FirstCuts: FIFA Interactive World Cup In L.A.

By Chris Littmann
Sports don’t start and end with a referee’s whistle. FirstCuts, a blog dedicated to sports culture, will cover everything outside the lines, from games to gear.
The fine people from EA took a break from trying to gobble up every available development studio to let us know that the FIFA Interactive World Cup 2008 (FIWC) has its only stop in North America on March 1 in Los Angeles. On hand for the event: Chivas USA players Jorge Flores and Anthony Hamilton.
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[quote="EA Sports"]The FIWC will showcase 128 of the best interactive soccer players in North America competing for one of 32 berths in the FIWC Grand Final on May 24 in Berlin.
The only FIWC 08 Qualifier Event in North America will take place on Saturday, March 1 from 2:00-8:00 pm at GameStop, 1000 Universal Studios Blvd., Universal City, CA. Up to 50 competitors can pre-register for the event by logging on to www.easports.com/FIWC while the remaining 78 spots will be filled on a first-come, first-served basis on the day of the event. Complete official rules can be found at http://fifa08.ea.com/us/.
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So there you have it, if you’re in the Los Angeles area and have some futbol skills with the ol’ PlayStation 3, give it a go, and please report back when you dominate the rest of the world.
But really, this brings me to another point as I was watching the coverage of the Game Developers Conference (and follow my tangent, please): What sports games are people playing besides Madden 08? The lack of conversation about sports games at the GDC makes me think sports games don’t matter. I’m a reader of Larry Hyrb (Major Nelson), and every week he lists the top 10 games played on Xbox Live. And every week, there’s only one sports game ... until this week. Out of nowhere appears FIFA 08, not FIFA Street 3, mind you (full review coming later this week as soon as I pull myself away from Rock Band).
Are you playing FIFA 08? Is it really the second-most popular sports game out right now? Kick it around for a bit and let me know what you think. (OK, that was just bad.)
Xbox Live activity for the week of 2/18 | MajorNelson.com
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