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.

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.

We play games - we don't play consoles. I don't know about you or the others, but as a "gamer" (a title that I'm proud of), I enjoy games. My title isn't "consoler" - so it's not my job to play consoles. Yes, we play games on consoles, and some consoles are better at some things (and worse at some things) than other consoles, but that's just part of gaming.

I started off with that intro because here's another "oh no, the consoles are mixing" news item that makes some people wet their pants even though it really isn't news: there are Sony ads in a UEFA game for other platforms. So we made this clarification. (And we really should clarify this before rumors get out of hand.)

• Sony is a sponsor of UEFA, the Union of European Football Associations. There are Sony ads at UEFA events. If you watch a UEFA game on TV, you'll see a PS3 ad somewhere near the goal. If there's a UEFA game, chances are there'll be a Sony ad somewhere on the field in that game.
• If a UEFA game comes out for the Xbox 360 or Wii or whatever, then chances are you'll see Sony ads somewhere on the edge of the field near the Vodafone, MasterCard, Ford, and Heineken ads.
• That's exactly what's happening with the new UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 game from Electronic Arts that has been announced for the Xbox 360, for the PC, and for the PSP. Who knows - the final build may even have PSP and PS2 ads.

 

So there's the explanation. A guy in McDonald's uniform buys food at Pizza Hut. The Apple support guy owns a PC. The Electrolux repair man owns a Maytag dishwasher. It's no big deal.

I just want to play games - don't you? And if it's good football ("soccer" to my friends), then so much the better.