FIFA Hat Trick

by Xtramalt

Through June and July the world watched the 2006 FIFA World Cup, an event that also saw the final round of a three years sponsorship deal between EA, FIFA and Xbox (and Adidas in 2006).  The arrangement bought us the FIFA Interactive World Cup in 2004 and 2005, an International tournament using EA SPORTS' 2006 FIFA World Cup and Xbox Live.  This year the tournament got a name change to the “Xbox Cup” and coincided with the FIFA World Cup in Germany.

New Zealand’s national winner and International representative for three years running, Carl Condliffe (HopsNZ) agreed to sit down with me (over Live Messenger) and answer a few questions about his experiences.

Xtramalt:  So how was the semi-final – Germany vs. Argentina?

HopsNZ:  It was amazing. I don’t think there are many words that could describe that experience. The volume of these crowds were unbelievable - at times it was so loud, I HAD to block my ears as my eyes were starting to water! The camcorder was vibrating like mad as well. It was great to be there with my partner (Jess), as it was an opportunity of a lifetime and fun to share with somebody close.

Xtramalt:  Sounds amazing, the German’s know how to put on a show then.  I understand tickets were hard to come by for that semi?

HopsNZ:  I’m not sure about that, but at about 6am the morning of the semi, I was walking round Berlin looking for an Internet cafe, and a German guy approached me holding two bottles of beer. When he found out I was a foreigner he knew I was here for the semi and immediately pulled 300 Euros from his pocket, and offered to walk me to a bank or money machine to get me another 400 Euros! I laughed it off… b4 hastily making my exit!

Xtramalt:  LOL, good call. The Xbox Cup saw some changes this year (apart from the name change), it was bigger (more countries involved) and there was a lot more noise around it, clearly because this was Cup year. I understand there were some changes to the way the competition was run too?

HopsNZ:   Yeah the event seemed to be on a much larger scale, probably because we were AT the World Cup of Football - but the biggest change for me came at the initial press conference where we were told that each country would be controlling the country they are representing. Now it doesn’t take a genius to work out that the stats for a New Zealand football team in an Xbox game are not going to be too hot.  In fact I think we had the worst rating of ANY team there. But to cut a long story short, we had NO WAY to compete with some of the other teams at this competition, and it was clearly unfair for the smaller, non-football nations there.

Xtramalt: So the first you (the competitors) knew of this "rule" was when the press where made aware of it?

HopsNZ:   yeah, there was no information at all regarding rules or regulations on who you could control leading up to our departure from NZ. We just assumed we could play with whoever we wanted, we didn’t even think that they may make us play as NZ!

Xtramalt:  I can see how it worked from a marketing point of view, but it doesn't do much for determining the best FIFA players in the world.

HopsNZ:   For sure, and we understood that, but I don’t think it should have been done at the expense of creating an unfair tournament.

Xtramalt:   Some of those Europeans must have been laughing?

HopsNZ:   Yeah, and we saw the funny side of it. It did mean the Aussies and Kiwis became a lot closer this time round as we were both in the same predicament, even though they did quite well in the REAL World Cup!

Xtramalt:  Yeah, that is kind of ironic. I guess another change this year was that you had a Team mate at your side. What was that like?

HopsNZ:   'different'! It was quite weird knowing you only had control of 50% of the passes you make. But before we left I sent Hoani  (MaoriSkips) a few diagrams of how I liked to play and some good scoring options out of a 4-4-2 formation, which we ended up using. I guess it made it harder to be really focused on winning as we were both making simple mistakes that we wouldn’t have made if we were playing alone.

Xtramalt:   Did you have any time to practice in Germany?

HopsNZ:   The time we did have to practice was about 5 minutes after the 'announcement' on teams, so we spent the majority of that time trying to get clarification of the ruling from the tournament officials. I think we managed to get one game in together, and that was just enough time to find out that NZ strikers will sometimes decide to kick it out when they have an open goal, and our keeper WILL NOT catch a ball! (We gave up a few deflection goals).

Xtramalt:  How was the support from the Xbox FAN?

HopsNZ:  Caleb and Dianne were great. Caleb supported us well through our three games, and did his best at keeping our chins up. He then reported our games on his msn space.

Xtramalt:  Nice, I did follow his reports. I would have been there in his place, but umm, my mouse was bung.  Last year the finals' took you to London and the year before you were in Sydney, overall which of the three tournaments was the Best in your opinion?

HopsNZ:   I would have to say London. At the time it was farthest I had travelled for my sport/gaming, and I was in a country that had so much history to experience and admire. I still vividly remember walking the streets in the early hours of the morning unable to sleep because of jetlag, and taking in the lights, people, and the freezing weather! And actually walking through areas you had seen in movies was cool! The Germany trip involved some great prizes, but I am still a little sour from the rulings on who we could control.   In London we competed in an old brewery, we arrived in a double decker bus, and we were in complete control of our chances. We had no one to blame but ourselves, and we got on with what we had to do. While it was fun having a team mate, I think I would prefer to be playing alone having full control. That’s why I would have to say London.

Xtramalt:  Has the competition increased over the three years that you took part?

HopsNZ:  Internationally, if it has I would only say very slightly. You will either by playing against a cross whore or someone who likes to play it up the middle the entire game. It’s just a matter of being able to combat both of those tactics.  Locally, there has been very little improvement, which is quite disappointing. I haven’t really come across anyone who takes the game or competition for that matter, as serious as I do.

Xtramalt:  That’s a pity.  Had you ever taken part in any competitive gaming prior to the first IWC, EA Sports Gamer of the Year? Anything like that?

HopsNZ:   Yeah, I was actually placed third, three years in a row in the EA Sports Gamer of the Year competition (never quite managed to take it all out). I would have to say that is what really started my competitive drive in gaming.

Xtramalt:  EA Sports Gamer of the Year covers a range of games and you have to play all of them right?

HopsNZ:  yeah the whole lot. One year we were given early code of Rugby 2004 (I think) an hour before the grand final and that was used as a competition game.

Xtramalt:  Have you every considered FIFA on the PC, World Cyber Games style?

HopsNZ:  All the time! The only problem is justifying the trip to Auckland for the Xlan qualifier, when they never take a FIFA player. Although this year I did have the opportunity to attend one of the Asia-pacific WCG qualifiers in Singapore, but unfortunately work commitments meant I could not take the time off.

Xtramalt: Now that the Xbox - FIFA relationship has come to an end will you be lining up for EA's FIFA 07?  Did I see you say something about Sony stepping in?

HopsNZ:  Yeah, I did hear that while I was in Germany (from someone that seemed to play a large part in the tournament). But to be honest who knows with these things! If the relationship has come to an end, I think I will still play '07 on the 360. We all know Xbox Live is superior to anything else with regard to online gaming, and that is where I would like to enjoy my online experience.

Xtramalt:  Fair enough.  I understand that Basketball is actually your game of choice, what is your pick of the Basketball games currently available on the Xbox 360?

HopsNZ:  Hell yeah! After I gave my second 360 to my younger brothers, we have spent so many hours going at it against each other on Live '06. I have always had a thing for the NBA Live series. I remember when I was a lot younger playing NBA Live on my Megadrive and thinking to myself how cool it would be to play against Americans on this game, people who have grown up with Basketball and know the game inside out from a tactical perspective. Now if you want to play someone from the USA, all you have to do is pop in the disc and away you go!

Xtramalt:  Sounds Great.  Thanks Hops, its been good chatting.