Football superstar Lionel Messi has been a mainstay cover athlete for Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) series of sports games for years now, and we’ve all become accustomed to seeing him on PES boxes year in and out.

So it’s a little surprising that EA has today proclaimed that the internationally recognised and adored player will now grace the cover of an EA Sports title, FIFA Street. Billed as “The biggest transfer of the football season,” EA Sports has announced that Messi will first appear on the cover of FIFA Street in March 2012.

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EA’s newly announced FIFA Street is being developed by an internal team with Gary Paterson (FIFA 08, 09, 10 and 11) in charge and it looks extremely promising. Paterson was available at EA’s booth at Gamescom today and presented on the game’s main ideas as well as gave us a chance to get a feel for how the game will feel with a controller in our hands.

The aim of FIFA Street is to present a realistic street soccer game. Paterson noted that street soccer is flamboyant enough in reality so there was no need to make the video game anything but realistic in order to be fun and different enough from FIFA 12. It will use the main FIFA engine, including the improvements in FIFA 12 - the player impact engine and the precision dribbling system, but the control system is markedly different. The game will also include various styles of street soccer - the research EA has done indicates that, for example, in the UK the game is very physical, while in Rio de Janeiro it’s all about flair.

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Every year (and every few months), EA shuts down online server support for a selection (and in same cases, an entire crop) of its games to make way for the support of future online-enabled titles, ostensibly to provide better features and support for the new blood.

Last year, the biggest shock was the discontinuation of server support for EA’s Lord of the Rings: Battle for Middle-earth strategy games, and this year the list of games set to be without official features includes games from the Battlefield, Need For Speed and Tiger Woods franchises, amongst others.

Here’s the message and new list of games from EA:

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As promised by EA Sports yesterday, the first official screenshot for this year’s edition of the FIFA series of football/soccer games has been released.

The tension is palpable:

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FIFA, EA Sports and PlayStation are all set to bring the local leg of the FIFA Interactive World Cup qualifiers to Johannesburg, South Africa, where you’ll not only be able to compete for one of 32 spots in the FIFA Interactive World Cup Grand Final, but also watch live matches, play the latest EA games, and chat with local football players.

Where’s all of this taking place, and how do you enter? Easy:

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EA has revealed that from February 2nd to February 9th, a number of online servers that currently support online play for certain of their sports-related games will be shut down.

The list is 25 titles strong, and runs the gamut of their sports offerings, from Fifa, Tiger Woods and Madden, to NHL, NFL and Nascar. According to a post on EA’s website:

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The official governing body of football, FIFA, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and Electronic Arts have announced that the new season of the FIFA Interactive World Cup begins today ‘inside’ EA’s latest and newly released football game, Fifa 10 on the PlayStation 3.

The FIFA Interactive World Cup, now in its sixth year, is a season-long tournament running alongside the real world football season, in which gamers from around the world will participate and compete against one another to claim their spot in the Grand Final.

In order to enter the tournament, gamers will need to enter live qualifier events taking place around the world, in Australia, Brazil, Denmark, France, Italy, Japan, Poland, Russia, South Africa and, of course, the UK, or by simply playing online.

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The word on the street is that a price drop for the FIFA 09 Live Season DLC is imminent. In fact the price of the DLC will drop tomorrow, the 15th of January (9am UK time) to celebrate the January transfer window.

According to those in the know, this mode will update your game on a weekly basis with player stats based on the performance of players in the real world. This means that your copy of FIFA will always be up to date.

The individual leagues (that is English Barclay’s Premier League, Spanish La Liga, Italian Serie A, French Ligue 1, German Bundesliga and Mexican Primera Division) will drop from 560 Microsoft Points to 420. The bundle of all six leagues will drop from 1600 Microsoft points to 1200.

Just a reminder, in case you needed reminding, that Fifa ’09 is now available in the UK and Europe for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC, PSP and NDS.

There’s a raft of new features in the latest edition to the long-running series, including online leagues and clubs, with 10 vs 10 online matches. Don’t forget the Fifa Interactive World Cup, accessible with PlayStation 3 versions of the game, kicking off later this month. While you’re sat at a computer, you may as well watch a great trailer from the game to while away the time before you get to play it!

Enjoy the game!

EA have announced the new season of the Fifa Interactive World Cup for players of the soon-to-be-released Fifa ’09, on PlayStation 3. This is the 5th consecutive year in which the competition has been run, giving players around the world the opportunity to compete in the latest Fifa game and win some amazing prizes.

“Players will be able to compete at one of 19 physical FIWC 09 Qualifier Events across the globe, kicking off in New Zealand on 25 October and covering countries all over the world, including Australia, Brazil, Czech Republic, France, Italy, South Africa and the US,” reveals EA. Online qualification will also be possible.

Prizes up for grabs include $20 000 and a car (a KIA ‘Soul’) for first place, second place gets you $5000 and third place wins $1000. You can hone your skills on the demo of Fifa ’09, released to the PlayStation Network last week, to improve your chances of competing.

While the competition only begins on October 25th, the games begin when Fifa ‘09 launches on October 3rd across the UK/Europe and North America on October 14th. More information, including where to enter the competition, is to be revealed at a later date, but check out the official FIWC website for now.

Amazing footage of Fifa ’09 has hit the web and it’s looking absolutely superb. Featuring in-game graphics and a dramatic camera, this trailer is sure to get you in the mood to play the latest addition to the Fifa series of games. With the awesome sounding Fifa ’09 Clubs feature, and taking into consideration the leaps and bounds made by EA in previous Fifa games, Fifa ’09 is sure to be a smash hit when it arrives in the UK and Europe on October 3rd and October 14th in the US.

Get your heart racing by watching below!

For all the football/soccer fans with an Xbox 360 or PS3, you’ll get a chance to play the demo of Fifa ’09, releasing later today on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network respectively.

A PC demo has already been released as a 1GB download, however, which includes six playable teams in the form of Marseille, Schalke, Real Madrid, Chelsea, AC Milan and Toronto FC. The console demos will feature the same teams, but different stadiums - New Wembley for Xbox 360 and FIWC Stadium on PS3.

Meanwhile, one of the new features of Fifa ‘09, Fifa ‘09 Clubs, enables gamers around the world to form or join user-controlled clubs of up to 50 people, in order to participate in the ‘Be A Pro: 10 v 10 Online Team Play’ feature of the game. This feature allows 20 people on 20 different consoles around the world to play a single match of Fifa ’09.

Clubs will be able to field their best online players from their squad to battle their way to the top of the logs and determine who has the world’s best virtual team. There is also the option for a Club Manager to scout rival Clubs, finding and recruiting players that fit their own squad. Just like real footie! Fifa ‘09 releases across the UK and Europe on October 3rd.

If you fancy yourself to be a FIFA guru and are keen for the opportunity to travel to Berlin, then this competition is for you. The South African leg is taking place between the 28th and 30th March at the Fountain Court in Sandton City, Johannesburg. You need to go to www.agasa.co.za and register to secure your place.

The prize is a trip to Berlin where you would compete for the title of FIFA Interactive World Player 2008. If you manage to outplay the competition you could walk away with $20 000 in prize money and that sounds even better when converted to rands. To top it off the winner gets an all expenses paid trip to the FIFA World Player Gala to meet your heroes in person.

More information about the event is available at the www.FIFA.com/FIWC site.