FIFA (series)

FIFA series
Developer(s) EA Sports
Publisher(s) Electronic Arts
Platform(s) Current:
Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, Mobile Phone, Nintendo DS, Wii

Notable past systems:
Mega Drive, SNES, PlayStation, GameCube, Xbox, GBA, Sega Saturn, Nintendo 64, GB, GBC, 3DO, Sega 32x, Sega Game Gear, Sega Master System, Sega Mega-CD, Amiga, Nokia N-gage, Gizmondo, DOS
Release date(s) Annually, 1993-present
Genre(s) Association football
Mode(s) Single player, multiplayer (all versions)

FIFA Football, also known as FIFA Soccer or FIFA in some regions, is a series of football video games, released annually by Electronic Arts under the EA Sports label. While there was no major competition when EA released the first titles in their Madden NFL and NHL series, football video games such as Sensible Soccer, Kick Off and Matchday Soccer had been developed since the late eighties and were already competitive in the games market when EA announced a soccer game as their next addition to the EA Sports label.

When the series began in late 1993 it was notable for being the first to have an official licence from FIFA. The latest installments in the series contain many exclusively-licenced leagues and teams from around the world, including the English Premier League and Football League, Italian Serie A, Spanish Primera Liga, the Australian A-League and US Major League Soccer, allowing the use of real leagues, clubs, and player names and likenesses within the games.

The main series has been complemented by additional installments based on single major soccer tournaments, such as the FIFA World Cup, UEFA European Championship, and UEFA Champions League, as well as a series of football management titles.

Despite the obvious commercial success of the franchise, the games more often than not receive poor to average reviews from the dedicated press. However, the last few entries have been viewed as significant improvements and credible challengers to Konami's Winning Eleven series.
History
The key points of EA's early advertising campaigns were the isometric view of the pitch (when other games used either top down, side scrolling or bird's eye views), detailed graphics and animations, and of course the FIFA endorsement (although the first game did not feature real player names). It was shipped for Christmas 1993, named FIFA International Soccer, and was released for most popular platforms of the time. In every Fifa game there has been at least 500000 to 1million fans increase.

While FIFA 95 did not add much other than the ability to play with club teams, FIFA 96 pushed the boundaries. For the first time with real player names by obtaining the FIFPro license, the PC, 32X and Sega Saturn versions used EA's "Virtual Stadium" engine, with 2D sprite players moving on a real-time 3D stadium. FIFA 97 had crude polygonal models for players and added indoor football, but the new pinnacle was reached with FIFA 98: Road to World Cup. This version featured improved graphics, a complete World Cup with qualifying rounds (including all national teams) and refined gameplay. Months later, World Cup 98, EA's first officially licensed tournament game, improved Direct3D support, gave each team a unique kit and broke the sequence of poor video games based on tournaments started by US Gold's World Cup Carnival in 1986 and continued until Gremlin Interactive's Euro 96.

FIFA games have been met with some criticism, such as for the minimal improvements each title features over its predecessor. As the console market expanded, FIFA was challenged directly by other titles such as Konami's Pro Evolution Soccer (known as Winning Eleven in Japan and the US). Both FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer have a large following but FIFA enjoys a higher volume of sales.[citation needed]

FIFA is the only video game series to be published on the same console platform (in this case the original Sony PlayStation) for ten successive years (FIFA Soccer 96 published in 1995, through to FIFA Football 2005 published in 2004). EA's Madden NFL series appeared on the PlayStation for nine straight years.