PC, PS4/5 (version tested), Switch and Xbox One/Series X While there are no spectacular advances on last year’s game, new refinements provide a vivid glimpse of what it’s like to be a genius on the field It’s been a year since EA, having abandoned its Fifa licence, brought us EA Sports FC, the most awkwardly named sports game franchise since Peter Shilton’s Handball Maradona. Sales were apparently 5% down after the switch to the catchy new moniker, but profits were up thanks to the cash-raking power of Ultimate Team, EA’s controversial, financially voracious take on a Panini sticker album. Now we’re on to the follow-up and with Konami’s eFootball still underperforming and no new Fifa title on the immediate horizon, it’s another open goal for team EA Sports. Fortunately for us, the developer is not taking its dominance for granted: there are genuinely intriguing new features here. Last year it was all about the advanced HyperMotion2 animation tech, this year it’s FC IQ, which looks to enhance the strategic side of the game by giving you intricate control over team and player mentalities. Here, you can tweak your build-up style and defensive approach, then go in and change the priorities of each individual player. Want Saka to play in an aggressively attacking rather than balanced role at Arsenal? You can make that change. Then, when you start a match his AI will be yelling at him to make forward runs at the expense of providing defensive support. It’s a fun option for Claudio Ranieri types, but a bit much if you’re just after a kickabout. Continue reading...

Paulomi Debnath has shared a kiss with her husband every morning for 18 years. Ron Hill ran every day for more than 52 years. When does an enjoyable habit become a compulsion? Anyone who spotted the run Tom Vickery uploaded to exercise tracking app Strava on 18 February last year might have been a little confused. The 30-minute sprint appeared to have taken place right in the middle of the Channel, not far from Guernsey and heading towards the west coast of France. The run was also, curiously, a ruler-straight line, appearing on Vickery’s public profile as an unbending, inch-long streak of orange in the blue swathe of the app’s virtual sea. Oh, and it was at a world record-breaking pace. Of course, anyone who knows Vickery wouldn’t have been surprised at all. The 38-year-old triathlon coach from Cambridge was on a two-day ferry trip to Bilbao for a holiday and this rather speedy jog was simply another run on his then nearly four-year daily running streak on Strava. Determined not to break his streak on board the ship, Vickery had risen at 5am to run up and down the deck for his allotted 30 minutes, and the boat’s progress through the water meant he appeared to be running faster than any long-distance runner in the world. Continue reading...

Lace up your simulators and waggle your joystick for gold, from Mario racing Sonic in the 200m freestyle or pole vaulting on a PlayStation Over the past three weeks the Paris Olympics have provided some spectacular sporting moments, from incredible victories to heartbreaking defeats to Snoop Dogg standing about in full equestrian regalia. For most of us, such sporting brilliance is way beyond reach – unless, that is, you have access to video games. Although there was no official tie-in this year, there have been many well-loved Olympic-inspired games over the past four decades. If you have an old Commodore 64, PlayStation or Wii, or a suitable emulator on your PC, here’s how you can relive this summer’s immortal sporting memories in the safety of your own home. Continue reading...

Lesser known sports stars are showing off Olympic Village life and captivating people with their ‘joyful relatability’ Olympic hauls were once the preserve of triumphant athletes showing off their medals, but now every Olympian is getting in on the act by posting videos of themselves unboxing their sponsored kit. Haul videos – a social media staple in which someone usually shows off their recent purchases – have been popping up online with athletes who are preparing to take to track and field, pitches and courts taking to TikTok instead. Continue reading...

Riding a wave of nostalgia, the return of EA’s beloved franchise has whet the appetite of gamers across different generations Sports videogame releases are usually drab affairs. New versions come out every year, and beyond roster updates and a few gameplay tweaks, they don’t change that much from edition to edition. Unlike Grand Theft Auto aficianados, sports game fans don’t plan midnight release parties. But EA Sports College Football 25, which will be released worldwide on 19 July, isn’t a typical game. It may well be the most anticipated sports video game release ever in the US. And to understand why, we need to go back to the beginning. Continue reading...

Threat Matrix service monitors social media profiles and flags up death threats, racism and sexist comments The All England Lawn Tennis Club is using artificial intelligence for the first time to protect players at Wimbledon from online abuse. An AI-driven service monitors players’ public-facing social media profiles and automatically flags death threats, racism and sexist comments in 35 different languages. Continue reading...