If looks could kill

No need to lock up your daughters...EA have announced that Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho will be the coverstars for FIFA 2006. Gulp. Thankfully, Iain Dowie was busy. Seriously though, the rest of the press release highlights an interesting point. The FIFA series has always been developed in Canada. This is probably why the FIFA titles historically consisted of 45 yard screamers and 5-5 scorelines - ie an unsophisticated, North American view of the game - rather than realistic football. This has been moderated in recent versions, but is obviously still an embarrassment. In this latest release EA have twice highlighted the fact that FIFA 2006 has been developed by a "multi national" team in Canada. While this sounds great in theory, it's clear that the any European influence on the development - gritty 1-0 away wins anyone? - has been lost on the final product. "FIFA 2006 will deliver a combination of attacking gameplay",says the marketing head, clearly not noticing that defending is just as important. Having all the real players and stadiums is fine, but until the developers of FIFA realise that football is more than tricks and overhead kicks it will remain runner up to Pro Evolution Soccer.