Robo-soccer kicks off for Christmas

World's first multi-player robot football game is to launch this Christmas

The world's first multi-player robot football game is set to launch exclusively in the UK in time for the lucrative Christmas market.

Dubbed Mr Soccer, the hi-tech football game features radio-controlled robots. Players manoeuvre the dribbling droids forward, back, left and right, and shoot to score more goals than the opponent.

Mr Soccer ships with two robots, pitch, balls and goals but according to Firebox.com, which will be selling the game, footie fans will not need Roman Abramovich's riches to augment their robo-squads.

Additional Mr Soccer robots can be bought individually allowing gamers to play up to a seven-a-side. With 14 robots on the pitch the game is frantic but great fun, but one-on-one is just as satisfying with intense competitive game play, the gadget retailer claimed.

Once the game gets underway the robots compete amid a cacophony of electronic crowd noise. There is even a warm-up arena to help the robots train; simply flip the pitch over and the robots run around a special maze or compete one-on-one in the sumo ring.

"The agile androids come in England and Brazil colours, so you can make 'Micro Owen' or 'Roboto Carlos', and are surprisingly nimble with the ability to spin 360 degrees. Each R2D2-esque robot comes complete with a variety of different sized boots to cater for different skill levels," Firebox.com stated.