With the release of the latest iteration in EA's mega footballing franchise, FIFA 12 quickly bearing down upon us, many of you may be thinking about placing a pre-order, to ensure you (or your kids) don't miss out come release. As an added bonus, no matter where you place your pre-order, EA have announced an enticing pre-order scheme, that ensures you'll be getting something a little bit special when you come to pick up your game.
strangely, it seems at the moment you can't pre-order bog standard FIFA 12 - instead, you'll have to place a pre-order for either FIFA 12: Special Edition, or, if you're pre-ordering at Game or Gamestation, FIFA 12: Ultimate Edition. Somewhat confusingly, these games are both exactly the same as normal FIFA - there are no massive models, collectible soundtracks, etc, like you normally find in special editions - with the only difference being that, should you pre-order either version, you'll be eligible to receive some free downloadable extras.
Should you place a pre-order for FIFA 12 Ultimate Edition at Game (which you can do by clicking here) or Gamestation for £44.99, you'll be eligible to receive 24 Gold Packs (four a month for six months), which can be used in FIFA Ultimate Team. Pre-order from anywhere else, and you'll be pre-ordering the FIFA 12 Special Edition, which entitles you to 18 Gold Packs (three per month for six months). You can pre-order the Special Edition from retailers like Zavvi for £39.85.
When you actually pick up the game, you'll receive a special code, which you can then redeem through the in-game store. Rather than simply being given your packs automatically, however, you'll have to repeatedly check back in the store, and Ultimate Team mode every month, in order to download your quota and use them. If you forget, you'll forfeit your quota.
Ultimate Team is FIFA 12's digital card trading game, where players can purchase (using either in-game points, or real money) packs of players, which they can then use to create their own "dream team". By pre-ordering either of the above, you'll be giving your team a headstart, by getting a number of Gold packs for free, which are more likely to contain special players.
FIFA 12 launches on the 30th September in the UK and Europe. If you want to take advantage of the special offers, you'd best get your pre-order down now!
