We here at JOE love FIFA.
We love playing FIFA, we love interviewing professional FIFA players, we love comparing players using their FIFA stats.
In fact we’re a bit like Anthony Joshua, where we play FIFA so much, it sometimes gets in the way of us doing work (except our work is making laboured intros to articles like this instead of punching people in the face).
EA Sports are very likely to debut the next FIFA game, FIFA 17, at their press event EA Play on June 12. So to get in the spirit of things, earlier this week, we created a FIFA 17 wishlist – 7 things we wanted the new game to have – and asked you to make a list of what you want from the new game.
We were overwhelmed with reader response for things you want to see in the upcoming game. In just 24 hours we received more than 200 suggestions for things that could improve the next FIFA game, so we had a go at ranking the best to create this – The JOE Readers FIFA 17 wishlist.
Fantasy Football Mode
This suggestion came in from Abbasali Damani on Facebook. As he explains it, Fantasy Football would work in a multiplayer league with your pals. Everyone gets to build their own custom squad, choosing one player at a time (so once someone picks Kane, no one else can), and then faces off in a series of matches. We think it’d be a great way to make matches against your mates interesting. There’s only so many times you can do the “Five Randoms” spin.
Realistic transfers
Dean Harte from Dublin said it best “If a half decent team like Everton finish bottom half let their best players be transferred & the bring in replacements.”
The days of Wesley Sneijder instantly transferring to Manchester City like in FIFA 11 need to end. Transfer windows rarely make sense in FIFA Career mode. Simmer down lads, there’s Financial Fair Player and homegrown players to consider here.
(Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
Be a Referee
A number of you suggested EA Canada create a “You are the Ref” mode where you become the man in black. We here at JOE were wondering how you’d make watching a game of footie for 10 minutes exciting, but as reader Liam Hickey put it “Sending players off for a laugh haha.”
Everyone wants to prove they’re better than Clattenberg it seems…
Classic Teams
FIFA has dabbled with its “Legends” system, but it seems like you want legendary teams in the game. Both John Sweeney and Stuart Lockhart told us they’d like to give Manchester United’s treble winners or the 2000s AC Milan sides for a spin. Make it so.
New kits
A tiny aesthetic change, but something a lot of you want. As Jack Straughan from Newcastle puts it “One change I would really like and I know it’s small but if you win the PL for example your team gets the PL Champions badges on their shirts.”
The ability to update kits on the fly once teams get promoted was also requested from Preston North End fan Kieran O’Donnell, “You should be able to change your kit every year and get sponsorship options every few years. Being a PNE fan it pisses me off royally when I get them promoted to the Premiership but you still have the football league badge on the kit and not the Barclays Premier League badge.”
It’s a small change, but a nice reflection of all your team’s successes via kits would be great. A gold star if you win a European Cup anyone?
Updated commentary
Photo by Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
Martin Tyler loves his anecdote about Real Madrid, or as he explains “the Re-al De-al”. After 60 hours of play, we’re less keen on it. While FIFA now uses real world stats to inform commentary, some of the lines are just slightly stitled. As Matt Cope asks, would it be possible to get a few other commentary teams to pitch in partway through the season with lines?
Indoor Mode
Indoor mode may have only lasted one FIFA game, but that hasn’t stopped fans asking for it. FIFA Street was a big hit during the PS2 and PS3 eras, so why not bring it back for one quick mode for FIFA 17? You don’t even need to bring back the outlandish sticks. As Dan Wilson puts it “I’d really like a return of the 5 a side football they put on a FIFA years ago. It was addictive.”
Mutual Quitting
FIFA’s online servers are a lot better then they used to be, but every now and again you find yourself playing a game that’s unworkable. Choppy framerate, horrendous lag, and a 3-0 loss if you try and quit the game. Facebook commentator Paul Oakman from Hastings suggested that FIFA 17 could have a mutual quit menu option, where both players can agree to leave an online match up, no harm, no foul. We think it’d be a great idea.
Challenge Mode
https://twitter.com/AlfiePrice_/status/738038958068772864
This one came from West Brom fan Alfie Price on Twitter. Back in FIFA 12, the game dabbled in daily challenges, were you could replicate real world matches in the game for added XP. We love the idea of the mode being its own thing, much like how it was in Euro 2008. Anyone fancy replicating each of Vardy’s 11 consecutive goals in the Premier League?
“Will Grigg’s on Fire” chant
Wigan fan Bradley Unsworth pointed this out and we agree. FIFA 17 has to have it.
Until then, you can play members of the JOE team at FIFA 16 on the Playstation 4 – you can add us on PSN – JOEMediaUK. See you on the pitch.
