Have you ever dreamed of being able to play like football greats such as Ronaldinho, Peter Crouch, and Gennaro Gattuso? Well, developer Electronic Arts may actually be able to bring you a step closer to experiencing just that. EA has just named these very football stars to grace the covers of its FIFA Street 3 games scheduled for release in February 2008.

Eager for more? Read to the full article after the jump.

An announcement made earlier today by Ascaron Entertainment claimed that the European game developer has just partnered with the Electronic Sports World Cup (ESWC) Germany to provide exclusive competitive multiplayer matches and demonstrations of SACRED 2 Fallen Angel (for the PC and Xbox 360) in the upcoming Games Convention 2007 in Leipzig, Germany.

In accordance with this partnership, SACRED 2 will be made available during the Games Convention Developers Conference (GCDC) 2007 by the ESWC Germany booths on the exhibition floors. Excerpts of the title's multiplayer features designed specifically for the event can be experienced in a 16-player match-up in an exclusive arena set up by the ESWC.

A dedicated SACRED 2 registration page is scheduled to be available soon for interested applicants, and the event will periodically monitor and update rankings as the competition moves forward through the multi-day games exhibition. Nescho Topalov, managing director of Top Ideas Marketing & Events GmbH concluded the announcement, stating:

SACRED 2 Fallen Angel will definitely claim a prominent place within eSports. Many fans, including eSports fans, are already showing a high interest in this extraordinary action RPG. We are very pleased to be able to present this title exclusively to our visitors.

Cricket fans, it's time to practice your Brian Lara skills, because the Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 playable demo can already be downloaded as of now.

Xbox 360 and PC gamers will be able to download the demo from Microsoft in time for the official opening of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 this weekend. The demo plays a one-day warm-up match between England and Australia taken from the ICC Champions Trophy last year in India.

Brian Lara International Cricket 2007 will officially be launched March 23 this year. It is described to be the most authentic edition, with the most content in the series. This game is also the first ever to offer online play over Xbox Live and PC LAN online. We know you'd be scrambling to get the demo now, but in the meantime, check out the screen shots of the demo.

More demo screens over at Full Article.

 

Konami's Winning Eleven (Xbox 360, PSP, Nintendo DS) series has made football lovers believe that there is a good football game out there that they could enjoy playing hours with. Every release is met with excitement and enthusiasm from football/gaming aficionados. Now, the game's associate product manager, Colin Ferris, chatted with 1UP about what's next for the series, what's missing from it, and what makes it kickass.

He mentions that one thing that he is proud of is their accomplishments on the Xbox 360 version. He shares that:

In fact, all the screens and videos we have used for marketing the 360 version have been created using the in-game engine. There's no need to touch up the video when it looks this good....We truly did build the 360 version from the ground up. I'll repeat: this is not a port of the PS2 game. Besides amazing graphics, the next generation of consoles allows us to get more realistic in terms of physics and gameplay. In order to take full advantage of new features in coming versions for next generation, the development team felt the need to start over and not burden themselves with code designed for the last generation

Now, the inevitable question - what is Konami's plans for the PS3? He divulges that "WE: PES 2007 will not be released on the PS3, but Konami does support all the next generation consoles. You'll have to wait and see for future announcements."

Ferris also shared that they have worked very hard on including the licenses for the teams that they know that their fan-base would want. Unlike FIFA, Winning Eleven Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 included all of the World Cup teams (FIFA excluded eight teams). He was also questioned about the lack of the USA National team license for a US release, which he answered by saying:

As with all sports games, licensing is always difficult. In the case of soccer, you have the leagues, the teams, and the team's sponsors all to deal with. Do we get everything we want? Absolutely not, otherwise every single team in the world would be in the game. However, we are very focused on increasing the presence of North American teams in the game. Personally, the addition of Argentina in WE: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 is one of my favorite new teams to play with.

You could check out the word-per-word account of the interview by clicking on our read link below.

You guys are probably too busy playing multiplayer on Gears, but just in case you care, here's the news: Andries Smit from the Netherlands emerged victorious from the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2006, after beating Austrian Wolfgang Meier in a grueling Grand Final that had its final score pegged at 6:4.

Here's what Smit had to say after receiving the prize money of $20,000:

I’m absolutely amazed, stunned and delighted! I thought that it was just great to be in the Grand Final, but here I am leaving with the title and a trip to Zurich to the FIFA World Player Gala! I can’t believe it! The whole tournament was just brilliant

Even though the football was all virtual (they were playing FIFA 07), Amsterdam's Westergasfabriek was tightly packed with 1,500 spectators. What's nice about this year is that this years' Cup can truly be called a global event. In addition to the qualifying events that took place around the world, players from 25 countries competed on Xbox Live for their place in the Grand Final. This year’s finalists also met the 16 final contestants from the two previous FIWC tournaments.

Too bad last year's winner didn't get as much as this year's did.

The smoke has cleared, the battle is over, and the crowds go wild in Geneva, Switzerland. It's been a month since the FIFA Interactive World Cup (FIWC), and today, we're happy to announce that amid all the grueling matches and nail-biting moments of the competition, 128 finalists have now secured their place in the FIWC Grand Final for FIFA 07.

These finalists will be given an all-expense-paid trip to the Westergasfabriek, Amsterdam on December 9. Here, these 128 finalists will be facing off in the final matches to determine who becomes FIFA Interactive World Player 2006. The winner receives a cash prize of US$ 20,000, and will be invited to attend the FIFA World Payer Gala 2006 at the Opera House in Zurich on December 18, Monday.

Drawn in from a combination of 38 qualifying events, and Xbox Live eliminations from 25 different countries, these 128 competitors are chosen as the winners of their own local events, consisting of 68 off-line qualifiers, 44 Xbox Live qualifiers, and 16 previous FIWC finalists.

Richard Teversham, Head of Marketing, Xbox Europe:

We’re really excited to be part of the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2006 - exclusively bringing next generation, high-definition football gaming action to players across the globe with FIFA 07. The gaming tournament on Xbox Live was a great success allowing our 4 million members worldwide the chance be part of this great competition and take on their friends. It will be great to see the finals played out on the screen in Amsterdam, just like being at a big match for real.

FIFA, Microsoft Xbox, and Electronic Arts have recently announced the third annual FIFA Interactive World Cup. On October 27th, football fans from around the world will get a chance to compete in the world’s only FIFA-sanctioned global video game tournament.

The competition is set to combine online (via Xbox Live) and offline (via live events) next generation football gaming using FIFA 07. The winner of this year’s tournament will be invited to the FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich on the December 18 2006, and receive a cash prize of 20,000 dollars.

Last year, Xbox Live entrant Chris Bullard from Ipswich, England, emerged victorious. His opponent during the finals at The Brewery in London, was Gabor Mokos, of Kecskemét, Hungary. Nice name for the setting of a football final. Brewery. Cool.

This year, players can either attend one of the many FIWC06 Qualifier Events, or enter the Xbox Live tournaments in 25 countries. You can register starting November 1, so you still have time to practice (hey, the demo is downloadable after all).

In a competition like this, we know the one thing you guys would want to say over that Xbox 360 Headset: Goal!

Okay, so the trademark "impassioned soccer announcer" won't be yelling "Gooooooooaaaaaaaaaaal!" every time you hit one of these PES6 Achievements. Nevertheless, you can rack these 23 goals and 1,000 Gamer Points up with your footie skills on the 360. Show the world who's master of the pitch in both offline and ranked online play.

Of course, if you do end up being matched up against someone who could take a high school soccer team to the World Cup in real life, may Pele have mercy on you.

• Won the Serie A: Aim to win the Serie A. = (40)
• Won the Eredivisie: Aim to win the Eredivisie. = (40)
• Won the Liga Española: Aim to win the Liga Española. = (40)
• Won the Ligue 1: Aim to win the Ligue 1. = (40)
• Won the England League: Aim to win the England League. = (40)
• Won the International League: Aim to win the International League. = (40)
• Won the Reebok Cup: Aim to win the Reebok Cup. = (40)
• Won the International Cup: Aim to win the International Cup. = (40)
• Won the European Cup: Aim to win the European Cup. = (40)
• Won the African Cup: Aim to win the African Cup. = (40)
• Won the American Cup: Aim to win the American Cup. = (40)
• Won the Asia-Oceanian Cup: Aim to win the Asia-Oceanian Cup. = (40)
• Won the Konami Cup: Aim to win the Konami Cup. = (40)
• Won the Master League: D2 League: Aim to win the Master League: D2 League. = (40)
• Won the Master League: D2 Cup: Aim to win the Master League: D2 Cup. = (40)
• Won the Master League: D1 League: Aim to win the Master League: D1 League. = (40)
• Won the Master League: D1 Cup: Aim to win the Master League: D1 Cup. = (40)
• First online match: Experience online matches (ranked match) = (20)
• 10 online matches: Aim to play 10 online matches (ranked match) = (10)
• 100 online matches: Aim to play 100 online matches (ranked match) = (100)
• 10 online matches won: Aim to win 10 online matches (ranked match) = (20)
• 50 online matches won: Aim to win 50 online matches (ranked match)  = (50)
• 100 online matches won: Aim to win 100 online matches (ranked match)  = (120)

Yeah, by now, every person that has seriously embraced video gaming as part of his/her life is aware of the sudden changes that'll prompt him/her to bid farewell to the E3 as he/she knew it. The Halls of QJ has been ringing with dead silence every single time the matter is brought up (it's happening right now). But we all have to move on as E3, arguably gamers' own version of World Cup and Winter Olympics, undergoes some major tweaks that'll indirectly affect all of us.

Entertainment Software Association president Doug Lowenstein, in an interview with Wall Street Journal, has revealed what exactly those "major tweaks" will be - a new name, a new venue and a new date. According to him, the event will be dubbed as the E3 Media Festival starting next year, cementing thoughts that the affair will now only be joined by members of the press from various media.

From last E3's groundbreaking attendance of 60,000 visitors, next year's event will have a toned-down population of around 5000 people. In fact, Lowenstein has cited that the huge number of participants is primarily the reason why all the changes are being made, saying that "some companies were frustrated because E3 was such a huge, sweeping event it became increasingly difficult to get their messages out."

Instead of the traditional May affair, the next E3 (if we could still call it that) will be held on July to give publishers more time to develop their projects and to strategically bring it nearer to Christmas where most games are usually released. The event will also say goodbye to the Los Angeles Convention Center as the ESA divulged plans to use two hotels, holding press events and meetings in suites and conference rooms - there goes our booths and the booth babes along with it.

As much as we want to present this news as an objective one, it's really hard not to choke out some disappointments while tackling the matter. The gamer in us conquers the inner writer/reporter as it cry for the game demos open for civilians, promos for the attendees, E3 booth babes, lost opportunities for smaller developers, and the shed "people image" of the event we used to know as E3...

Codemasters breathes new next-gen life to the Brian Lara Cricket series with 2007 Brian Lara International Cricket. The game is headed to the Xbox 360, PS2 and PC in March 2007 to coincide with the ICC Cricket World Cup 2007 (another World Cup that will go unnoticed by Americans, I reckon). Even if the bat-and-ball sport is way up my list of bizarre sports (next to curling), I'd be willing to play a game or two. If I ever get to understand the rules, that is.

The virtual game's first next-gen outing will thrill the sports gamers with awesome graphics and plenty of Cricket World Cup events. It'll also feature cricket greats including Andrew Flintoff, Ricky Ponting, Mahendra Dhoni, Muttiah Muralitharan and of course, the West Indian cricketer Brian ("The Prince") Lara.

If you've been ignoring the sports (or the videogame) for so long, the photo-realistic visuals, the hundreds of characters and the full online play might just convince you to give the game a try. Here are the first screenshots of the game, courtesy of SPOnG.com.