If you're anything like us, you base your year around FIFA's release date.
As far as we're concerned, the calendar year starts in late September, and tends to coincide with a mysterious sickness that keeps us out for roughly a week straight. Symptoms include not being able to sleep, your eyes being glued to as big a TV set as you can find, and an aching pain in your thumbs.
Well that time is upon us again, because there's only one more day to wait until the release of FIFA 16, which means that it's been 20 years since the first time a FIFA made it's way on to a Playstation. Being lovers of nostalgia, and lists, we couldn't let this pass us by without going through some of our favourite versions of the past 20 years, so here they are.
FIFA 99
This will forever hold a place in my own heart, as it was the very first FIFA I ever had, and the very first Playstation game I ever owned. A six-year-old me liked the look of the Arsenal kit, and what with Dennis Bergkamp being the greatest player/video game character to ever exist, my support of The Arsenal was born and I've been paying for it emotionally ever since.
FIFA 14
The first FIFA game to make its way on the latest generation of consoles, it was a landmark moment for virtual football fans. The new Ignite game engine made the play more realistic than ever, brought the graphics to a completely new level, and made the computer good enough that we had to admit defeat and start playing on professional. The happiest and saddest day in our video-game lives.
FIFA 02
We can't explain this one to be honest. Maybe it's something to do with the World Cup being that summer and our lives being wrapped up in football all year long, or maybe it was because it had Gorillaz 19-2000 as the lead song, but this is arguably our favourite FIFA ever. You could bend free-kicks, come on, what more could you want?
FIFA 09
This was the first season Ultimate Team mode was introduced, and we've basically had no lives ever since. Before 09, we'd eventually grow tired of the game by around August, giving us a month to recuperate and get ready for the challenge of next season, but Ultimate Team has ensured that we mashing the buttons away all through the summer and basically never get offline. Just one more game, we promise.
FIFA 16
If we're being honest, every FIFA that comes out is better than the last, so it seems crazy to leave the new one off the list. We can't wait to get our hands on it, and we won't have to wait long, seeing as this season's version hits hmv stores from Wednesday midnight, with a series of events taking place in hmv stores up and down the country to celebrate the release. For a full list of participating branches, click here or visit hmv.com for more information.
You can pre-order the game by clicking here, which we'd recommend seeing as copies will fly out the door as usual, but you can also enter into a draw for some exclusive copies we're giving away every day until the games release. Just head over to our competitions page and follow the instructions.
