Premiership football licence set for PC and PlayStation

Electronic Arts have announced a new football game for PC and PlayStation which is set to launch on August 13 to coincide with the start of the domestic season. And here's the thing, it doesn't have 'FIFA' in the title. Really. FA Premier League STARS (EA's capitals, not ours) promises to introduce one or two new ideas to football simulation, namely the introduction of a 'star' system based on a player's performance. The better you perform the more 'stars' you're awarded and this enables you to customise and upgrade the skills of your chosen Premiership team.

Best of all, this data will be saved for those times when you want to take on a friend. Apparently, you can even use the stars to poach talented players from other clubs. EA have secured the exclusive rights (as they do) to use all the kits, badges and stadia (even the individual kit sponsors are included) and Sky Sports' trio Richard Keys, Martin Tyler and Andy Gray have been draughted in to provide commentary and analysis.

"Our commitment to providing the best footballing software in the world is growing ever stronger with the development of FA Premier League STARS," commented producer Danny Isaac. "The game will combine the high excitement of the Premier League with a brand new gaming concept to break the mould set by more traditional football games." Admittedly, it all sounds rather slick - and no doubt it will be - so let's hope the game doesn't let you score spectacular goals with relative ease, which is so often the case in FIFA.