soccer

Everton FC Using Football Manager 2009 To Find Talent

5:20AM Stuart Houghton | How good is Football Manager 2009’s player database? Professional quality, apparently – at least that is the opinion of Everton Football Club, who plan to use it to scout for talented players. More »

England Striker Owes It All To FIFA & Pro Evo

4:00PM Stuart Houghton | England soccer/football hero Theo Walcott may seem like the consummate athlete, but according to the ever-reliable Daily Star he owes his success to the magic of videogames. More »

Level 5 Returning With Another DS Soccer RPG

11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Japanese developer Level 5 is back with a sequel to its soccer RPG Inazuma Eleven for the Nintendo DS. While the previous title featured a more standard story, the sequel will feature an alien team. Mmmm, alien soccer RPG! The game is slated for 2009. Level-5 announces Inazuma Eleven 2 for the Nintendo DS [Gamekyo] More »

First Trailer For Interzone Futebol, Soccer MMO

4:20PM Logan Booker | Here’s a sneak peek at Interzone’s MMO soccer title, currently in development at the company’s studio in Perth, WA (with smaller chunks being handled by its overseas branches). Announced two months ago, the game will include social networking features, avatar customisation, virtual items and balls. Lots and lots of balls. Interzone debuts trailer for Interzone Futebol [Tsumea] More »

FIFA Soccer 09 To Get Weekly Player Stat Updates

8:40AM Kotaku US Edition | EA Sports’ Fifa Soccer 09 will get an optional realism boost in the form of weekly stat updates to reflect player’s real world performance. The Adidas Live Season add-on will use a network of real-world fact finders and stat-grinders to compile performance reports on all the players in Britain’s Barclay’s Premier League, Spain’s La Liga BBVA, France’s Ligue 1, the German Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A and the Mexican Primera Division. Phew. That’s a lot of stats. EA’s Andrew Wilson claims that “The game will feel and play differently each week. With Adidas Live Season if Ronaldinho has a great match on the weekend you’ll feel the difference when you pick up the controller as his in-game attributes increase.” Contrariwise, it might be a bit galling to be playing your favourite team only to find that real-world injuries rob you of your virtual dreams as well. So much for escapism. Take a look at the full details after the jump. More »

EA Facing Another Football Cover Change?

5:00AM Owen Good | Ah, and by that I mean association football, not “throwball” as soccer enthusiasts call American football. Seems that one of the coverboys for FIFA 09, Maurice Edu (at right in the cover shot) of Major League Soccer’s Toronto FC, is close to signing with Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League. That would make two football cover boys changing shirts in as many months for Electronic Arts. Players changing teams in the European domestic leagues is common, and Edu is nowhere near as iconic a player for TFC as Favre was for the Packers. But if Edu does end up with Rangers, will EA update their cover art with a downloadable/printable replacement? Will we see guerrilla shoops a week after he changes teams? It’s one thing to second-class the sport over in the U.S. How would it be taken in Europe? Or since it involves an MLS player, would anyone even care … Another Cover Change for EA? [XeNonX, thanks Ben] (Ulterior motive: A football post allows me to boast about San Jose dismantling Revolution 4-nil last night. We are absolutely the best last place team in anything on the face of the earth right now.) More »

Go!View To Bring Sky Sports Football Highlights To PSP

7:20AM Kotaku US Edition | Go!View is ushering in the new football season by offering downloadable highlights of the Barclays Premiership (the top level of competitive football/soccer in the UK) on their PSP video-on-demand service. For a mere five English pounds (or 7 Euros – weirdly, there are no US Dollar prices. Can’t think why) you can fill your PSP with 45 minute chunks of footy clips provided by Sky Sports as well as other sporting highlights in the Go!View Sports Pack. Hit the jump for the full press release, with more details of what will be shown More »

Junior Oz Soccer Team Trains With AC Milan, Thanks To EA

1:00PM Logan Booker | Soccer, football, that game with the round thing – whatever you call it, it’s very popular, especially in Brazil. And the UK. And other places. Apparently, it has a bit of a following here as well. So much so that EA was confident enough to give a junior Oz club, the Granville-based Western Rage, the opportunity to train with the AC Milan Youth Development coaching team. EA obviously didn’t just hand the team the offer – the club won it via EA Sports’ “Train with the World’s Best” competition. To stand a chance, the club had to put together a 50-word piece explaining why they deserved the training above others. I’m assuming that AC Milan is good, because I wouldn’t have the slightest clue. Regardless, Western Rage will have their abilities assessed over five sessions, and will receive a boatload of AC Milan gear and clothing. A big, happy football/soccer/orange-filled press release can be found after the jump, which includes dates for the five training sessions, if you’d like to attend. More »