FM 2006 for XBOX 360 (13/4/2006) and PSP (13/04/2006).

[rpvankasteren]

SI have had some talks with Eurogamer, and the latter managed to turn them into two articles. First an interview with SI managing director Miles Jacobson, by Kristan Reed; Second a peek at some new features to be found in FM 2006, by Ellie Gibson.

-----------------------------------------

The new features announced today (9-5-2005) are:

- manager contracts

As long requested by fans, Football Manager 2006 will offer a Manager Contracts feature for the first time. You'll be able to negotiate with the board of directors for higher wages and transfer budgets, and even persuade them to pay for a stadium revamp. But fail to meet targets and they'll fire you, Sir Alan-style.

- more manager/player interaction

There are new Player Interaction features that let you deal with your players on a one-to-one level and ensure that their personal problems won't interfere with performance.

Plus you can talk to your players individually or as a team during half-time, using the tactics screen to analyse the match so far and pep them up for the final push.

- the training system

The training module has been completely overhauled. The coaches have a far more important role to play now, and training schedules and player progress have been simplified.

- extended media features

There are also new media resources to play with, including cup draw and man-of-the-match news, and you can look at league tables to plan your tactics. And you'll be able to view referee profiles to work out how likely your boys are to get a red card if they kick someone in the shins.

- tactical engine modifications

Upgrades to the player positions feature make picking your team easier, and a player position indicator shows where best to place your players and which moves they should go for.

All quotes are from an article by Ellie Gibson, published on Eurogamer.net, and Gamesindustry.biz.

Some more info about these can be found in the Miles Jacobson interview at Eurogamer.net.

-----------------------------------------

And about the PSP version, Miles Jacobson said the following to Eurogamer:

From Eurogamer.net
Eurogamer: What finally persuaded you to make a handheld Football Manager after all these years. And why the PSP in particular?

Miles Jacobson: The PSP gave us the chance to do it - to have a handheld that powerful is great.

Eurogamer: With the PSP and PS2 tech quite similar, can we finally expect a PS2 FM to emerge at any point, or are you more likely to look towards next gen consoles for other platforms?

Miles Jacobson: We'll look at all platforms, but I think that the PS2 and the PSP should be giving quite different experiences really - if we were to do a game on a console, we'd want it to be the full PC gaming experience, as people are more likely to sit in front of their TVs playing a game for hours than they are on the PSP. With the PSP, we've approached from a different angle, and tried to make a game that keeps the depth of gameplay and the immersion of our games, but is more of a handheld experience. Oh, and the PSP has around 8 times the amount of usable memory for us compared to the PS2, which certainly helps us develop the game.

Eurogamer: Which leagues are you supporting in FM PSP, and roughly how many teams will there be to choose from?

Miles Jacobson: We've announced "at least six leagues" because we're not entirely sure yet. It depends a lot on when we finish the actual gameplay code and how much time we have left to implement more leagues.

Eurogamer: If you had to compare FM PSP with previous SI footy management games' complexity, where would you place it?

Miles Jacobson: Blimey. As I said earlier, we've approached from a different angle, so I don't think it's fair to compare. I expect the lazy journalist would say that it's around the "3" series kind of complexity, but it goes a lot deeper than that.

Eurogamer: What's the loading time going to be like? Will the game be more of a 'pick up and play' kind of experience that you can easily play while you're making a short journey?

Miles Jacobson: That's certainly the idea. We haven't tested it out as a UMD yet as that comes much later in the process, so any loading time figures would be guesses at the moment!

Eurogamer: Any plans to support wireless multiplayer on the PSP?

Miles Jacobson: That would be lovely, wouldn't it?

Eurogamer: With the touch screen display of the DS lending itself towards FM's mouse driven control system, have you not considered bringing FM to the DS? Was it down to how much money you can expect to make out of a DS game or purely technical considerations?

Miles Jacobson: I don't actually have full tech specs for the DS, but I would expect that if it was possible, one of the Ninty fanboys in the office would have smashed down my door by now, and no one has. So we'll stick to the PSP.

-----------------------------------------

And here's a pr vid with Miles Jacobson, directed by Terry Gilliam, or so it seems

It has glances of the new game, and some absurdism at the end.


SI link.

-----------------------------------------

Here's a page at insidegamer.nl with 9 PC screenshots, it's Dutch, but the screens are in English

Insidegamer.nl also has 11 PSP screens:

-----------------------------------------

Have you always dreamed of being a professional footballer
Added on 20/07/2005 @ 14:00:00 in Press Release
(source=http://www.sigames.com/news.php?type=view&article_id=1148)

LONDON, UK -- July 20th, 2005 - Be the envy of all your friends and family and have your "Face in the Game" with Football Manager™! Sports Interactive and SEGA are once again offering you the chance to feature as an actual player or member of staff in the ultimate in PC football management titles, Football Manager™ 2006.

Snapshot screenFootball Manager™ 2006 runs for multiple seasons, during which time players age and eventually retire. "Face In The Game" allows Sports Interactive to take specific details from their fans, such as a photograph, name, date of birth and favourite club, and use these details to create "regenerated" players, which ensures that there is always a pool of players for managers to work with.

"When we ran this competition last year, we never imagined it would have been so popular with our fans", says Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive. "Doing this again is a perfect way for us to say a big thank you to everyone for their support, particularly in the last eighteen months."

Guidelines

Tactics Tactics TacticsThere are a few restrictions as to the style of photos, which are acceptable, for example the shots should not contain any team colours. Also, as regenerated players are usually aged between 18 and 22, only photos, which represent people within that age range, will be used to depict the players. All other photos supplied will be used to represent either coaches or physios.

Visit www.sigames.com/faceinthegame and follow the instructions to ensure you have a chance to be a part of "Face in the Game. Further information, including details of the size and composition of acceptable photos is available from the Face in the Game website at, www.sigames.com/faceinthegame.

On top of the previously announced PC features the team at Sports Interactive and SEGA are now happy to announce the second set of new features featuring in this years release of Football Manager™ 2006.

NEW PC FEATURES:

Increased Tactical Options -- You can now tweak tactics even further, with options for players to interchange positions, more specific target man instructions and even time wasting!

Formation Panel on Match Screen -- Updated Live, this is an easy way to see the formations of both your team and your competitor at the same time without having to pause the match.

Virtual Player Contracts -- When managing clubs at the lowest level, the pool of available talent is often a little thin -- this feature now allows you to offer contracts to "Virtual" players that the game generates for teams playing outside the football pyramid in the lower leagues or in your reserve or junior team and therefore give them an opportunity to play on the bigger stage

Snapshot - A great new screen in the game that gives you a homepage of all of the info that you need as a manager -- budgets, forthcoming fixtures, a competition overview, team stats and lots more.

Key Highlight Replays in Match Engine -- Key highlights are now instantly replayed for those managers who want to pick every move apart.

New Shirt Graphics -- With licenses galore, there will be more real life kits in FM2005 than any previous Sports Interactive football title.

Man Of The Match News -- A new regular news item giving feedback on the man of the match for youth & reserve games, as well as key first team matches.

MORE NEW FEATURES FOR FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006 WILL BE ANNOUNCED SOON.

------------------------------------------

How snapshot works:

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More PC screenshots at http://www.sigames.com/softography.php?type=view&id=20#screenshots

More PSP screenshots at http://www.sigames.com/softography.php?type=view&id=21#screenshots

 

[rpvankasteren]

The new features announced today are:

- manager contracts

As long requested by fans, Football Manager 2006 will offer a Manager Contracts feature for the first time. You'll be able to negotiate with the board of directors for higher wages and transfer budgets, and even persuade them to pay for a stadium revamp. But fail to meet targets and they'll fire you, Sir Alan-style.

- more manager/player interaction

There are new Player Interaction features that let you deal with your players on a one-to-one level and ensure that their personal problems won't interfere with performance.

Plus you can talk to your players individually or as a team during half-time, using the tactics screen to analyse the match so far and pep them up for the final push.

- the training system

The training module has been completely overhauled. The coaches have a far more important role to play now, and training schedules and player progress have been simplified.

- extended media features

There are also new media resources to play with, including cup draw and man-of-the-match news, and you can look at league tables to plan your tactics. And you'll be able to view referee profiles to work out how likely your boys are to get a red card if they kick someone in the shins.

- tactical engine modifications

Upgrades to the player positions feature make picking your team easier, and a player position indicator shows where best to place your players and which moves they should go for.

All quotes are from an article by Ellie Gibson, published on Eurogamer.net, and Gamesindustry.biz.

Some more info about these can be found in the Miles Jacobson interview at Eurogamer.net.

 

[rpvankasteren]

And about the PSP version, Miles Jacobson said the following to Eurogamer:

From Eurogamer.net
Eurogamer: What finally persuaded you to make a handheld Football Manager after all these years. And why the PSP in particular?

Miles Jacobson: The PSP gave us the chance to do it - to have a handheld that powerful is great.

Eurogamer: With the PSP and PS2 tech quite similar, can we finally expect a PS2 FM to emerge at any point, or are you more likely to look towards next gen consoles for other platforms?

Miles Jacobson: We'll look at all platforms, but I think that the PS2 and the PSP should be giving quite different experiences really - if we were to do a game on a console, we'd want it to be the full PC gaming experience, as people are more likely to sit in front of their TVs playing a game for hours than they are on the PSP. With the PSP, we've approached from a different angle, and tried to make a game that keeps the depth of gameplay and the immersion of our games, but is more of a handheld experience. Oh, and the PSP has around 8 times the amount of usable memory for us compared to the PS2, which certainly helps us develop the game.

Eurogamer: Which leagues are you supporting in FM PSP, and roughly how many teams will there be to choose from?

Miles Jacobson: We've announced "at least six leagues" because we're not entirely sure yet. It depends a lot on when we finish the actual gameplay code and how much time we have left to implement more leagues.

Eurogamer: If you had to compare FM PSP with previous SI footy management games' complexity, where would you place it?

Miles Jacobson: Blimey. As I said earlier, we've approached from a different angle, so I don't think it's fair to compare. I expect the lazy journalist would say that it's around the "3" series kind of complexity, but it goes a lot deeper than that.

Eurogamer: What's the loading time going to be like? Will the game be more of a 'pick up and play' kind of experience that you can easily play while you're making a short journey?

Miles Jacobson: That's certainly the idea. We haven't tested it out as a UMD yet as that comes much later in the process, so any loading time figures would be guesses at the moment!

Eurogamer: Any plans to support wireless multiplayer on the PSP?

Miles Jacobson: That would be lovely, wouldn't it?

Eurogamer: With the touch screen display of the DS lending itself towards FM's mouse driven control system, have you not considered bringing FM to the DS? Was it down to how much money you can expect to make out of a DS game or purely technical considerations?

Miles Jacobson: I don't actually have full tech specs for the DS, but I would expect that if it was possible, one of the Ninty fanboys in the office would have smashed down my door by now, and no one has. So we'll stick to the PSP.

 

[Zlatan]

Cool negotiatable manager contracts

 

[PSVFOREVER]

woohoo. Finally I can try to do the thing I always wanted, get the highest possible contract The only important thing in my manager profile.

FM on PSP? Maybe something for me at school I have 10 hours between my lessons anyway

I dont like the fact that they simplified training and player progress. It was far from realistic, but to make it easier???

Referee profiles is good too I wanted this for a while.

 

[rpvankasteren]

Telling coaches what to focus on is an improvement on realism for starters.

 

[Kulixs]

I like the fact that you can have a more one-to-one role with your players now, so you can tell them crappy players there never going to play for the club again . And you can give team talk at half time, that should be good too, im happy with the new features.

 

[John_Arne_Riise]

Sounds impressive. I like the idea of have more interaction with the players which also includes half time talks! I also wanted more media interaction also, good to see that will be involved in the features of the game. I'm excited!

 

[Kulixs]

I wanna tell the media "Im the one" like Jose Mourinho, they should make that possible

 

[kickin_kyle]

funny how some of that stuff is already in TCM and you guys say its sh!te

 

[Daz]

funny how some of that stuff is already in TCM and you guys say its sh!te

thats because everything else about the game is sh!te besides, it wasn't very well implemented in TCM anyway.


i hate psp's but i'm definately tempted now if FM is coming on it...


interaction and training sounds very promising

 

[Zlatan]

yep the only tiny good part of TCM, namely: negotiatable contracts, is now in FM aswell so why is TCM still produced

 

[RuiCosta_10]

Cooooool!

Can't wait for it.

 

[Tom]

ill not lie, i did kind of know about the features all ready but had no idea about the PSP story, great news that will go down well with the casual gamers.

TROD.

 

[Socrates]

Damn those features looks really good, especially the manager contract and half-time talks with your team.

 

[Hyun]

wow, PSP.


I just got my interest for FM back, and I find this to be a very good news.

expecting the most out of the new tactic and training system. other features look good too, the more individual relationship with players and the referee factor.

 

[Tom]

training is being completely revamped, about bloody time too.

TROD.

 

[rpvankasteren]

"You'll be able to negotiate with the board of directors for higher wages and transfer budgets, and even persuade them to pay for a stadium revamp."


That's the important bit, you can't spend your own money, so I'll be requesting 0 always (if possible).

 

[rpvankasteren]

Here's a link to the official press release: http://www.sigames.com/news.php?type=view&article_id=1126

 

[rpvankasteren]

And here's a pr vid with Miles Jacobson, directed by Terry Gilliam, or so it seems

It has glances of the new game, and some absurdism at the end.


SI link.