Following on from the news that Pro Evolution Soccer will be enabled for Xbox Live play comes the announcement of the FIFA Interactive World Cup. Unfortunately this involves FIFA 2005 rather than Pro Evolution Soccer but after last night's press conference in Berlin I'm not only knackered, but also certain this will be big.
Players will compete in one of the regional finals - taking in Johannesburg to New York - with the winners shooting it out at the FIFA World Player Gala in Zurich. The winning player will be presented with their trophy by FIFA president Sepp Blatter at the same time as the Player of the Year award is dished out. Yes, get very good at FIFA 2005 and you could be standing on stage with Henry/Ronaldhino/Beattie or whoever wins. If you fancy it you can enter via Xbox Live or by queuing up at the venues themselves (the UK's event is in London on November 20th).
As a sidenote, they had the latest version of FIFA 2005 Xbox on show at the event. A few games showed that, while still a way off Pro Evo, this is a marked improvement on last year's dire offering. Players still don't "feel" quite right and freekicks are too easy to score, but FIFA 2005 is looks like being the best version yet.
