There's nothing quite like the annual reveal of a new sports game cover star. The US goes crazy over each Madden, with this year's star Brett Favre causing much of a storm due to his recently-retired status. There was even more of a kerfuffle when he came back to the game and moved to the New York Jets, only to remain in his Green Bay Packers strip for the Madden game. But on most occassions, a game's choice of athlete acts as a barometer for the current state of the sport--a chance for the publisher to show off its sporting nous, and for an up-and-coming star to prove that they've actually made it.

　　For this year's Pro Evolution Soccer, Konami has selected Argentinian star Lionel Messi to represent its best-selling football sim. Despite sharing a first name with ex-Commodores crooner Lionel Ritchie, Messi is something of a prodigy on the pitch, having become the youngest player ever to appear in the Spanish premier league.

　　Following a healthy amount of criticism for last year's game, the 2009 edition of Pro Evo will feature a new graphical update as well as the requisite improvements to moves and controls. Messi will adorn the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, PS2 and PSP versions of the game this Autumn, and the Wii version in Spring 2009.