Tag Archives: football manager 2009

Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson has declined to remark on a 2/10 IGN US review for Football Manager 2009, saying criticism of the piece is best left to user comments.

“I’m not a reviewer and therefore don’t think it’s my place to critique critique’s, nor am I likely to be anything but biased,” he said.

“Therefore I’ll leave the comments to the people who are playing the game and are commenting on the website about the review.”

IGN US published the review on Friday, closing with: “The menus are complex and difficult to navigate, graphics are terrible, the sound is non-existent and there is no traditional gameplay to speak of. I couldn’t imagine why anybody would prefer Worldwide Soccer Manager to FIFA 09 or Pro Evolution Soccer 2009.”

IGN UK gave the game 9.1/10, saying the game “is still easily the most in-depth, enjoyable and addictive way to pretend you manage a football team.”

The fans have been less than appreciative of the American review.

“This is without a doubt the worst review in the history of the site,” said one, with another adding, “This is easily one of the most ill-informed reviews I’ve read in the last several years.”

IGN’s score has dragged the game’s Metacritic average down significantly: it now rests at 74 percent.

Sports Interactive’s Miles Jacobson just sent word that all issues with Football Manager 2009 authentication have now been resolved.

So go win a cup, or something.

Everton FC has effectively signed the database behind SI Games’ Football Manager 2009, giving manager David Moyes access to details on over 370,000 players and staff.

“The game’s database is a valuable resource with the most extensive scouting network in football so Everton FC is making a top signing,” said game creator Paul Collyer.

“I am personally delighted with today’s announcement as I’m a Toffees fan. Standing on the pitch with my signing on shirt is as close to my boyhood dream of playing at Goodison Park as I will ever get.”

“We’ve known for a while that teams use the game to research certain players, whether to buy or to check out the opposition, but this formal recognition by a premiership team is fantastic and we are sure it will prove a fruitful one for the Everton FC,” studio director Miles Jacobsen added.

It’s a funny old game.

Full press release below.

By Mike Bowden

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Sega has apologised for activation problems with the just-released Football Manager 2009, blaming hiccups on “a combination of issues relating to the printing of keycodes and the huge demand for the game.”

“A solution is in place and is starting to clear the problem, we are confident that the issue will be solved today,” said the publisher in a statement.

“The chances of successful authentication are increasing hourly. At this point consumers still experiencing difficulties are advised to leave a 10 minute gap between authentication attempts.

“Sega apologises for the disappointment caused by the problems with activating the game and asks for Football Manager fans to remain patient.”

Just keep trying. And stop whining. They said they’re sorry.

Sega’s announced that Football Manager 2009 is gold.

The publisher also released minimum specs this afternoon. Get them after the break.

The game’s getting a demo on November 2.

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The Football Manager 2009 YouTube reveal appears to have worked. According to Sega this afternoon, more than 165,000 people have watched two videos about the new features in the latest version of the soccer management sim since they were released on Wednesday.

“It’s great to finally be able to announce the new features for the Football Manager series,” said Sports Interactive boss Miles Jacobson.

“Making a web TV show to do this was a bit of a gamble, but one that has definitely paid off looking at the stats we’ve seen so far, and the feedback we’ve had so far on the new features has been incredibly positive, which is exciting to see.”

Press release, and the movies in question, after the break.

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Speaking to Videogamer.com, Sports Interactive front man Miles Jacobson has confirmed there won’t be any console editions of Football Manager 2009 because the Xbox 360 version of FM08 had a “crap” interface.

“We thought we’d improved a lot last year. It was still too hard to use. So we decided to have at least a year off on the 360 this year,” he said.

“The good news is that there’s been one game that was similar to us on the PC that’s come out and really nailed a good control system for quite a complicated system, which was Civilization Revolution. So we’ll probably look at it again in the future.

“But we really wanted to concentrate on the 3D engine this year and getting that nailed and the other improvements that have gone in rather than thinking about the consoles this year.”

More through the link.

SI Games has posted 15 new Football Manager screenshots.

You probably watched the the video this morning but we thought we’d show you these too. Problem?

Thought not. Now go look.

By Mike Bowden

According to this Videogamer.com story, Sega announced last night that PC, MAC and PSP versions of Football Manager 2009 will release on November 14.

You can watch a 10-minute video about the game’s features here.