Fifa developer's X2 Football 2009 ready to kick off on the iPhone

Okay, Exient probably won't mind that their studio's name isn't on the tip of every sports fan's tongue, because their games undoubtedly are. This is the crew behind a host of DS sporting treasures including FIFA, Tiger Woods and John Madden titles.

Like so many astute developers it's now breaking into the iPhone arena, and launching its own brand of sporting goodness beginning with X2 Football 2009. Jon's already stopped by the studio to have a kick about, and now it's your turn as the game hits the App Store today.

X2 Football 2009 combines cutting-edge visuals with a simple to use yet advanced and versatile control method, and allows players to compete in ten different tournaments with national football teams.

"As a team, we've been working on handheld sports titles for over a decade and we have utilised all of that experience to create X2 Football 2009," explains Exient production manager Phil Bradley.

"From our motion captured players to the professional football commentary, we've worked hard to bring a true home console football game to the iPhone and iPod touch.

"On top of this is a new control method been developed with the experience gained from football game iterations across just about every handheld platform you could name. With all these features in combination, we're confident in saying that X2 Football 2009 is the definitive football title on its platform and as such, the best kick-off for X2 Games we could have created."

Over 490 motion-captured animations bring the in-game footballers to life and gameplay is enhanced by an attentive adaptive camera, tuned to keep its eye on the action at all times.

There's also a plan to introduce multiplayer once the iPhone's 3.0 software is rolled out, so watch out for more news on that one as it comes in.