Xbox 360 Games : EA SPORTS™ 2006 FIFA World Cup™
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EA SPORTS™ celebrates the world's largest sporting event with the only official and exclusive licensed video game for the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany.

2006 FIFA World Cup™ perfectly captures the emotion and passion of the world's fiercest national rivalries by giving users the opportunity to play with their heroes and the chance to win the FIFA World Cup™.

Play as your home nation and control your favorite players as you battle from qualification right through to a virtual re-creation of the final tournament in Germany.

Salient Features

Play with your heroes
The world's superstars look and play like their real-life counterparts. Player attributes like ball skills and playing style have been uniquely re-created for each player to mirror real life.

Win the 2006 FIFA World Cup
Compete as one of 125 teams from qualification right through to a virtual reproduction of the FIFA World Cup Final in Germany. Play in any of the 12 official stadiums that come to life with the pageantry and festivity of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™.

Replay history
Try a new mode called Global Challenge that recreates 40 classic moments in FIFA World Cup history. Earn rewards to unlock legendary players and classic apparel.

Experience the penalty shootout
Feel the elation and agony of a penalty shootout as if you were on the pitch. Use new moves to distract the goalkeeper or put off the penalty taker. Master your nerves to score the goal that puts your team in the FIFA World Cup.

Employ advanced shooting mechanics
New context-sensitive shooting provides even more realistic action. Player shooting ability, pressure from defenders, and distance from goal all contribute to the success of the shot, just like in real life.

Take on the world
Play as your favorite national teams in up to eight-way multiplayer sessions with friends from qualifiers to the 2006 FIFA World Cup Final.

Access the FIFAWorldCup.com zone
Visit the cities and stadiums of the 2006 FIFA World Cup Germany via in-game videos.
 

Game Preview

EA Sports™ 2006 FIFA World Cup™ may belong to EA's FIFA franchise, but it is a game all its own dripping with presentation worthy of the World Cup name. Combine that with established gameplay worthy of soccer (football) fanatics the world over, and you have a very timely and timeless combination.

Feature Rich
A hallmark of all EA Sports titles is the richness and depth of not only the gameplay, but the modes and features as well. Of course there's the fully realized run through the World Cup tournament, but there are also online matches, in depth management options, classic World Cup scenario challenges and a whole lot more. For example:

• World Cup Play: Not only can you participate in the tournament proper, but you can also participate in the qualifying rounds leading up to the grand event. More importantly though, you not only have access to the teams that made the cut, but every team competing for a World Cup slot.
• Global Challenge: Like any sport, soccer is riddled with classic moments that were phenomenal when they happened and legendary now, and with the Global Challenge system, you'll be able to recreate these moments. You'll be given a specific scenario with different objectives to meet to win the challenge. For example, the Over the Border challenge pits you as the outgunned USA squad against Mexico and asks you to beat them by two goals.
• FIFA Store: Throughout your offline matches and Global Challenges you'll accrue points to be used and spent at the store, where you can buy:
  • Classic uniforms.
  • Classic players.
  • New soccer balls.
• FIFAWORLDCUP.COM: This handy little option in the main menu actually provides movies of all the host cities and stadiums on hand in Germany for the 2006 world cup.
• Online Play: With Xbox® and Xbox 360™ comes Xbox Live®, and just like all other EA Sports titles you can expect the same classic setup with regional lobbies, leaderboards, and a host of filters to set up or find the perfect match.

On the Pitch
If you've played past FIFA games from EA, then you'll feel instantly at home with 2006 FIFA World Cup. All the subtleties of the game are intact with the ability to customize shot selection, passes, fakes, and the new skill moves (e.g. jukes and ball tricks) utilizing the right analog stick. If you've seen it in soccer, chances are you can do it here and with such fluid and varied animation that the same situation never seems to play itself out twice.

World Cup
The intro movies to the host cities in Germany is one thing, but the painstaking recreations of each qualifying round stadium and World Cup Finals round stadium equals the pains taken in games like Madden NFL 06. Put simply, they are perfect, but even more importantly, the feel of World Cup soccer is intact too.

There's much more at stake here than even the fanatically followed professional games, and it shows in the dramatic camera work used during the introductions, the thunderous applause and boos throughout the game, the reactions of the players, and the play by play commentary. Every aspect of the game is colored with tension and excitement for this mammoth global competition.