Real Football kicks off

Gameloft has announced a partnership with i-mode operators in six European countries, offering a cross-country mobile football tournament to celebrate the launch of its 2006 Real Football mobile game.

Adding a little extra excitement to the forthcoming World Cup, mobile gamers will be able to compete against both national and international players using one of the 48 national teams and the world's top 1000 professional footballers.

The cross-country competition will be supported by O2 in the UK and Ireland, with the tournament running for approximately six weeks (ending on the 9th July) to allow football fans plenty of time to get their practice in and take on the best players in Greece, Germany, the Netherlands and Israel to compete for a range of prizes including footballs, football boots, World Cup merchandising goodies and a plasma television.

Gameloft's 2006 Real Football, which was launched across Europe last week, features all 48 national teams, 16 club teams and seven all-star teams with ten different competitions including the world's biggest football showdown.

Supported by three top players - Djibril Cissé, Andrei Shevchenko and Oliver Kahn - 2006 Real Football enables players to master a range of special moves such as the one-two, the header, the volley, the through-ball and the bicycle kick, with special characteristic moves for star players.

An offside indicator prevents players from wasting valuable goal-scoring opportunities, and the isometric 3D view puts mobile gamers in the centre of the action from the outset.

More information on 2006 Real Football can be found by visiting the Gameloft website, and competition details can be accessed in each participating country through the i-mode operator's website.