The FIFA 10 Takeover Tour has been on the road for almost four weeks now bringing the game to footy fans all over the US.  Over the past week, the East Coast team has set up shop at numerous GameStops through Philadelphia and Baltimore where they also set up in the ESPN Zone to pack crowds.

They continued the week in the DC area where they met with the Vienna Youth Soccer League along with setting up with the City FC, a non-profit youth soccer organization with over 5,000 athletes from under privileged areas of the community.

The team also made a stop in Roanoke, VA where  the state's largest youth soccer tournament was being held.  They set up at two different fields where kids played more than 1,000 games!

On the West Coast, the team made GameStop visits in Portland, San Francisco, San Jose, and Redwood City.

The tour set up at Danny Coyle's pub, one of the top soccer bars in San Francisco where many of the fans watching the Man U and Chelsea game found time to take in the sticks as well as the game on the big screens.

The team also made a stop at the Mustang Soccer Complex in Danville, CA to an awesome turnout at the private facility.  For those that didn't make it to the complex, the crew set up at a large GameStop in Danville where they were able to run a 16-person tournament with the winner receiving a PSP!

Check out the Off the Bench blog for upcoming dates and venues:  US Takeover Tour Week 5 Dates and Venues

Follow the Takeover Tour on twitter and Facebook:  http://twitter.com/EAFIFA10Tour and http://facebook.com/EAFIFA10Tour

With FIFA 10 now in the hands of gamers all around the world, the EA SPORTS Events team continues it’s US FIFA  10 Takeover Tour and will be out looking for fans to come join them for a chance to play the game and win cool prizes.

Check out the Off the Bench blog for exact locations, dates, and times for the next week:  FIFA 10 Takeover Tour

As mentioned on Wednesday, we've crowned the EASHL Console Champs and are getting set for the 12 players to fly out to Vancouver for the EASHL Championships to take place August 6th with all the games to be played that day.  It's very exciting to see the first year end off with a Championship Final and from the chatter on our EASHL Forums, this is looking to be a pretty great series.

For those that haven't had a chance to see these top teams in action, I thought I would post the videos that players submitted to us here. 

PlayStation 3 Console Finals - The NHL Regulators vs No CryBabys

First Period

Second Period

Third Period

XBOX 360 Console Finals - Purple Cobraz vs The White Church

First Period

Second Period - Part 1

Second Period - Part 2

Third Period

Overtime

And then there were four.  The NHL 09 Invitational Tournament has four teams remaining who are now one win away from competing in the Best-of-Seven Championship Finals in Vancouver set for August 5th to August 7th at EA Canada.

In the PS3 final, the #1 seed No CryBabys (NcB) will take on the #3 seed NHL Regulators while on the Xbox 360 end, the #3 seed The White Church (wTc) looks to get past #5 seed Purple Cobraz.

“Our key player in the tournament has by far been our goalie, ChubbsRebourne,” says wTc GM Izzy Toasty.  “In our first round match-up against the Dirty Snipe squad he held them to just one goal.  Not to mention he has been instrumental in coaching us and letting us know what we could be doing differently as he needs to always be on top of the action to be ready for anything.”

“Gerbox 360 has been phenomenal in our first two games and a big reason why we are playing for the XBOX 360 Championship this Saturday,” replies Purple Cobraz GM DoMiNaTioN x21.  “Our wingers, PhiFly10 and NfldTim, both had huge 5-point performances in our 7-0 semi-final win over THE GIANT SHAFTS.”

“All 6 guys have been huge players for us,” comments NHL Regulators GM Jones412pa.  “We’ve capitalized on our changes, and have not had many PIM.  In order for us to win this weekend, we will have to play as a team and play mistake-free hockey.”

“Our keys to winning this weekend will be to play disciplined, be strong on the penalty kill, and take advantage of our power play opportunities,” NcB GM mike24man states. 

Teams have stepped up their games during the tournament and the games have been intense.   Whether it’s on the virtual ice or real ice, these players aren’t taking anything for granted and sound as confident in their words as they are in their game.  This weekend will prove to be a defining moment for them as each look to capture their respective console championship.

“The key will be team defense,” says Izzy Toasty.  “The Cobraz are a solid offensive team that can throw a ton of different looks at you so it will be crucial that the forwards are a big part of the defense to force them to make good decisions and hopefully generate some offense as a result of our defensive hard work”

“As long as we stick to our game plan and don’t beat ourselves, we have an excellent chance of winning the game and representing the XBOX 360 side,” continues DoMiNaTioN x21. “We know that wTc will be ready to play on Saturday and are known as a very solid team defensively.  This is going to be a phenomenal final, there is no doubt about it.”

“It would be amazing to get the chance to play in Vancouver because we have battled so hard day in and day out to get where we are right now,” states Jones412pa.

“We need to play the way we played to get us the #1 ranking,” says mike24man.   “That means playing like we’re playing a regular season game against a top team.  If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”

Some teams have been recording and sharing their finals including the 7-0 Purple Cobraz win over THE GIANT SHAFTS and the The Regs 4-3 OT win over the Angry Whoppers.  GM’s have been asked to record and share this weekend’s Console Championships so look out for the post on the official EASHL Forums where you can also sound off on who you think will earn the chance to play in Vancouver in August.

In the meantime, good luck to the Final Four teams and I’m looking forward to seeing who will come out on top this weekend to represent their respective console in the EASHL Invitational Championship Finals!

Attention college basketball fans!  Have you had a chance to download the NCAA Basketball 09 March Madness Edition yet from Xbox 360?  If not, Connor Dougan gives you a breakdown of why you want to check it out.  Need more information?  Click here for the full details after you watch the video.