THIS IS FOOTBALL 2005 SIGNS EYETOY

Scan yourself with EyeToy and stick your face in the team lineup. You' ll be better looking than Rooney, anyway

11:53 We' ve all said we could do a better job out on the pitch than the overpaid pansies that prance around every Saturday afternoon, and now Sony' s This is Football 2005 is giving us the chance.
The latest in Sony' s long-running footie series uses the EyeToy to capture an image of your face then stretch it onto a 3D player in the game. It' s a bit like the process in that movie Face/Off except with less blood and scalpels, and it looks surprisingly brilliant.

This is good for a couple of reasons. First, it lets fat people regain an athletic body, albeit a virtual one. Second, with TIF 2005 being online putting your face in the game means that when you score that last minute screamer to dump some Johnny Foreigner into a steaming pile of defeat, it' ll be your face screaming with delight on the screen.

TIF 2005 could also be pioneering another EyeToy first. We heard rumours a while back that it could be the first game to support the wee camera while you' re playing an online game, so you can see and talk to your opponent and vice versa. This isn' t confirmed, but it' s one to keep an eye on.

Aside from all this EyeToy craziness TIF 2005 features more than 900 real clubs, 19,000 real players, online multiplayer for up to 8 people, and pan-European competitions are planned.

Of course, it' s not Pro Evo, and with Konami' s top-of-the-table game going Live on the Xbox TIF 2005' s got a little more competition in the online footie league.

We' ve attached a stack of images for TIF 2005, and we' ll hook you up with more as soon as they hit our net.


Graeme Boyd