I’m not what anyone would consider a soccer fan, but that doesn’t keep me from appreciating all of the cool stuff players can expect to find in EA’s upcoming FIFA 13. This is, of course, in addition to the expected bullet-points such as improved graphics and such.

FIFA 13 is indeed a great looking game. Player animations are incredibly smooth and their likenesses are captured eerily well considering this is an iOS game. Although they do have that creepy blank look that so many real world based character models tend to have. A bunch of smaller details will no doubt cause salivary glands to work overtime as well, including balls sporting the proper logos and all the tiny graphics typically found on a player’s jersey. And all of these fine details can be enjoyed up close and personal thanks to the game’s instant replay feature.

It doesn’t stop with tie visuals though. For the first time ever EA Sports Football Club will make its way into an iOS title. Even better, preexisting accounts will be carried over, so nobody will have to start from scratch on their iOS device. Of course my personal favorite addition is the way special skill shots and moves can be controlled via a second virtual stick on the right-hand side of the screen. Simply tap and drag in a given pattern or direction and the controlled player will start with the fancy footwork.

No information is available yet on pricing, but football (football, football) enthusiasts can expect to find FIFA 13 in the App Store sometime this fall.

So much fun, it’ll tickle you.

On This Episode:

Who We Are:

Contact The Show: Email | Twitter

Music:

“Beatnes7 (Theme to The Portable Podcast)” by The Eternal – Download on iTunes here:

How to Listen:

Apps Mentioned in this Episode:

$0.99

NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-02-10 :: Category: Games

$4.99

NBA JAM by EA SPORTS™ for iPad

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-04-21 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Super Stickman Golf

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-12-10 :: Category: Games

FREE!

Super Stickman Golf Free

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-04-12 :: Category: Games

With EA’s NBA Elite brand somewhat on the rocks as of late, someone needed to make sure that the company was still “In the game,” so to speak, at least when it came to basketball franchises.  But when your marketable properties have all dried up, where can you go?  How about taking a trip back to a well that will be forever full: nostalgia.

When you think of nostalgic NBA experiences it is hard not to reflect back on the Midway created classic that started the arcade sports craze, NBA Jam.  I used to sink quarter after quarter into this flame inducing, crowd frenzying, presidential dunking, circus of hardwood shenanigans.  So you could imagine my excitement when I learned of EA’s acquisition of the brand and their plans of reboot.  However, this was an experience that I fully expected to only be available to my kindred spirits on the console.  Apparently I was VERY wrong.

According to a trailer that slyly snuck out the other day from the bowels of EA Sports, it looks as if the reboot is iOS bound.  Check out the first glimpse of in-game footage below!

I don’t know if I can accurately portray my excitement in words.  Just the chance to be able to throw down a three sixty tomahawk slam from half court using the leader of the free world, not to mention any number of current NBA All-Stars and league legends, seemed both unfathomable and incredamazeballs, all at the same time.  See? I was so excited I had to make up my own word to describe it!

My initial OMGWTFBBQ eventually melted away, as reality set in, and I began to wonder what kind of features were going to be available in this release.  Here is what we know so far:

2 modes of play, lets you ball the way you want, including a JAM CAMP Tutorial:

• Play Now – Select a team and jump right into the game

• Classic Campaign –  Defeat all other teams to win the championship, and unlock legends, hidden players and cheats

There is just something about the phrase “hidden players” that gets me all frothy at the mouth in anticipation.  Even the ever popular voice of the franchise, Tim Kitzrow, is back in the booth, providing the game with all of the extra “He’s on fire”s, “boomshakalaka”s, and “kaboom”s necessary to send your mind wandering back to your youth.

While no release date has been announced yet, just know that with my level of excitement for the game, it will be getting posted on our Twitter feed and Facebook page as soon as I have any information whatsoever. You can look forward to a review here soon, as well.  In the meantime, check out the awesome images of the high-flying excitement that will be coming your way soon!

Steve Robert, producer of Electronic Art’s Skate It, released May 10, 2010, is a former pro-skater who helmed the development and creation of the game’s port to the iPhone. I sat down for a phone interview with Steve and spoke at length about the game and its subsequent port from the Nintendo DS to the iPhone. Steve provided us with much insight on the game’s development and how it came to fruition on the iPhone.

Steve Robert (EA) – Well, I grew up in Huntington Beach, CA, which is a coastal town in Southern, CA and, probably as early as 6th grade I got immersed in the culture of skateboarding. It was a very popular hobby in my neighborhood and I had a bunch of good friends who were all into skateboarding. We kept pushing each other to learn and get better and then it sort of evolved as some of my friends, like Jason Lee, who’s a good friend of mine, went on to become a famous actor, was the first of us to go on and get sponsored and turn pro. I skated with him all the time and he got me sponsored by the same company he was. From then on, I started entering amateur contests and then we shot a video in 1989 called Rubbish Heap and everything just unfolded from there. I was attracted to the culture and it was fun learning tricks and being competitive with my friends and progressing in the sport.

Jason (148apps) – It’s easy to hit a plateau if you don’t have people around you who you can learn from.

Steve Robert (EA) – Yeah, absolutely. I think being surrounded by people like Jason Lee, Ed Templeton, Mark Gonzalez and the older, big pros, they all came from Huntington Beach and we would all gather at night at Huntington Beach High School or these schools you see in all the videos, while others were out partying, we would be spending our nights skating at the schools together and you just kind of get obsessed with it. It was everything I did until I graduated high school, it’s all I really cared about. Skating was just kind of a sub-culture because it wasn’t as mainstream back then, as it is now.

Jason (148apps) – How did you come to get involved in developing Skate It?

Steve Robert (EA) – Well, I’ve been working in video games since 1997. I slowly got out of skateboarding and went to college. When I graduated from college, I got my first job at Interplay in 1997. I found it interesting because the culture was very similar to skating in many ways. It’s obviously less physically active, but the people were the same.

Hit the jump for more with Skate It Producer Steve Robert.
Continue reading 4Q Interview: Skate It Producer Steve Robert »