampire-like creatures by ripping off their clothes and exposing their body parts to sunlight. Set in Akihabara's busy shopping district the PSP game seems unlikely to enjoy a Western release and sold only 58,150 units to get to number one.

Tecmo's Dead or Alive Dimensions is the highest-charting 3DS game since the system's launch, but it sold only a meagre 23,078 units at number two.

Strategy game Gungnir at number four sold just 16,355 units and while Valve's Portal 2 on PlayStation 3 is a surprise entry at number six it registered only 8,942 unit sales.

The lowest ranked title in the top 10, 3DS title Steel Diver, sold only 4,583 units to ensure its appearance in the chart.

Hardware sales, obtained by website Andriasang, were similarly unimpressive, although the now familiar hierarchy was undisturbed as most formats saw sales decrease by a similar proportion.

The PSP led with 30,463 unit sales, followed by the 3DS on 17,240. The PlayStation 3 was down to 12,935, while the Wii was almost unchanged at 6,269.

Last Week This Week Title Format
New Entry 1 Akiba's Trip PSP
New Entry 2 Dead or Alive Dimensions 3DS
1 3 Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional DS
New Entry 4 Gungnir PSP
5 5 Patapon 3 PSP
New Entry 6 Portal 2 PS3
6 7 Pro Baseball Spirits 2011 PSP
11 8 Wii Party Wii
14 9 Pokémon Black/White DS
3 10 Steel Diver 3DS
Platform This Week Last Week
PSP 30,463 34,655
3DS 17,240 18,324
PlayStation 3 12,935 13,789
Wii 6,269 6,336
Nintendo DSi XL 5,176 5,358
Nintendo DSi 4,938 5,292
Xbox 360 2,186 2,763
PlayStation 2 1,129 1,319
Nintendo DS Lite 158 208
PSPgo 65 171

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...slump-in-japan ...

Rockstar Games' L.A. Noire has become the fastest-selling new intellectual property ever in the UK, as it debuts at number one in the weekly sales chart.

Although as usual no specific sales data has been released, chart creators Chart-Track indicate that L.A. Noire sold on par with Rockstar's previous hit Red Dead Redemption, released at the same time in 2010.

Sales of the game, which started life as a PlayStation 3 exclusive, were fairly evenly split at 58 per cent for the Xbox 360 version and 42 per cent for the PlayStation 3. As a result L.A. Noire becomes the 13th fastest-selling Xbox 360 of all time in the UK and the 11th fastest on the PlayStation 3.

The other major new entry of the week, released on Tuesday rather than the Friday of L.A. Noire and most other new games, is PC exclusive The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. The game debuted at number five in the all format charts and sold three times more than the original game in its launch week.

There was little other movement in the chart, with Lego Pirates of the Caribbean down only 6 per cent at number two, but Brink dropping by 48 per cent to number three.

Retail promotions saw an increase in sales of 71 per cent for Crysis 2 at number six. There was also a 266 per cent increase in sales for Mario Kart Wii thanks to the launch of the new lower priced Wii hardware bundle. The game remained just outside the top 20 though, at number 23.

This Week Last Week Title
1 New Entry L.A. Noire
2 2 Lego Pirates of the Caribbean
3 1 Brink
4 3 Zumba Fitness
5 New Entry The Witcher 2
6 9 Crysis 2
7 4 Portal 2
8 8 FIFA 11
9 6 Mortal Kombat
10 5 Call of Duty: Black Ops
11 11 Just Dance 2
12 7 Lego Star Wars III
13 Re-entry Wii Sports Resort
14 18 Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
15 15 Red Dead Redemption
16 12 Operation Flashpoint: Red River
17 10 MX vs. ATV Alive
18 13 Wii Fit Plus
19 Re-entry Homefront
20 16 Pokémon Black

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...-ip-ever-in-uk ...

"Wii 2 rumors are flying in advance of Nintendo's official reveal at E3 in June, but what would game developers like to see in a Wii successor? 'Without a doubt, my first request would be for an improved digital marketplace more along the lines of XBLA and PSN,' said one developer. 'We'd love more processing power, which is essential, and a better GPU as well,' said another."A related article asks whether a high-powered new console really fits with Nintendo's strategy: "Nintendo is undoubtedly building its new system around a chipset it can buy for cheap and develop for with ease, and it'll be the system's peripheral capabilities (literally peripheral, if rumors of its fancy controller pan out) that catch people's attention — that the company will bank on using as the hook for consumers."

http://games.slashdot.org/story/11/0...Wiis-Successor ...

A new hardware and software bundle will signify a long-expected price drop for Nintendo's Wii, with the Mario Kart Wii Pack going on sale for £129.99 from May 20.
Due to EU regulations Nintendo is not allowed to state a retail price itself but in the U.S. the same bundle will priced at $149.99, down from $199.99.
The Mario Kart Wii Pack does not include either Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort, but instead a copy of Mario Kart Wii and a Wii Wheel - as well as the console itself and a single remote and nunchuck.
At the same time Nintendo will be reducing the trade price of its existing Wii Sports Resort Pack, which includes a black Wii console, Wii RemotePlus, nunchuck and a copy of Wii Sports and Wii Sports Resort on one disc. This is also expected to sell for £129.99/$149.99.
The company has also announced the Nintendo Selects range of re-released budget titles, that will initially include Wii Sports, WarioWare: Smooth Moves, Mario Strikers Charged Football, and Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City.
The new range will launch on May 20, with sister site Eurogamer quoting a price of £19.99 for each title.
The label will go on sale in North America on May 15 but with a different line-up: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City, Mario Super Sluggers and Wii Sports.

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...wii-price-drop
...