Electronic Arts (EA) Executive Producer of Football Andrew Wilson recently had a chat with gaming site Computer and Video Games (CVG) about the future of sports in video games, especially during this cycle of the console war. If you think FIFA 07 is next-gen already, you will be surprised with EA's plans.

Before that though, Wilson couldn't help but reminisce on what their development team experienced while making FIFA video games for the current-gen consoles. He lamented,

We ran out of space on the disc with current gen. Last year's FIFA had 26 leagues, 15 thousand players, kits, players, stadiums, audio and music, you just run out of space. The next-gen discs have got more space so in the short term we will have much more commentary on our games.

After that, the official remarked that they are quite happy with the online capabilities of today's video gaming consoles, especially those of the Xbox 360's and PlayStation 3's (PS3). When asked about possible additions to upcoming titles, Andrew Wilson focused on the game's commentary features.

According to him, EA is considering to pop in "dynamic commentary" in their games so fans wouldn't be hearing the same statement twice. This, according to Wilson, can be done on a weekly basis. His exact words were,

But think about competitions. Imagine having commentators popping up to commentate on interactive games. So you're not reliant on commentary from our game anymore, you got someone who gets online and comments every week instead, who then gets a reputation.

Pretty exciting, don't you think so? We wonder now when this dynamic commentary feature will be incorporated to the game. It better be sooner than later.

Here are the titles which topped the charts of the Xbox Live most played games for the week of 7/3/06, straight from Major Nelson himself;

(Xbox 360) Top Live Games
1) Call of Duty 2
2) Ghost Recon 3
3) Oblivion
4) BFMC
5) Prey Demo
6) Final Fantasy XI
7) EA SPORTS™ Fight Night Round 3
8) 2006 FIFA World Cup
9) PGR3
10) Perfect Dark Zero

(Original Xbox) Top Live Games
1) Halo 2
2) Battlefield 2: MC
3) Counter-Strike
4) Splinter Cell Chaos
5) Rainbow Six 3 BA
6) Star Wars: Battlefront 2
7) Pro Evolution Soccer 5
8) Madden NFL 2006
9) Forza Motorsport
10) Splinter Cell Chaos

Mr. Nelson apologized for not being able to give title-specific data, but he did say that if both lists were combined, Halo 2 would be number 1 on the chart (followed by all 360 games).

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U.K. Soccer champ Shaun Wright-Phillips will soon be taking time off the field to test his "virtual" skills against XBox Live members next week when he joins the XBox® Team for a Game With Fame session on its top soccer title, 2006 FIFA World Cup™ .  To get their shot at SW, XBox Live members should sign on and add Game With Fame Gamertags to their friends list. After that, go to XBox Live this coming Tuesday, 20 June between 5 and 7 pm GMT to see if you've been invited.

Microsoft touts its XBox 360 as "the most powerful video game and entertainment system, delivering the best games, the next generation of the premier Xbox Live online gaming service, and unique digital entertainment experiences."  The online  gaming service, XBox Live®, was launched in North America, Europe and Japan last year, with Columbia, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Korea added just this year.

Promoting its game for the Xbox360, 2006 FIFA World Cup Soccer, Electronic Arts will be giving away what it says in the world's most expensive game. If you're in the U.K., visit one of the stores listed below, and you'll have a chance to win a replica of the game created in Sterling Silver, 18 karat gold and cut diamonds.

The game replica is valued at over £20,000 (about $37,000 USD).

EA is touring the locations listed below. In addition to showing the Grand Prize, they will be running mini-tournaments, giving gamers chances to win some other prizes.

EA's 2006 FIFA WCS tour starts tomorrow, and will be visiting the following locations:

Saturday 27th May
124 Peel Centre, Trafford Centre Manchester

Sunday 28th May
67-69 Princes Street, Stockport

Monday 29th May
14 King Charles Walk, Schofield Centre, Leeds

Tuesday 30th May
Unit 3, 5 Spurriergate, York

Thursday 1st June
Lakeside Shopping Centre, Thurrock, Essex

Friday 2nd June
100 Oxford Street, London

Saturday 3rd June

226 Commercial Road, Portsmouth, Hampshire

Well there are a bunch of new picture packs for 2006 FIFA World Cup that just became available to download on the marketplace. Each of the picture packs looks to cover different parts of the World's soccer teams. The list is as follows:

• African Picture Pack: 100 Microsoft Points
  
• Asian Zone Picture Pack: 80 Microsoft Points,
• European Zone Picture Pack: 260 Microsoft Points
• North and Central American Picture Pack: 80 Microsoft Points
• Oceania Zone Picture Pack: 20 Microsoft Points
• South American Zone Picture Pack: 80 Microsoft Points
• All Zones Picture Pack, that should be a combined picture pack of all of the above backs, coming in at 500 Microsoft Points.

Go ahead and check them out if you are really into soccer, or if you just randomly want to get rid of your Microsoft points...

It looks like a 2006 FIFA World Cup Demo went live over the Marketplace earlier today. The demo weights in at 644.63, but it's not as bad as some of the demos on the Marketplace. If you haven't already picked up the newest soccer game, but feel like giving it a shot ( it's free what do you have to lose?) go to your dashboard and give it a download. I'm starting to my download right now, so make sure to let us know how it plays and what you think about FIFA's second soccer game for the 360.

With the news of Winning Eleven 10 being unveiled at E3 it looks like EA needed a way to show off their new soccer game 2006 FIFA World Cup soccer game to get consumers to check it out if they haven't picked it up already. Well there is a trailer for the new FIFA available on the marketplace in the usual 480p and 720p formats. The trailer showcases some clips of gameplay and the good news is that the game looks a lot better and less shinier than FIFA 06: Road to World Cup which came out at launch.

The FIFA series will be in the hands, and feet, of Electronic Arts for the foreseeable future.

Today, EA sports announced it is extending its exclusive license with FIFA through 2014. The deal grants EA the rights to make any and all types of FIFA-branded soccer games - be it sim, manager, or whatever genre EA chooses. Not only for consoles, this agreement covers mobile phone and Web-based games, as well.

EA and FIFA first joined forces in 1993, when EA released FIFA International Soccer for the Sega Genesis. The company released FIFA Street in 2005.

The latest FIFA-branded EA game is 2006 FIFA World Cup, available in stores now. And today's deal will probably bring two more World Cup soccer games from EA in 2010 and 2014.

This is the latest long-term agreement to continue the EA sports dynasty. EA currently has exclusive deals with FIFA, NASCAR, the National Football League, the Arena Football League, NCAA College Football, the PGA, and pro golfer Tiger Woods.

Can you monopoly?

Today IGN has posted their review of 2006 FIFA World Cup, which comes out April 24th, in which all together they gave the game a 8.4 out of 10. IGN's Reviews go into 5 different categories for the title.

• Presentation-(9.0)
  Every national anthem, facts about each country, every World Cup stadium -- EA nailed the international spectacle that is the World Cup.
• Graphics-(7.0)
  The cutscenes and replays look terrific, as do player animations, but regular gameplay is only decent, visually. That's videogame soccer for you.
• Sound-(8.0)
  Excellent work in the audio booth and with a responsive, riotous crowd. We're not sure which country will appreciate the song list, but it's probably not this one.
• Gameplay-(8.5)
  Yes it's a good imitation of Winning Eleven, but FIFA does manage to innovate with star players, shooting and PKs. Imitator or not, this is a fun soccer game to play.
• Lasting Appeal-(6.0)
  World Cup games are traditionally shallow and, while this is the deepest World Cup game yet, there should be more bang for your buck with some kind of manager mode.

2006 FIFA World Cup is EA's latest soccer game in the FIFA series in it's EA Sports line up and the second FIFA game for the 360 the first being FIFA 06: Road to FIFA World Cup which came out at launch. Soccer fans should make sure to check out the newest FIFA game as FIFA will be the sponsor of next month's Free Xbox Live Week.

EA has given out a press release which reveals more screenshots of its upcoming soccer title, 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany. It will be developed by EA Canada, located in Vancouver BC, who has worked on the SSX series along with the NHL series, Need For Speed series, and past FIFA titles. The game will launch in time for you to enjoy it during the World Cup in Germany.