One of the traditions now associated with the coming of autumn is the release of two big football titles: FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. As any fan of gaming will know, these two games go head to head each year, with PES usually coming out on top. The latest edition, PES 2009, will be a huge seller on the Xbox 360 and PLAYSTATION®3 consoles but how does it perform on the PC, a format notoriously unsuited to sports games?

I'm not going to lie to you: the PES 2009 demo for PC isn't exactly revolutionary when it comes to the old problem of porting console titles to Windows. All the old problems are there but the horrendously clunky controls (caused by lack of analog sticks) are the biggest barrier to enjoying what would, on the correct platform, be an enjoyable and well-designed game.

Another weak point in the PES 2009 demo is the lack of any game options whatsoever. With no way of adjusting graphics, sound or controls, the demo has a very rigid feel to it. Sound controls in particular would be a welcome addition, if only they allowed you to turn off the awful music Konami has selected for the menu and intro pages, and the tinny, poorly rendered chants during the game.

After selecting Exhibition mode (the only option apart from Exit), you're offered a choice of four clubs (FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Liverpool and Manchester United) or two licensed national sides (France and Italy) to pit against each other. There follows the usual tactical options screen, a brief summary of the (insanely crappy) controls, and you're straight into the action.

The first thing we noticed about Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is that the graphics have been improved somewhat since last year's edition - player models are smoother and more natural than previously, even if getting the players to go where you want is just as hard as ever. Other improvements include the general AI of computer opponents and the physics of the game, though we're only really talking about minor tweaks here.

Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is, in the end, a slight improvement on last year's slightly disappointing release. On the PS3 and Xbox, it looks likely to lose this year's contest as FIFA 09 has improved so much. On PC, and especially without a gamepad, its controls are so clunky and inaccurate that it's as much of a waste of time as Civilization is on a console.

In all: PES 2009 is worth a try but not highly recommended on PC.

Download Pro Evolution Soccer (PES) 2009 in Softonic

This year I'm planning to use my computer to track all the latest stats from Europe’s football leagues. I’ve downloaded a copy of Ltrack, which lets you monitor your team’s highs and lows over the next few months.

Its interface is pretty simple but there’s a lot you can do with the app. As well as showing the league table standings, a wide selection of statistical information can be displayed, printed or exported in a variety of formats. I’m a massive stat fan and was impressed by the way you can view data on teams, players, goals and red and yellow cards.

You can display, print or export these statistics and tables in a variety of different formats and there’s a handy online update facility to keep your league up-to-date with the latest results over the Net. This feature is only available for certain leagues, but Ltrack is still a much easier way of tracking football league data than scribbling on a wallchart.

Download Ltrack 6.3.2 in Softonic

It's incredible to think it's been 15 years since the FIFA game dynasty began. FIFA 09 is a far cry from the blocky graphics and rigid gameplay of the original, 16-bit version. But, of course, the question is, how much better is this one than FIFA 08?

The answer, in short is: a little. The graphics in FIFA 09 have been refined, with more photo-realistic captures of the superstars of soccer, and some great new animations both on and off the ball. The presentation of the game is as exquisite as ever, with new match intro sequences featuring the players warming up in the tunnel, crowd chants specific to each club, not to mention the cool new 'widgets' system on the menu pages, where various online and offline stats are displayed at all times. Unfortunately, it was impossible to test the commentary in FIFA 09, as it's not included in this demo version.

In terms of its gameplay, FIFA 09 offers a smooth ride, although there are few changes to the way the game handles other than a few new tricks and the addition of more realistic collisions. I could've done without these clashes, as sometimes it takes your player a long time to get up after a heavy hit. In fact, one of the new gameplay enhancements in FIFA 09 is the physical presence of some players, which means large defenders are more likely to bundle you off the ball, requiring more cunning to get past them.

While this demo of FIFA 09 is limited to four-minute demo matches between a choice of six clubs, the full release looks set to really raise the bar in terms of its online modes. I'm particularly excited by the new Adidas Live Season mode, where player information is updated dynamically depending on performances in real life.

FIFA 09 is undoubtedly a great football sim, although unless you're particularly interested in the online aspect of the game, you may not see a great deal of benefit in upgrading from 08 (other than, of course, the updated transfers).

Whether it'll prove better than Pro Evolution 2009 is a matter of extensive debate, but FIFA 09 is definitely the best version in the EA series to date.

Download FIFA 09 in Softonic

When Softonic programmers are tired of working and need a break, they usually play a quick game at the table-football the company has installed in the coffee room. But now that I've found this game, they won't have to leave their desks to play their favorite pastime!

Master Kick is a fun arcade football game that's already been available for a while on different portable devices (Palm, Pocket PC). It's not exactly like other football sims you may have seen before: actually, it's a table-football (or foosball) game, meaning you play with football players attached to bar that you can move up and down to play the ball around the game field.

I don't know if it was because I'm hopeless at table-football, or because the game's AI is too high, but I found scoring goals quite difficult even in the easiest playing mode. On the upside, the game in itself is quite elaborate, with a varied selection of fields and even some crowd cheering sound effects in the background. You can play either a quick match or a complete league, and also try different team layouts. The only thing I missed was the possibility to play against another human opponent.

Master Kick is a fun table-football game, more like an arcade than a simulator. Pity it doesn't have a multiplayer option!

Download Master Kick 1.4.1 in Softonic

These days of football fever are probably the best time of the year to play KickOff, an original online football game.

KickOff follows the trend of online casual games you can play for free, just by registering a free account on the game's website and downloading the client. This time football (or soccer, if you prefer it that way) is the main subject of the game, but not in the way we're used to seeing it: in a big stadium, with a crowd of people roaring and 22 professional players running after the ball. Kick-off focuses on street football, on those casual matches you play against your friends in the neighborhood.

The game in itself is quite easy to control. There are only three keys for different kinds of pass and shoot, besides the arrow keys to control movement. Graphics don't follow a realistic style, but are based on a more manga-like design instead, using bright, shiny colors and paying a great attention to detail.

KickOff includes three different game modes: a practicing area, free gaming against people from all over the world and a complete league that you can only enter when you obtain the necessary license. This license, together with the so called "tics" (a kind of user points), is obtained by playing matches. Tics will also eventually allow you to acquire new abilities and new items for your player.

The only main drawback to KickOff is its server problems. While testing the game I was disconnected from the game twice, which automatically closes the client as well. I also had some minor lag issues while playing online matches. Hopefully these problems will be solved soon and we can all enjoy an exciting online soccer game for free.

KickOff is an enjoyable online football game with which you can play fun matches againts people from all over the world, though you may have the odd server problem while playing it.

Download KickOff 1.0.6 in Softonic

When you first encounter PPLive it seems like someone’s playing a sick joke on you. Upon first installing the application you’ll almost certainly be thinking this is the most annoying, pointless program you’ve ever seen and will be ruining the time you wasted downloading it. The reason for this being is that at first glance it just looks like a very poor media player and the entire interface is in Chinese.

These problems are made all the more frustrating by the riches promised by the program. The shareware app boasts to offer you the ability to watch free television from across the world on your PC, including live sport, live news, the latest episodes of top dramas and comedies, and a host of brand new movie blockbusters. The software integrates advanced peer-to-peer technology so it can provide the users with the smoothest TV programs with no interceptions, meaning every user becomes a broadcaster, saving the cost of traditional streaming media.

Not being fluent in the Eastern language and uninspired by the drab GUI we were all set to uninstall and even thought about removing the program from the Softonic site altogether to save you visitors from the worst ten minutes of your life. Then something happened – after stumbling across a site devoted to PPLive we realized that was a way around the frustration.

ESSENTIAL USER TIP: How to change the interface to English

By loading up the PPLive TV Engine and right-clicking on the fourth option from the bottom (the one that looks like a squiggle) you’re presented with the chance to change the interface into English. Hallelujah! Unfortunately, opening the Channel List menu gave us even more Chinese to try and decipher but luckily the Football4Less site contains the full list online, as does the PPLive site.

The list of streaming feeds is pretty comprehensive, and although many are in Chinese, it’s possible to dig around and find some great programs such as Desperate Housewives, English Premiership football games, American Idol, WWE wrestling, and a host of new films . Clicking on the link in the ‘Currently’ category on the listings page brings up the schedule of programs for that particular channel for the day, although many repeat the same show or movie all day. You can also search channels by category, such as sports, movies, news, cartoons, etc.

The task of finding western movies and shows is made all the more tricky by the Chinese-to-English translations of the programs, which can be a little baffling until you get used to it. To give you some clues to start with: Friends is known as ‘Six person of like’; Desperate Housewives becomes ‘Crazy Housewives’, and Brokeback Mountain is curiously known as ‘Breaks arm mountain.’

Clicking on a show will open your media player and begin playing the show or film from the start. You can choose to use the built-in media player (which is rather limited in features), or open in Windows Media Player or Real Player. The program uses P2P technology to share TV shows, so the more people are online the faster and more reliable the access will be, and we were pleasantly surprised by the speed in which most of the streams are buffered and the quality of the video. Unfortunately, like many P2P apps, the program turns out to be riddled with malware which installs itself in your temporary drive - so be warned!

Although it’s about as easy-to-use as a rubber saw, PPLive is certainly worth investing a bit of time and patience in if you want to watch TV for free online, and once you’ve figured it out it becomes a very addictive way to spend your time.

Download PPLive 1.9.21 in Softonic

For all football fans this free Vista gadget will be a very interesting tool to have as it resumes in a simple way, rankings of all the major European soccer tournaments.

To install it, just download, extract the file and double click on it in your Windows Vista PC. The application will be installed in the sidebar of your system, without needing to restart it. Select among eight tournaments from Champions League, UEFA Cup, Euro 2008, to the Italian, French, Spanish and English leagues. For each section you immediately see the five best teams with relative scores. If you click on the arrows at the up-right corner you can get the full list, while if you click at the bottom, the 'Fixtures & Results' menu appears. It shows the results of every game played, so you can have a quick glance at scores and winners.

With this real-time updated application you will not miss any of the EURO 2008 result. It also shows all the data you need to know to stand out among your friends and know everything about all the European leagues.

Download UEFA Informer Gadget 1.5.0.0 in Softonic

UEFA Euro 2008 sees the top international football teams from around Europe come together to battle it out to be crowned champions, and I, for one, am pretty excited about it.

I've always been the kind of guy who puts up wallcharts of these big soccer tournaments in my room in order to track the matches, filling in all the results and entering the group positions during the event. Nowadays of course, people prefer to use computers to keep tabs on sporting events, and AceFixtures for EURO 2008 Online Schedule lets you do just this - using Excel.

Although it does come with its own installer, AceFixtures for EURO 2008 Online Schedule is essentially just an Excel spreadsheet file, in which you can enter the scores for each match in the tournament. As you enter the data, the program calculates the changes in the league rankings and calculates the fixtures for the knockout stages. It functions accurately, although it doesn't pop up an error message if you type a bad string (i.e. a letter instead of a number).

The creator of AceFixtures for EURO 2008 Schedule has made some effort to make it look presentable, including a background with the official logo, plus links to various Euro 2008-related sites. However, it's far from being the most graphically-rich tournament tracker I've ever seen.

If your team's involved in this year's European Championships, this app provides a novel way of tracking the schedule from your office suite.

Download AceFixtures for EURO 2008 Online Schedule in Softonic

There are many different football videogames to suit all tastes: some like soccer simulators where you get to play actual games on field, while some others prefer a more strategic approach, that is, managing the team as a coach.

The latter will probably like Bygfoot Football Manager, an open-source football management game that puts you in control of a football team during the league season. As a coach/manager, you'll be in charge of training sessions, contracting new players, selling other players and defining team's strategy in order to succeed both in league and other football competitions.

Being an open-source project, you shouldn't expect high-res graphics or amazing physics. In fact, the game barely shows any animations as it's all controlled through windows and menus. However this should not be a problem for hardcore football manager fans who doesn't care that much about the realism of graphics, but about the gameplay in itself. In that sense, Bygfoot Football Manager is going to surely please them.

Bygfoot Football Manager doesn't have brilliant graphics or jaw-dropping physics, but as a classic football manager it proves to be quite complete and very entertaining.

Download Bygfoot Football Manager 2.2.0 in Softonic

I'm not particularly fond of football but I must admit I had some fun while testing Football Challenge, a simple 3D online football simulator that you can play for free.

Be aware that this is no FIFA or PES. In fact football sim junkies may feel a bit disappointed at the game's simplicity in graphics and controls. Here you won't get the official player names or uniforms – in fact you can customize the team's shirt any way you want. What's more, there are no special moves or button combinations: the arrow keys and two action buttons (kick and pass) is all you need to play. On the other hand, this easy gameplay is what makes the game attractive even for people like me who don't know what an offside is.

Football Challenge includes both offline and online gaming modes. You can play against the computer and also enroll in online tournaments just by filling in a simple form and creating your team right away. The game will automatically find a match partner for you to start playing. Obviously, the more games you win, the higher you'll reach in the player ranking.

Football Challenge is a simple football simulator with support for online games, great for some easy fun but definitely not aimed at hardcore football fans.

Download Football Challenge 2008 in Softonic

They said it would come but I never believed them - live TV on the Internet, that is. Zattoo brings genuine TV to your PC via peer-to-peer technology, indicating the appropriate selection of television channels based on the country you live in, something that no Internet TV app has done successfully to date. After registering for a Zattoo account online and installing the client, you'll get an overview of the available TV stations in your locality.

For viewing things like live sport, Zattoo is a dream come true. You simply click onyour desired channel and the transmission begins within a few seconds. Providing you have a quick Net connection, the streaming of the broadcast will work very smoothly, with only a few seconds delay from the live television show itself.

Zattoo finally brings genuine live TV to your computer, after a very long wait, and because the program provides channels local to you, you don't have to endure commentary in gobbledegook. Although the image quality leaves a lot to be desired, with a fast Internet connection, Zattoo gives you genuine live television in a way no other application can do at the moment.

Download Zattoo 3.1.1 Beta (2000/XP) in Softonic

They said it would come but I never believed them - live TV on the Internet, that is. Zattoo brings genuine TV to your PC via peer-to-peer technology, indicating the appropriate selection of television channels based on the country you live in, something that no Internet TV app has done successfully to date. After registering for a Zattoo account online and installing the client, you'll get an overview of the available TV stations in your locality.

For viewing things like live sport, Zattoo is a dream come true. You simply click onyour desired channel and the transmission begins within a few seconds. Providing you have a quick Net connection, the streaming of the broadcast will work very smoothly, with only a few seconds delay from the live television show itself.

Zattoo finally brings genuine live TV to your computer, after a very long wait, and because the program provides channels local to you, you don't have to endure commentary in gobbledegook. Although the image quality leaves a lot to be desired, with a fast Internet connection, Zattoo gives you genuine live television in a way no other application can do at the moment.

Download Zattoo 3.1.1 Vista in Softonic

I'm I big football fan so naturally I'm starting to get excited about the forthcoming European Championships in Switzerland and Austria.

As always with big tournaments like this, I'm warming up for the big event by playing soccer sims. As always, it's EA who have the official licence for the tournament. And, as always, I came away from the game feeling a little disappointed that the developer still has the freedom to release yet another slightly-tweaked clone if its long-running FIFA game, knowing that punters will snap it up in the hoards amid the excitement of another major championships.

Essentially, it plays virtually the same as FIFA 08 (and, no doubt, very similar to the next version of the series) aside from a few tweaks. For instance, there's a new 'flick' mode for free kicks (and penalties), where you control the power and swerve of the shot using your right-analog stick. It's a novel idea and one that attempts to address one of the few areas that no football sim has yet to do perfectly. It's certainly an improvement, but is for me, too fiddly and difficult to get master.

Other new additions are in-game player ratings which update in real-time depending how each individual is performing, and improved collisions, trapping and goalkeeper AI. You even get to see the managers' reactions to goals, free kicks and near-misses, which I thought was quite neat.

Aside from the gameplay changes, there are a couple of new game modes. Captain Your Country sees you take the role of your team's skipper and influence the other players while you're out on the pitch, and there's a new online mode called Battle of the Nations.

Of course, all the official stadiums, real players, kits, balls, haircuts, etc. are there and the game features 52 European teams. "But there are only going to be 16 teams at the Euro Championships" I hear you scream. Well, EA has decided to allow you to go through the rigours of a qualifying campaign instead of just competiting in the final tournament. I guess it helps to add more depth and longevity to this title, but the qualification is finished now so it's not that realistic. Why couldn't we have had this game two years ago, when qualifying got underway in real life? Not in keeping with the Electronic Arts marketing plan, I imagine.

UEFA 2008 provides a great way to warm up for the European Championships. However, if you already have FIFA 08 I wouldn't bother buying this one as well. It offers little more in terms of gameplay and will be out of date by August.

Download UEFA Euro 2008 Demo in Softonic

There are two main kinds of football games: the ones where you actually play the match against your competitor, moving the team players across the field, and the ones where you play as the manager of the team.

Football Manager obviously falls in the latter, as you can tell from its name, and offers gamers a comprehensive simulators that covers every single aspect of football management, from hiring players to game tactics, including training schedule, salaries and of course, dealing with team supporters.

In fact, the game is so complete that it feels just too overwhelming when you run it for the first time. Also, the fact that the tutorial is broken doesn't help either. But after playing it for a while, you can tell that this game is going to get you hooked on your computer for hours. Just one tip: use your own background music because the game doesn't have any.

Football Manager 2008 enables you to make your dream come true and manage your favorite football team with highly realistic detail.

Download Football Manager 2008 Strawberry Demo in Softonic

Let me confess something before I start this review. In 2001 I played my first game of Pro Evolution Soccer (PES). It was against my friend Aaron and I won 1-0. Then I won 2-1, then he beat me 1-0 with a lucky goal so I won the next one 6-1. He didn't actually score, I gave him the goal on a piece of paper. Since then every year on Earth has meant a new and improved experience of watching Aaron's sad and aging face. So I like PES. I like it a lot.

There are two kinds of football gamers, those that want an authentic footballing experience, and people who play FIFA. PES won the hearts of the former with their first release, which managed to make you feel like you were playing a game of football that you could have been watching on television. They got so much right in that first game that subsequent releases have been bemoaned for their lack of 'big' developments. But we have had faster gameplay, more subtle ball control and some great set-piece changes. Now in 2008 we have 'Teamvision'.

'Teamvision' is the big news of the latest edition of PES and involves the computer's players owning a kind of 'artificial intelligence' that allows them to adapt and react to your gameplay. So much so that you now need to play in true Kenny Dalglish-style as a kind of player-manager with one eye on winning the match and one eye on making sure your tactics outwit your opponent's. Defenders and goalkeepers are more responsive to danger and attacking players make more intelligent runs off the ball, which is now a special blue PES leather number four if I'm not mistaken - it does seem rather small. Plus there are some nice manager and dug-out shots during the games and goalscorers celebrate with the subs. You also get extensive editing options if false names still annoy you.

The retail version comes out in November so get in some practice early. Then you can beat all your mates and rest happy for another year.

Download Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 in Softonic

The start of the NFL season, or for that matter any major sporting event, is also usually a good time to create an office pool with your colleagues. Whether you bet money or not you can still have good fun guessing the results of games. NFL Office Pool is probably the most advanced in its genre. Not only can you create pools for all major football leagues (NFL, NFL Europe, CFL...) but also get constantly updated statistics, whether on your friends' picks, official game results and other information. You can make your picks all in one go, choosing for instance all underdogs or all home teams. We also felt that NFL Office Pool really let you work around your pool, letting you print it out, play over Internet or make safe backups.

The interface itself may not be the most attractive (mostly due to the odd layout of the buttons), but the program is simple enough that it should only take you seconds to create your office pool. Recommended if you and your colleagues like football and want to have a bit of fun in the office.

Download NFL Office Pool 2007 9.1.3.7 in Softonic

Kicks Online is a free-to-play football MMO (Massively multi-player online) developed by emerging Korean designers Entermate. Since it's launch in July 2006, they claim it now has over 300,000 registered users, probably due to the fact that this is a highly playable game with great graphics and provides an interesting variation to normal football.

Kicks Online follows 'street football' rules with the appropriate tactics which involves different ways of passing the ball and various surfaces. Whatsmore, the better a player plays, the more his character's skills improve. Matches can be played 3v3, 4v4 or 5v5 mode and can be played in highly unconventional settings such as roofs or even factories. Kicks

The graphics are outstanding considering this is a totally free game featuring cartoon style 3D scenes and characters. The only drawback is that there can be a serious lag when playing against online opponents although much of this will depend on your internet connection. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that this is a highly enjoyable and immensely fun football simulation.

Download Kicks Online in Softonic

Everyone knows there are two types of gamer - those that love that Pro Evolution Soccer, and those that prefer FIFA. Until recently, I'd have told you that those in the latter camp are a bunch of idiots who don't know anything about either computer games or football. Since the last couple of releases of the EA game though, I've shocked myself by becoming increasingly impressed with FIFA (largely because it's becoming more like Pro Evo, I would argue). The ubiquitous update for the 2007-08 season is by far the best release to date and it seems that the game has finally come of age.

The gameplay is more fluid than ever and thanks to some tweaks to the shooting mechanism, defending pressure, player attributes and even the influence of air pressure, it's now a very realistic simulation of the beautiful game. The graphics are smooth, detailed and well animated and the commentary and crowd effects make it seem just like you're watching it on telly. FIFA has always had the benefit of licencing on its side and this year there are a staggering 620 teams from 30 leagues, and a total of more than 1,500 real players at your disposal.

The management mode from the previous version stays, and now EA has introduced a new feature that I've been wanting from a football game for a long time. The so-called "Be A Pro: Co-op Season" mode sees you create your own player profile, then play just as that player for the season in a team with your pals, or with others online. It's an interesting experience that gives you the opportunity to prove how good you really are at the game and develop your skills as an individual player.

With the usual slick presentation and infinitely customisable options, Pro Evo 2008 is really gonna have to go some in order to top FIFA 08.

Download FIFA 08 in Softonic

There are countless management simulations out there that let you assume the role of anything from football coach to railroad tycoon. However, this is the first game I've come across that allows you to take command of a Hollywood film studio. I never realised there was so much involved in building a film empire until I played this game, where you must take charge of the budgeting, casting, approaches from writers, hiring and firing of directors and producers, and lots more.

With so many options presented within a very text-intensive interface it's a little difficult to get into the game at first and all the stats, facts and figures can be overwhelming. With persistance though Hollywood Mogul can be amusing as you choose the types of films you want to make, discover new acting and directing talent and even take care of your own life by buying property and maintaing a love life. Ultimately though, the game gets a little repetitive and the fact that the actors and directors included in the game are made-up makes it difficult to develop any kind of long-term attachment. Not a turkey, but by no means a blockbuster.

Download Hollywood Mogul 3.8.0096 in Softonic

Remember the Amiga/Atari classic Sensible Soccer or Kick Off? Well Addictive Football is exactly the same and will bring back tons of memories. The playability and graphics are identical which made the originals such classics of their time.

You can play 5-a-side rules on a variety of different pitches with 5 different game modes to choose from. These include a Knockout Cup and League style games as well as a Custom Game Mode where you set the team skills yourself. You have 10 different teams to choose from, each with different skills & abilities.

It even features all the classic pitch surfaces like grass, astroturf, concrete, indoor, ice and futuristic. As a result, the ball acts differently when it bounces meaning no game between the same teams is ever the same. It's a different challenge every time.

In the custom game mode, you can set the ball skills and abilities of a team and then play as them which is great for practicing. Finally, you can also rename your squad easily by using the in-built player name editor.

If you were a fan of Sensible Soccer or Kick Off 2 you will love this game. The only downside is that real teams and players are not used presumably due to licensing issues.

Download Addictive Football 1.7 in Softonic