We have had quite a share of sports titles last week, and this time we're going to add a little more into the fitness equation with the release of Nintendo's much-hyped up Wii Fit as well as UEFA EURO 2008 (Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3, PSP, PC). Meanwhile, PS3 owners should have yet another field day at the retail stores with the release of the highly anticipated FPS, Haze, and the karaoke title SingStar. See the full article for more details!

* Article originally posted May 19, 2008 at 12:45AM

Electronic Arts has just announced that UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 has finally shipped to stores worldwide. This title is the UEFA Champions League's only officially licensed video game and introduces a new way to play the game on the Sony PSP handheld video game system with the all-new Quick Controls system.

In UEFA Champions League 2006-2007, players can choose to re-create of customize the actual real-world groupings of the official UEFA Champions League tournament by taking control of a variety of clubs. There's also a new UEFA Champions League Challenge option for hardcore fans by re-creating classic moments in UEFA Champions League history using modern teams.

The PSP version will also include The Treble, which gives players only one season to complete the ultimate accomplishment - the treble. There are over 400 objectives to accomplish, and players can also manage their campaign home and away by transferring The Treble mode between their PSPs and PS2.

Good with your feet? Well, you can prove yourself all you want out on the field, but playing football (fine, soccer) on a handheld is something else entirely. You'll get your chance to show off in few days, don't worry. UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is bound to roll out next week. For now though, we got more screenshots from Electronic Arts. Do know that pics aren't everything: if this isn't enough for you to buy into the whole deal, you've still got the Treble mode and Ultimate Team mode to immerse yourself with.

  

Score more screens behind the "Full Article" link!

Football fans will soon have yet another reason to celebrate as the March 20 release date for the game UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 draws ever closer. Published by Electronic Arts, this video game will be featuring rosters from Europe's most prestigious football tournament, UEFA Champions League, as well as a soundtrack which should get any fan dancing to his favorite anthem in no time.

Expected to retail for US$ 39.99, get ready for the UEFA invasion, put on that face paint and cheer for your team, as this new addition to the sports game library is set to reach PCs, PS2s, PSPs, and Xbox 360s pretty soon.

More screenshots after the Jump!

So you've read all the interviews and dev diaries we covered for EA Sports' multi-platform sports title, UEFA Champions League 2006-2007. By this time, you probably think you know everything there is to know about the game, but we beg to differ. See there's one essential aspect that we haven't covered yet, and at the very least, it's important as hell in setting the mood as you flaunt those ball-kicking skills of yours.

What exactly are we talking about? The game's soundtrack! See EA has just released the official track listing for their game and while we may not be familiar with all of the tunes, we trust that these would truly pump players' adrenaline as you compete in Europe's prestigious football tournament.

That said, here's the complete track listing for UEFA's in-game soundtrack:

• Andy Caldwell feat. Gina Rene - "Runaway"
• Baïkonour - "Jain Rock"
• Bonobo feat. Bajka - "Nightlite"
• Brazilian Girls - "Le Territoire"
• Cal Tjader - "Mambo Mindoro (Hex Hector Remix)"
• Champion - "Two Hoboes"
• Osunlade - "Two Phish"
• Ray Barretto - "Work Song (Thievery Corporation Remix)"
• Thunderball feat. Miss Johnna M. - "Chicachiquita"
• Uneaq - "Pico de Gallo"
• Yunus Güvenen - "Indigo"
  

Also, Xbox360 users will be glad to know that a demo for the game will soon be hitting Xbox Live Marketplace this March, featuring Ultimate Team Barcelona against Arsenal. The 360 version will also have the unique collectible virtual card system in the Ultimate Team mode. No word yet on whether the PC version will make it to U.S. shores, but we're definitely keeping our fingers crossed. UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 for the 360, PSP, PS2, and PC is slated for release on March 20.

Let's start off with the basics. UEFA Champions League 2007 is a game for the PSP, Xbox 360, and the PC. It was developed by EA Sports. Ok, now that's out of the way, I'd like to introduce you to one of the best features that the UEFA Championship League 2007 has: the Treble. This feature is the equivalent of a story mode in the game. It will take you through the highs and lows of the game from the perspective of the team's manager.

So how does it work? You start out by making your avatar. This person will represent your in-game character. To get you even more into it, your character can be seen in the sidelines of the game doing things a manager would do.

The basic premise, or goal of this mode is simple: You have to win UEFA Champions League trophy, the league and cup titles as well. In addition, you will have to complete 60 missions which each having specific goal you have to reach before you can move on. The Treble will also simulate the problems a manager faces on and off the court. Trades, injuries, and controversy will all play a part in the game.

Sounds interesting? Well, we here at QJ are ecstatic at the thought and can't wait to get our own copy. More news when it happens.

  

The UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 by EA is out right one of the prettiest PSP games in the market today. Though it's scheduled to be released in March, the screenshots are absolutely stunning. The control system and physics for the game is are polished as the graphics, so we may well be looking at the next king of soccer (European Football) on the PSP. So without further ado, here are the screenshots we've been drooling over.

  

You can check out the full article for more screens and the pack shots for the PSP, 360, PC, and PS2 versions of the game.

Now that we have heard from Chris Coates and Matt Holme about the various developments in the UEFA Champions League franchise (for the PC, Xbox360, and the PSP), it's now Matthew Prior's turn to tell us the importance of capturing the spirit of the game. As Associate Producer to the game, Prior tells us more about the importance of visuals and authenticity in the creation of one of the most popular sports franchises translated to the console, the UEFA Champions League.

In this developers' diary update, Prior expounds on four key developments in the game. These are:

• Real Match Authenticity
• Better In-Game Atmosphere
• Emotional Game Play
• The Ultimate Stage

According to Prior, the console sports the same look and feel of a broadcasted Champions League match. When matches start, you now have the swirling logo and that choir singing their chorus as the logo comes into full view. Commentators now talk about the weather and your starting line up as though they were still fresh out of their locker rooms or a previous match.

    

In this game, they are trying to catch the atmosphere of a live match. Playing the game is much like catching a match on the TV on weekday evenings. Even the camera angles are similar to those featured in game replays. The game even boasts a virtual stage which they call the Ultimate Stage. It's a state-of-the-art virtual stage that uses the logo of the UEFA Champions League as the roof.

Other than capturing the feeling of a broadcasted match, the game boasts a better in-game atmosphere as crowds now can chant a team's anthem or even scream with fury at every foul committed. Yes, folks. You can now hear a stadium of Liverpool FC fans singing "You'll Never Walk Alone."

Another factor that heightens this experience is the expressive gameplay of players. Prior boasts that due to present technology, they can now make more expressive game plays for players. They used state of the art motion capture devices named PCAP that tried to get that perfect corner kick. Hence, for every pass and corner, you can hear the crowd's excitement. If you scored a goal and started hugging your teammates, so will the crowd.

All of this sounds great for football fans.

However, would the better in-game atmosphere capture crowd hooliganism?

Would expressive game play mean giving head butts to your opponents? (Too bad Zidane won't be available for play.)

   
 

After UEFA Champions League 2006-200">Chris Coates explained to us what UEFA Champions Leagues 2006 - 2007's (PC, Xbox 360, PSP) Ultimate Team mode is all about, we now give the floor to the game's producer, Matt Holme. Recently, he had a chat with IGN and he spewed some juicy bits about the game and what could we expect from it.

Now, if you're wondering how many teams there are in this game, Mr. Holme mentions that there are 268 teams from 17 leagues and they made sure that every major European  league is present in the game. Of course, when you have that many teams, you gotta have lots of stadiums - and this game boasts of 49 stadiums from all over the world.

He also talked about the Treble mod - a completely new feature that takes everything you could imagine occurring in a football season and makes it into an event that plays out like a story. He explained by saying:

As the Manager of your team you'll be dealing with transfers, player injuries, player controversies, youth players, directions from the board and everything else a Manager has to deal with during a rigorous season. Your goal is to win the elusive Treble. This means taking home not only the Champions League Trophy, but the Domestic League and Cup silverware as well.

He also tackled the History Book and the Store features of the game. The History Book tracks your progress, "the teams you beat, the tournaments you win, the records you break, are all tracked inside the History Book that contains some 400 odd objectives. Each objective carries a certain point's reward which you can use to unlock items from the Store." One of the unlockable stadiums is the virtual UEFA Ultimate Stage stadium. Then, he was asked about the game's Quick Controls, and he said:

They give you the ability to be able to take advantage of attacking movements and catch your opponent off-guard by taking a quick free-kick, quick throw-in, quick goal-kick or quick corner at the press of a button. Every time play stops, if you want to speed up the action and not sit through the highlights and cut scenes, just hit L1 and you'll be thrown straight back into position and ready to play on.

Lastly, he was asked about the PSP-exclusive feature called The Quiz. He says that they wanted to take advantage of the PSP hardware so they created a feature suited for gamers on the move.

The Quiz takes advantage of our extensive database of football information, and generates some 10,000 random multiple choice questions (all mapped to the four face buttons.) These range from the simple questions to the down-right difficult. The Quiz plays out like a UEFA Champions League tournament, with questions starting off easy as you progress through the Group Stages and becoming much tougher in Knock-out Stages.

Eurogamer was recently able to catch up with UEFA Champions League 2006-200">Chris Coates, Associate Producer for the upcoming EA-developed UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 (PC, PSP, Xbox360), to talk more about the Ultimate Team mode and how the Starter Pack of cards will work in the game. The dev diary covers the said topics quite intensively, so whaddya say we get this show on the field road already?

On the Ultimate Team Mode: To start building your team, you're gonna need the Starter Pack of cards, which represent players, kits, stadiums, training cards, staff and can even be used as gameplay cards (used during a match). These cards come in the following varieties:

• Players - the backbone of your team, better players mean better results
• Staff (managers, coaches, physiotherapists etc.) - These help improve your team and apply bonuses to development cards
• Development Cards (Training, Fitness, Healing, Team Talks etc.) - All improve your team, keep them happy, heal injuries and more
• Club Info (Stadiums, Badges, Kits) - Look good, but can also boost morale.
• Gameplay Cards - Apply 4 per match and give your team a boost to attributes during a game plus other types of cards which will affect your opposition for a set amount of time.
• Unlockable Content - Boots and balls to use throughout the game.
  

Keep in mind that your Ultimate Team is limited to 24 players, so you'll have to discard the cards (discard the cards...hehe) you don't want and just trade 'em online or keep them in your Collectors Album. Much as we'd love to summarize the whole dev diary for you, we wouldn't want you to miss out on certain details that some of you might deem important. So if you wanna check out the full dev diary contents, we suggest you click on the link below for loads more info.

UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 is slated for release this March.