And I waited with bated breath to see FIFA 99. I resisted buying World Cup 98 with all the willpower I could muster, after having played it a couple of times and deciding that it was simply not worth it when I already had the first one. I reviewed FIFA Road To World Cup 98 last fall, and gave it the only gold award I ever have. I personally believe this ploy would not have been accepted so easily had the games not been very, very good indeed. The fact that this meant one had to pay the full price just to get an upgrade for an existing game, I am sure, only made EA happier.

EA Sports , however, made sure we were all enjoying ourselves in front of the computer instead of watching Italy on the telly, by releasing two FIFA games instead of the usual one. The world championships saw a distressing decline in the number of exciting matches (were 32 teams really too many?), while we also welcomed a newcomer to the world champions club.

Soccer fans were glued to their seats in 1998 - and with good reason.

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