Ill start putting info thats spread across the forum in here once I get promoted, for easier access. Use this for any information you may find . Here a good article:-

quote

It's taken some time, but EA's powerful FIFA franchise is finally focusing on the fundamentals of football with the upcoming FIFA Soccer 2005. In addition to an unprecedented number of players, leagues and national teams (12,000;20; 40, respectively), the introduction of first touch control should appeal to the soccer purists out there who've been waiting for even more realism out of the series. There have been improvements to the rich Dynasty mode and the experiment with Off the Ball control continues in the version, but without a doubt the new first touch system, along with improved animations, is the biggest evolution.

To those who play the game, the importance of the first touch can't be overstated. It is to soccer what the first step is to basketball; the footwork that leads to beautiful plays from skilled players. For years, EA's FIFA series overlooked or automated the animations that you'll now have total control over.
The ball is no longer "attached" to a player's foot once he takes possession. The soccer ball has its own physics system and because of this you can quickly affect incoming passes with a timely flick of the right analog stick. As the ball approaches your receiving player you can quickly re-direct it in a direction of your choosing to catch a defender off guard. Just like you'll see in world class matches, a player with a defender on his back, facing away from the goal, will play the ball in a direction that's to his advantage. If the defender is on your offensive player's back, slightly to his left, you can flick up on the right analog stick and play the ball to your man's "right" side (if you're playing from the default left-to-right perspective). Since you know where you're going to play the ball you can quickly maneuver your man around the defender and continue on the attack. The system is extremely intuitive. In most instances you'll want to use first touch to direct the ball into a space away from the defenders regardless of the orientation of your players.

If the receiving player is in a free run into space when the ball gets to him, you can flick the right analog stick "forward" (left or right) so that as soon as the ball gets to him, he immediately plays the ball forward to himself, so he can possess it without breaking stride. Another advantage to first touch is that all of your freestyle moves are on the right analog stick as well and these new slick moves are just as intuitive as making your first touch plays. It won't be uncommon for players to tap the ball into space away from the defender, only to throw another freestyle move in another direction once he catches up to it again, thereby absolutely baffling the defender trying to recover from the first move.

The catch is, a player's ball handling skills will play a huge role in FIFA 2005. Thierry Henry and other world-class players will be able to pull off first touch moves and other freestyle moves (including player specific moves) with ease. If you try to get fancy with a slow footed defensive player however, they will screw up both first touch and freestyle moves quite a bit. Fortunately the moves you'll be able to pull with players like Ronaldinho, at full speed no less, will be a thing of beauty especially if you end up finding the back of the net.

The animation and physics of the game are greatly improved. There's no better indication of this than the intelligence and ability of players near the sidelines. After years of throwing controllers and cursing at top volume when a player would kick the hell out of a ball near the sidelines after we'd tapped the speed burst button with lightning fingers to get him there, there's finally a unique sideline play system to make us happy. You can freely sprint your players near the sidelines to get to a ball and they'll automatically slide or lunge to make a play on it while keeping it bounds. If you're trying a low pass, a shot or simply trying to possess it, the man will adjust his steps to execute what you're telling him to do. There's a similar system on shots where a player in possession of the ball and in full sprint will slow down just a touch and measure his steps to launch a realistic shot from outside the area. Defenders that overrun an offensive player's path or whiff on a tackle have new physics based animations where they'll breakdown and lean in the opposite direction to recover.

Overall FIFA 2005 seems to be a marked improvement over its predecessor. There's still more to be seen from the new Off the Ball control system and the depths of the Dynasty mode haven't been explored yet either. We'll have plenty more on FIFA 2005 in the weeks and months to come.

more news from the fifa 2005 site
Key Features:
Master the first touch system
Added gameplay depth,through a massively improved off the ball control
absolute broadkast look and feel
immersive inviromets, with authentic croud chants, various weather conditions
the worlds ultimate rooster: more than 350 official licenses, including 20 leaugue's, 40 national teams including nigeria japan and licensed holland!, and 15,000 players are available.

sounds good.

Online play for FIFA 2005;

EA Sports online allows users to play against anybody in the world. A lobby area lets you meet, chat, setup tournaments.

Key Features;

Advanced Matchmaking (PS2 Only)
Game lobbies allow you to easily to find opponents to chat with and play against. Use the "Play Now" function to find an opponent that best matches your experience and skill levels.

Online Events;
Pick your favourite team and play against other players in single-elimination online tournaments with up to 32 players. Enter sponsered events and compete for greater rewards and prizes.

Quick Tournaments;
A quick tournament is a mini-tournament consisting of 4 to 8 players. Once the events begin the players are engaged in a fast-paced single knockout event of short games.

Anti Cheating measures;
Anti chaeting measures like an improved time-out mechanism and disconnect handling guarantee a fun and fair online experience.

Improved EA Messenger;
Use the EA messenger to chat and set up matches with your friends online. Includes new improvements such as the ability to send and recieve messages from multiple friends simultaneously, appear offline to users on the blocked list and wild card searches.

Voice Over IP;
Voice chat with your friends via any USB headset/Xbox communicator through EA messenger or USER action pop-up(NEW). You can also use it to talk smack with other players during gameplay.

Ticker;
Tthe ticker will show upcoming football game dates as well as past game's scores from all the major leagues and events. Additionally, the ticker will alert you when friends come online, show scores of other relevant online games, and publish special messages directly from EA Sports managers

Online Stats and ranking lists;
Check your online stats and rankings to see how you stack up against other players, or your EA Messenger friends.

Universal Login;Use your Universal EA online account across all EA sports online PS2 titles and create multiple accounts for all members of your household

USB keyboard support;
Use any supported USB keyboard to chat with other players.

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Leagues; Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Belgium, Switzerland, Germany, Denmark, Spain, France, Italy, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, England, Scotland, United States.. link

Credit to FIFA 2005 website

This message was edited by anluan04 on Jul 24 2004.

This message was edited by anluan04 on Jul 24 2004.

on the fifa website there are in order:
Argentina, Austria, Belguim, Brazil, Switzerland, Germany, Danemark, Spain, France, Italy, Korea, Mexico, nertherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Sweden, England, Scotland, USA, INTERNATIONAL and Rest Of The World.
Partick thistle are still in the spl somehow ?
english premier ship coca cola championship and division 1.
division 1 and 2 leaugues for spain germany france. only division 1 for italy . international teams include nigeria japan and liscenced holland. finally.

poland leaugue only has 3 teams

New Screens

Im a bit worried about how the players look 'gay' when they chest the ball . See for yourself..

I LIKE THE STADIAS

lol Josh, they do look a bit gay alright

Not bad overall. Some of them still look a little blurry though. The stadia continues to impress me. EA have done very well on them.

According to play.com the release date is the 1st October

Ah good find, ill do some digging around tonight for more release dates and see if they all say the same

That's a month earlier than I expected. Nice find Greg. Hopefully it's true.

Edit: I've looked on Amazon, who say 12th Oct.

And Kelkoo say Nov 29, so were back to square 1 then.

This message was edited by anluan04 on Aug 06 2004.

Damn! I don't think it will be November 29th though, that's way too late for FIFA

Full Soundtrack- Fifa 2005

FIFA Soccer 2005 soundtrack revealed

EA's soccer game will feature 38 international music tracks when it ships worldwide in October.
Electronic Arts today announced the soundtrack for the upcoming FIFA Soccer 2005. The extensive list of songs includes tracks from the US, Brazil, Sweden, and Mexico, among others, reflecting the international appeal of the popular soccer series. Scotland's Franz Ferdinand and France's Air will make an appearance, and the game will premiere the new EA Sports soccer theme, which was recorded by England's Paul Oakenfold.

A large portion of the game's 38 songs hail from the UK, including those from indie rocker Morrissey and the hip-hop group The Streets. The full list of tracks, including country of origin, is as follows:


Air - Surfing on a Rocket [France]
Brothers - Dieci Cento Mille [Italy]
Debi Nova - One Rhythm (Da Yard Riddim Mix) [Costa Rica]
Emma Warren - She Wants You Back [England]
Faithless - No Roots [England]
Ferry Corsten - Rock Your Body, Rock [Netherlands]
Flogging Molly - To Youth (My Sweet Roisin Dubh) [Ireland]
Franz Ferdinand - Tell Her Tonight [Scotland]
Future Funk Squad - Sorcerary [England]
Gusanito - Vive La Vida [Spain]
Head Automatica - Brooklyn is Burning [United States]
Inverga + Num Kebra - Eu Perdi Voce [Brazil]
Ivete Sangalo - Sorte Grande [Brazil]
INXS - What You Need (Coldcut Force Mix 13 Edit) [Australia]
Jose - A Necessidade [France]
Los Amigos Invisibles - Esto Es Lo Que Hay (Reggaeton Remix) [Venezuela]
Mala Rodriguez - Jugadoras, Jugadoras [Spain]
Manana - Miss Evening [Switzerland]
Marcelo D2 - Profissao MC [Brazil]
Miss J - Follow Me [Denmark]
Morrissey - Irish Blood, English Heart [England]
Nachlader - An die Wand [Germany]
New Order - Blue Monday [England]
Clorofila of Nortec Collective - Almada [Mexico]
Oomph! - Augen Auf! [Germany]
Paul Oakenfold - EA Sports Football Theme [England]
Sandro Bit - Ciao Sono lo [Italy]
Sarah McLachlan - World on Fire/Junkie XL Remix [Canada]
Scissor Sisters - Take Your Mama [United States]
Seeed - Release [Germany]
Sneak Attack Tigers - The End of All Good [Scotland]
Sober - Cientos de Preguntas [Spain]
Soul'dOut - 1,000,000 Monsters Attack [Japan]
The Sounds - Seven Days a Week [Sweden]
The Soundtrack of our Lives - Karmageddon [Sweden]
The Streets - Fit But You Know It [England]
Wayne Marshall - Hot In The Club [Jamaica]
Zion y Lennox - Ahora [Puerto Rico]

nice find

Is the release date UK or US?

New Screens. Alot of them look promising. Coloured nets and different shaped nets may be a bonus