Access FIFA 12 Ultimate Team with Web Start

EA Sports has continued its tradition of opening FIFA Ultimate Team to series fans ahead of the the latest entry's launch.

Although the EA Sports FIFA 12 Ultimate Team website suggests players need to own a copy of FIFA 12 to get started, a look at the FAQ reveals that as in previous years, those with earlier versions of Ultimate Team can get a head start.

The FIFA 12 version of the Ultimate Team web app is available through either the dedicated mini-site or EA Sports Football World, using your Football Club or Football World log-in details from FIFA 09, 10 or 11.

Although the best of the goodies has probably passed you by, if you have a legacy log-in, there's still good reason to check out FIFA Ultimate Team before you have your copy of FIFA 12, which drops on Tuesday in the US and later this week elsewhere.

Once set up, the service allows players to manage their dream team, trading players and bidding in auctions, whenever they're not actually logged in on their console.

EA Sports apparently opened Ultimate Team to returning players on September 20 - although it was intermittently offline - and has awarded the faithful with bonus items for each day they accessed the service leading up to launch.