Football Manager 2006

Infobox VG
title = Football Manager


developer = Sports Interactive
publisher = SEGA
designer =
engine =
version = [http://www.sigames.com/downloads.php?type=view&id=365 FM 2006 6.0.3] - released February 20, 2006
released = (PC/Mac): October 21, 2005

genre = Sports simulation
modes = Single player, multiplayer over TCP/IP or hot-seat
ratings = PEGI: (Age 3+)
platforms = PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and PSP
media = PC/Mac - Dual format CD
requirements = ( [http://www.sigames.com/softography.php?type=view&id=20#system Recommended] ) PC (Win XP SP2, 2.0GHz Processor, 256MB RAM, 8x CD ROM) Mac (1.8GHz G5) Xbox 360 20 or 120gb HDD
input = Keyboard and/or mouse

"Football Manager 2006" is a game in the "Football Manager" series of football management simulation games. It is available for PC, Mac platforms, and was released in the UK on October 21, 2005 (2 weeks earlier than the originally stated November 4th release). On the same day as the game's release, Sports Interactive also released a patch to fix some bugs discovered during the Beta and Gold stages of development. In its first week of release, it became the second-fastest-selling PC game of all-time in the UK [http://www.sigames.com/news.php?type=view&article_id=1192] . In the United States and Canada, the game is sold as "Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006". In April 2006, an Xbox 360 version of the game was released.

It is essentially just a season update of FM 2005 but does include many small adjustments and improvements to the general gameplay. These adjustments include team-talks, simplified training and in-game help screens. As well as this, the game is updated by its many researchers (unpaid fans of the game augmented by in-house collaboration). The database is usually updated twice in the period of the release of the game. The first comes with the game and the second is usually downloadable in January as a free data update to reflect the changes which take place during the winter opening of the FIFA transfer window). As has been customary with the series a beta demo of the game was released on September 12, 2005. This was later followed on September 30 by a gold demo. This is a cut-down, limited time version of the full game which is sent to the game manufacturers.

Playable leagues

Football Manager 2006 contains the same playable leagues as Football Manager 2005 but with 2 small additions. The French league now has a fourth viewable but unplayable level (the CFA division), and the structural change to the Swedish league involving the re-instatement of Division One has been implemented, with Division Two retained as a playable fourth level. remain names are K2 League, and Uijeongbu Hummel Korea, Seosan Citizen.

Copyright issues

As was the case with Football Manager 2005, the developers were again unable to include certain data in the game due to licensing and/or copyright issues. All of the same data affected in FM 2005 appears to be affected again in the 2006 version along with the Japanese, South Korean and Chinese national teams (which now only include 'virtual' players). Notably, Oliver Kahn has been named 'Jens Mustermann'. However, there is a possibility to correct most of the data "mistakes" simply by deleting certain files in the game directory. For more info, please refer to fan-site forums mentioned below.

Harchester United

An option has been included in the game to include a fictional team called Harchester United in the English Premiership. Harchester is a club in the Sky One drama series, Dream Team. This option comes in the form of a text file, placed in the game's directory, which has to be edited very slightly by the user to 'activate' it.

ee also

* "Football Manager
* "Championship Manager series" - The name formerly used by Sports Interactive for its football management series.

References

* [http://www.eurogamer.net/article.php?article_id=61370 EuroGamer.net review of Football Manager 2006]
* [http://www.trustedreviews.com/article.aspx?art=2134 TrustedReviews.com review of Football Manager 2006]

External links

Below is a list of several external resources which contain various features relating to the Football Manager scene (both official and unofficial) such as patches, articles and downloads.

Official

* [http://www.footballmanager.net FootballManager.net] - Official game website from SEGA and Sports Interactive
* [http://www.sega-europe.com/en/Game/145.htm Sega Europe] - Sega's site showing a brief summary of the game.
* [http://www.sigames.com SIGames.com] - Official Sports Interactive website
* [http://www.myspace.com/sigames Myspace] - Official Sports Interactive Myspace Page

Affiliates

Sports Interactive has set up an Affiliates section (SIAS) which fansites can join. They offer a number of benefits to users, such as free games to give away in competitions, exclusive news and opportunities to visit Sports Interactive in Islington, London. You can view all the affiliates [http://www.sigames.com/affiliates.php here]