We caught up with Pete, owner and founder of Fifa Expert, with the hopes of hearing more about FIFA 15 and the history behind it. We certainly got that with the Q&A below:
1. Where did you come up with the idea for your website? Why did you think there was a need for it?
The idea originally came from just wanting to test myself to make a functional website. Originally, I wrote about my thoughts on football and tactical analysis of games, but realized there were hundreds of these on the net. When I was playing my friend on FIFA (who I’ve dished out many, many beatings to over the years!), he said I should come up with something for FIFA. I was ranked in the top 1000 players worldwide on both FIFA 10 & 11 so I thought why not write some tips for the game. There were some around the internet but nothing of real substance, just generic sites suggesting tips like “use the fast players on the wings” or “stay calm and try to keep possession.” To me, that stunk of someone just wanting to pick up easy traffic and not actually caring about others improvement on the game. At FIFA Expert, we figure that the person visiting the site has taken the time to search for our page, it’s only fair we give them something of substance to help them improve.
2. What professional players have helped contribute to your site?
We’ve collaborated with 4 of the best FIFA players we’ve ever seen. Their stats are incredible and they play the game so well. These are Ovvy Patrascu, Notrious, Hectik_JukeZ and Vasi. All are well-known players in the community. Having their tips and support was great and the new guides look incredible (if we do say so ourselves!)
3. Who do you feel is the best player on the pro circuit?
It’s hard to say as there are so many players that are so closely matched. Those four who helped us out are great players. We also have a huge amount of respect for Dirty Mike who produces great quality YouTube videos and tutorials.
4. What is the best improvement for 2015?
Honestly, it seems that EA Sports have gone big on visuals this year. The next gen consoles gave them so much more processing power and they have really gone to town with that. The visuals are great and the new animations always impresses us each year. Gameplay usually only receives tweaks unless they introduce a whole new area of the game, such as tactical defending on FIFA 12.
5. Why does EA’s FIFA series get so much more attention than Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer?
I think it was just because of the sheer difference in gameplay and enjoyment around the games. PES was on an even par, if not the better game for years, but FIFA 09 and FIFA 10 in particular saw FIFA take huge steps. Unfortunately for them, Konami let their standards slip and FIFA has dominated since. Who knows if Konami can ever step up and claw back their fans that changed to the FIFA series.
6. What console takes advantage of EA’s gameplay engine?
This is hard to call. At the office have people who use both consoles. I, personally, have always had a PlayStation console and never really liked the Xbox controllers. That’s not to say they’re both amazing pieces of technology.
7. What mode would you expect to be the most popular on FIFA 15?
Ultimate Team is always going to be hugely popular and this is what EA drive their marketing focus towards and who can blame them, it makes them millions every year and it is a hugely enjoyable mode. That being said, the FIFA community LOVE Career Mode and many of our visitors enjoy and love to comment on our CM pages. Pro Clubs has so much potential as a game mode but EA won’t drive much of their time whilst FUT makes the huge money it does!
8. What would you like to see in future versions of FIFA? What was the best year for the series?
Honestly, each year improves in our opinion. There are always a lot of complaints about overpowered features and bugs etc. Look at the game overall and it really is very impressive. How they manage to achieve, pretty much, 12 months game longevity is a huge mark of how good the game is.
For future versions of the game, we’d love to see more believable player models and running styles of individual players. They have touched on this but it’s something that definitely needs more work. As we mentioned, Pro Clubs has the potential to be huge and has so much scope for improvement, that’s an area we want to see improved.
9. Is there a danger for EA to have to improve every year? Was there ever a year when FIFA was not the best soccer game available?
We mentioned Pro Evo being on par, if not the better game before FIFA 09, but of course EA will feel pressure to improve. We’re a firm believer that they have the time and man power, to add more features than they do each year. Why add it all at once though and have nowhere to go, they’re a clever company and know what they’re doing!
10. What is Fifa Expert?
FIFA 15 (and 14) tips and expert guides to help you become better at the game. First and foremost, we love playing FIFA. We’re also pretty good! We have won the division 1 league title on Seasons, FUT, pro clubs and co-op hundreds of times. We are ranked in the top 1% of players out of (0.74% to be precise and a bit of a geek about it!). We hit over 5 million trade profit last year on FUT (without the use of any real money on packs or coins).
By using our expert tips on the site, you will learn all the basics on how to become better at FIFA 15 or previous versions in the series. We have added tips from professional players this year to add even more TOP TIPS for you.
If you want to progress your game even further, then you want to looking at purchasing one (or all 3) of our guides. Whether its improving your defending, attacking, custom tactics, heading, crossing, 1 v 1 defending, defending lobbed through balls, to refining your shooting technique, we cover it ALL in great depth with exclusively designed diagrams and research carried out by our expert team. There is a reason why it sold so many copies over the past 2 FIFA’s.
11. Where can someone purchase your guides?
Links to our guide pages – http://fifaexpert.co.uk/buy-our-fifa-15-guides/
Gameplay and Game mode guide – http://fifaexpert.co.uk/buy-our-fifa-15-guides/game-play-and-game-mode-guide/
FUT guide – http://fifaexpert.co.uk/buy-our-fifa-15-guides/ultimate-team-guide/
Tactical guide – http://fifaexpert.co.uk/buy-our-fifa-15-guides/tactical-guide/
