EA's Champions League game

It's not quite time for FIFA '08, but EA can't be bothered to wait and plans to take advantage of the lull with UEFA Champions League 2006-2007 for Xbox 360, PS2, PC, PSP and mobile.

Due out on 23rd March, the updated football game focuses on the titular tournament and the process of guiding your favourite club through qualification and into the final, with improvements to the 360 engine promising easier one-twos, first touches and through-passes thanks to more fluid player movement.

The 360 version is also in the spotlight for its new "Ultimate Team" mode which centres around the collection and trade of "virtual cards". The idea is to pick staff, players and even gameplay tactic cards to upgrade things like fitness and morale, with the ability to swap them online too as part of a bid to create the ultimate team.

So that should be interesting. There's also talk of eight-way multiplayer in the "Lounge", and lots of unlockable content, along with historical recreations of famous Champions League moments using modern teams.

There's currently no word on Wii or PlayStation 3 versions of the Champions League game, but Microsoft has previously said FIFA games are exclusive to 360 until later in 2007, so perhaps that's the key to that.

Check out screenshots elsewhere on the site.