FIFA 12 on Vita makes good use of the touchscreens

Some lucky soul has had an early go on FIFA 12  for the PS Vita and comments on the interesting use of the touchscreen to improve on the basic game (glossy pics here), which is pretty much the big console version in your hand.

The Vita offers a couple of features that you don’t get with a console, most notably the touch-sensitive front-mounted display screen and the rear-mounted touch-sensitive pad. FIFA makes use of both of these enhancements with varying levels of success. Players can tap any teammate on the game’s display to immediately pass the ball to that person. The longer you hold your finger there, the more power gets put into the pass. It makes inventive use of the touchscreen and it’s cool in theory, but it definitely didn’t feel convenient or even particularly intuitive to take one hand off of the device to tap for a pass. 

The Vita’s rear-mounted touchpad, on the other hand, is put to fairly brilliant use in FIFA 12. One problem that fans of soccer and hockey simulations have faced for as long as those genres have existed has been putting shots on goal in specific places. FIFA 12 addresses this directly in its Vita release by allowing players to aim for specific parts of the goal with pinpoint accuracy using the rear touchpad.