What with FIFA09 having come out and i35 round the corner I figured it would be a good time to start a blog..so here it is

So I'll start by going back to i34 back in August, EA had an early work-in-progress version of FIFA09 on display, and I managed to get to grips with it really quickly, winning the competition they had on the stand over the weekend.  It helped that it felt a lot like Euro 2008 (which I'd been playing for most of the summer) - a fast paced game which encouraged counter-attacking football.  After coming back from i34 I felt really confident about FIFA09, seeing as I was ranked Top10 in the World on the Euro 2008 PS3 Leaderboards.

Then comes PC Gamer Showdown, an event at Stoneleigh Park a couple of weeks ago. I went down with Adz for the Saturday as I heard EA were bringing FIFA09 along, I had hoped it would be the retail version as the game was to be released later on in the week!  Unfortunately it seemed to be another WIP version, although this version felt a lot different to the older version I had played at i34, and played like the demo that was avaialble on PSN/XBL. (Although the demo was limited to 2min halves - there's not much you can learn in 2min half games against AI!)  The tactics and playstyle which I had developed during Euro2008 were not working at all in FIFA09, and although I comfortably beat most of the people I played on the stand throughout the day, I still lost two close games to..................... Adz.

This was a bit of a wakeup call, and a bit worrying since I was hoping my Euro2008 experience would give me an edge as there were only just under 4 weeks until i35 - not too much time to learn a game inside out, especially with my third year of uni having just begun :( I couldn't wait to get hold of the retail copy of FIFA09 so I could find new formations/tactics and adjust my playstyle ready for the training grind leading up to i35.

So, back to the present!  I've had the game for just under two weeks now and although there are some incredibly annoying bugs, it's a great game on the whole :)  I've managed to create tactics and a formation that suit my playing style, and hopefully I'll improve them further ready to take on the LAN :D  I've been playing a lot of games with lots of success so it's looking good!  I've also been playing a fair bit of the 10v10 BeAPro mode which is great fun if you play it with mates (Not so fun if you're playing with randoms who just chase after the ball...:( )

Compared to i33, where I had little experience and no backing, yet still managed to mix it with (and beat some of!) Europe's elite, I'm confident that I can do really well at i35 with the preparation and practice I am giving myself combined with the backing I'm getting from infused

That's it from me for now, glhf to all attending i35 - see you there!