14 DAY TRIAL // EA Sports is staging quite the event in order to celebrate the beginning of the 2010 South Africa World Cup, the biggest football event of the year. On Friday, the company is inviting fans of the teams of England and the United States, who are set to clash in the competition, to gather at selected locations and send Twitter messages to the other side. They will be laser printed on actual footballs and then shot out at the fans of the other side.
In England, fans are invited to come on Friday between 7 and 10 PM GMT in Leicester Square in London and on the Universal City Walk in Los Angeles. Twitter messages need to be sent to either @BallstotheYanks or @BallstotheBrits. Those who take part in the events will get to keep the footballs that are shot at them and will also receive prizes from EA Sports, including copies of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa videogame. It will be interesting to see how the publicity stunt plays out.
EA Sports has used the game engine that powers its football games to determine who will win the World Cup tournament this year, saying that Spain will battle Brazil in the final, with the European side managing to win because of the overall quality of its squad, David Villa becoming the best goal scorer of the tournament. It's not long before the prediction will be tested on the pitch.
With 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa enjoying good sales, the developers at EA Sports are now working hard on FIFA 11, which will be launched at some point during the fall. The company is promising that it will focus on players’ personality for the new installment, aiming to create a simulation environment where big players behave on the pitch as close as possible to how they do in real life.