FM2006 Gold demo and release date details

[Marc Vaughan]

(blatantly copied from sigames.com - sorry for being lazy, but there's a 'lot' of it to paraphrase)

Football Manager 2006 PC/Mac To Hit Shelves October 21st, Final Features and Gold Demo Details Announced!


LONDON, UK - September 29th, 2005 – SEGA and Sports Interactive are today proud to announce the new release date for the next instalment in the genre-defining Football Manager series. SI and SEGA are now delighted to confirm that Football Manager 2006 for PC and Mac has today gone into production and is set to hit the streets across Europe* on October 21st, 2005.

Christmas really has come early for FM fans as news of the release date arrives on the same day that SI and SEGA confirm that the Gold Demo is now available for download. By visiting http://www.sigames.com fans will be able to download and freely play a half season of the game and at last find out about the raft of improvements that SI have brought in over the summer!

Two versions of the demo will be available for download, catering for all tastes. The “vanilla” demo is a lightweight file for those that don’t have quick net connection, including as it does the English and Scottish leagues, with English language only. The “strawberry” demo brings with it 200Meg worth of depth to your gaming pleasure with 8 languages and a massive 16 leagues to try out.

“We can’t wait to see the reaction of the Football Manager community to Football Manager 2006, having hit our optimum release date, rather than the previous announced estimated date” commented Miles Jacobson, Managing Director of Sports Interactive. “The team at SI have worked amazingly hard this year to improve on Football Manager 2005 and we are all delighted with the outcome. We all look forward to losing many hours playing the game properly, rather than testing it!”

The new set of features being announced today are the final selection being implemented into this year’s game. Football Manager 2006 can now reveal that it boasts a massive 34 NEW ANNOUNCED FEATURES on top of last year’s version and offers a whole host of surprises for consumers whilst exploring the FM world. As well as new features, Sports Interactive have in excess of 270,000 players and staff in game with more than 5,000 playable teams in 50 countries leagues.

FINAL FOOTBALL MANAGER 2006 PC/MAC FEATURES:

• FM06 Is Quicker To Set Up! – Creating new games and loading times are now significantly reduced, despite the huge level of detail remaining.
• Tutorial – For those who have found previous SI games a bit daunting they will be happy to know that a huge 30,000-word tutorial has now been implemented. Each screen has it’s own tutorial with hyperlinks to any area of the game you need help with.
• Quick Flicks – SI have introduced quick flicks at the top of the screen, this makes browsing easier around the football gaming world.
• Internet Play Improvements - Packet size has been optimised on screens with a large bandwidth requirement in order to improve network play.
• Graphical Attributes – If all these numbers seem too much then why not use bar graphs instead. A quick change in the preferences section means your player’s stats will be shown in graphics, rather than numerically.
• New Comparison Screen – Comparing two players has never looked better.
• Fair Play – Manage your team well by reducing your amount of bookings and for those teams in the top flight who play fair, extra places will become available in continental competitions.
• Finance Graphs – In one user-friendly overall analysis, tracking your finances is now much easier with finance graphs.
• Height & Weight – Adding to an already impressive database of player’s stats, Sports Interactive have now introduced player’s heights and weights for the first time.
• Tactic Change Panel – This is an easier way to edit your whole teams individual tactics rather than having to change each player separately.
• Saved Game Compression – Running out of disk space? Saved game compression makes your saved game…smaller!
• New Match Engine Composition – For the first time dugouts now appear in Football Manager 2006. Not only this but technical areas and a small icon when a player has a minor injury all make your management experience more authentic.
• New skins! - Thanks to Kev Radestock (Chameleon) & Gavin Thomson (Cappuccino) from the Sports Interactive community, we are proud to present the 2006 versions of the their hugely popular skins in the box of Football Manager 2006.

Football Manager 2006 for PC-CDROM and Mac is developed by Sports Interactive and published by SEGA for release October 21st, 2005*. For further information go to http://www.sigames.com or the completely re-vamped http://www.footballmanager.net website.

* Release dates for Czech Republic, Poland, China, Japan, South Korea & USA are to be confirmed.

[Marc Vaughan]

Previously unannounced features

• Quick Flicks – For easier browsing around the game world, SI have introduced quick flicks at the top of the screen.
• Tutorial – A 30,000 word tutorial for those who have found previous SI game’s a bit daunting. Each screen has it’s own tutorial with hyperlinks to any area of the game you need help with.
• Internet Play improvements - Packet size has been optimised on screens with a large bandwidth requirement in order to improve network play.
• Graphical Attributes – Bored of numbers? Why not use bar graphs instead. With a quick change in the preferences section, your players stats will be shown in graphics, rather than numerically.
• New Comparison screen – Comparing two players has never looked prettier.
• Fair Play – extra places are available in continental competitions for those teams in the top flight who play fair. So you’d better tell your team to not get booked!
• Finance Graphs – tracking your finances is now much easier with finance graphs.
• Height & Weight – for the first time, Sports Interactive have introduced heights and weights for the players in the database.
• It’s Speedyfastier – creating new games and loading times are now significantly reduced, despite the level of detail remaining.
• Tactic change panel – an easier way to edit your whole teams individual tactics, rather than having to change each player separately.
• Saved game compression – for those who are running out of hard disk space, saved game compression, err, makes your saved game smaller.
• New match engine look – dugouts appear in Football Manager 2006 for the first time, along with technical areas, and a little icon when a player has a minor injury.
• New skins - Thanks to Kev Radestock (Chameleon) & Gavin Thomson (Cappuccino) from the Sports Interactive community, we are proud to present the 2006 versions of the their hugely popular skins in the box of Football Manager 2006.

Over 275,000 players and staff (277,385)
Over 5,000 playable teams in 50 countries leagues.

Previously announced features (now with added commentary)

* Half Time Team Talks - Interact with your team at half time, or with individual players. Can you turn a 1-0 loss into a 2-1 win with your comments?

* Unhappy Player Interaction - How do you cope when one of your players is unhappy with their role in the team? You now get the chance to talk to the player and try and find a solution to his unhappiness.

* New Training Module - Much easier & quicker to use, the all new training module give your backroom staff a real purpose in the game, with much more obvious effects on the players.

* Referee Profiles - An easy way to see how harsh the ref for your next game is likely to be, with profiles and league tables.

* "Basic" and "Advanced" player positions, with the advanced positions with their own special screen in the game, with also reveal the players preferred moves.

* Manager Contracts - The SI community have been asking for them for years, and now they are in. Interact with your board, negotiate your transfer budgets, and your wages.

* Virtual player contracts – Have you ever spotted a “greyed out” player making up the numbers in your squad who could actually make a difference? Ever tried to manage a lower league side and find that you can’t sign enough players to even make up the squad for the season? Well, now you can, by offering the “virtual” players contracts, and letting them live their virtual dreams of becoming professional footballers.

* 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.

* 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.

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

* Key highlight replays in match engine – Want to see match highlights over and over again? Key highlights are now instantly replayed for those managers who want to pick every move apart.

* Formation panel on match screen – An easy way to see the formations of both your team and your competitor at the same time without having to pause the match, updated live.

* New shirt graphics – Thought the team kits looked good in FM2005? With thanks to the FM community, and especially Jesper from fm.lemonish.net, they now look even better. And with licenses galore, there will be more real life kits in FM2005 than any previous Sports Interactive football title.

* Match Commentary revamp - Heaps of new commentary lines used in match for added atmosphere and detail to identify what's happening on the pitch.

* "Player Form" & "Player Stats" screens - More pertinent information regarding a players form and match stats, presented in a user-friendly manner.

* "Quick" tactic mode - Now you can shout from the touchlines to make small or full tactical changes without having to stop the match.

* Improved match engine realism - Working with Ray Houghton, the ex-Liverpool and Republic of Ireland player, SI have analysed every area of the match engine looking for areas to improve the engine to make it the most realistic experience ever.

* Injury module revamp - No more "physio reports" needed after injuries as the physio's now come to you. Full feedback on injuries, including various treatment options.

* General UI improvements - Improvements to the user interface make it easier to find your way around the game and reduce the amount of mouse button clicks.

* Ticker Bar - Not only can you gain score updates during matches but a configurable news ticker bar updates you on news from around the globe, or just locally if you prefer.

* Media overhaul - Loads more information is now given through news items using an all new "player bio" system, this is inclusive of, but not limited to, club landmark year news, better feedback on your start as a manager, more celebration of success and much more info about players in media items.

* Full Time Team Talks - With the addition of Half Time team talks to Football Manager 2006 , Sports Interactive felt it only fair to add full time team talks to allow you to comment on team or individual performances at the end of the match to the players. How will they react?

[cartman]

WOOT! I'm scheduled to be flying back from Europe the day after that, so hopefully I can get my hands on a copy before I hop on the plane!

[WSUCougar]

*slobber*

[cartman]

Dola,

I might be able to be convinced to bring back multiple copies, as well...

;)

[FrogMan]

oh god, I think I just wet my pants and I've only read the thread title :eek:

FM
PS: even weirder, this morning I was shopping around on the net for places who would have WWSM available to ship to me at a better cost than getting it from the UK, talk about about a coincidence... FWIW, I'll report my findings later on... :)

[Tekneek]

* Virtual player contracts – Have you ever spotted a “greyed out” player making up the numbers in your squad who could actually make a difference? Ever tried to manage a lower league side and find that you can’t sign enough players to even make up the squad for the season? Well, now you can, by offering the “virtual” players contracts, and letting them live their virtual dreams of becoming professional footballers.

No way!?! How did I miss this previously being announced? I've clearly been too focused on hockey lately.

[marshall881]

Woo Hoo!!! Can't Wait!!!

[condors]

anyone want this sock? i am done with it now

[jonesz]

Any word on whether FM2006 be available from SI via download?

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

anyone want this sock? i am done with it now

lmao..classic.

[Coffee Warlord]

So.

Where does the American Contingent get this one. :)

[Bee]

No way!?! How did I miss this previously being announced? I've clearly been too focused on hockey lately.

Yep, that's a pretty sweet thing. In the beta, my top scorer was a grayed out player to start the season and my first move was to sign him.

[finketr]

I just want to be the first to say it regarding fm2006.

Marc Vaughan, I hate you.

;)

[Crapshoot]

I'm excited, but I'm worried about the engine- this may well be because I've spent so much of my life on it, but every time I see the "goalie - opposing midfielder knockdown - striker" goal sequence, and every time I see the man in the box unmarked while 9 men outside are covered - I worry that the engine is taking 2nd place to the other features.

Dola, secondary question - Marc, will we be able to take veterans on season long loans in the EPL ? We see it every year, yet in FM, for some reason, this feature appears to be limited to people under 24. Solid veterans from other leagues are often available on loan - Pandiani to take one example.

[ice4277]

Awesome. The only part that sucks will be having to leave my current FM2005 game behind.

[FrogMan]

Okay here's what I found regarding ordering WWSM2006 so far. It looks as if SEGA has done a better job of promoting it, as I can find it in many more places...


These links are to buy WorldWide Soccer Manager 2006...

amazon.com
link to product page (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000BIXAV2/qid=1127999176/sr=8-2/ref=pd_bbs_2/103-3259689-7828625?v=glance&s=software&n=507846), $29.99
(doesn't ship to Canada)

www.bsrmedia.com (http://www.bsrmedia.com/) (buy sell rent)
link to product page (http://www.bsrmedia.com/media.html?id=69557), $27.08
I don't know them but they do specify that they do not sell bootlegs, which is good, I guess

CD Universe
link to product page (http://www.cduniverse.com/productinfo.asp?PID=6948138&style=games&frm=froogleother_games), $31.39
a bit better known and with better shipping rates to Canada than bsrmedia (which you may not care about if you're in the States)

Gamestop
link to product page (http://www.gamestop.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=646382), $29.99




To order Football Manager 2006

gameplay
link to product page (http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/productpage.asp?productcode=RM02205&title=football_manager_2006_-_pc_and_mac), £24.99 (£4.95 for shipping to US/Canada)
That's where I ordered last year but I'm looking to order the American version to help out SI and save a few bucks.

Feel free to let me know of any wrong links, or other places where you find good deals to get this game.

I know WWSM will probably not be available until a bit after FM2006, but I'm willing to wait as I'm still havign fun with FM2005... your mileage may vary...

FM

[FrogMan]

dola, these links are obviously geared toward North American buyers... European fellas can post their spot and I'll include them in there...

FM

[Bea-Arthurs Hip]

Strawberry download lists 16 leagues...

Anyone know if this includes any English Lower Leagues?

Also, are Gold Demo saves compatible with the released version?

[ice4277]

Strawberry download lists 16 leagues...

Anyone know if this includes any English Lower Leagues?

Also, are Gold Demo saves compatible with the released version?
I believe by '16 leagues' they mean '16 countries' leagues'. This would include all the lower divisions, as their demos have in the past. Gold Demo saves have also traditionally been compatible with the full version.

[RPI-Fan]

*Drool*

[MalcPow]

Awesome, the gold demo is essentially the game as it will be in the box correct? As far as features at least I mean, I realize leagues will be limited, the six month cut off, etc.

[Icy]

WOW Marc, gold demo available yet and release on 21st October, way before than past years, awesome news!

[Crapshoot]

Anyone know North American release details ? I tend to lack faith in Amazon's dates... :D

[Marc Vaughan]

Any word on whether FM2006 be available from SI via download?
Not for quite a while if at all (basically no plans in place currently) ...

[FrogMan]

Anyone know North American release details ? I tend to lack faith in Amazon's dates... :D
as per Marc's first post in the thread...

* Release dates for Czech Republic, Poland, China, Japan, South Korea & USA are to be confirmed.
Not one of the sites I posted seem to have the same release date, so I'm pretty sure they don't know more than us...

FM

[Marc Vaughan]

I'm excited, but I'm worried about the engine- this may well be because I've spent so much of my life on it, but every time I see the "goalie - opposing midfielder knockdown - striker" goal sequence, and every time I see the man in the box unmarked while 9 men outside are covered - I worry that the engine is taking 2nd place to the other features.
We have one person working full time on the match engine, supported sporadically by other people (mainly me poking my nose in ;) ) ...

This years match engine is another notch higher than FM2005's which imho wasn't too shabby at all ...

Dola, secondary question - Marc, will we be able to take veterans on season long loans in the EPL ? We see it every year, yet in FM, for some reason, this feature appears to be limited to people under 24. Solid veterans from other leagues are often available on loan - Pandiani to take one example.
Errr - strange as it might sound, let me check and get back to you .... the English league loan rules are a strange and wonderful beastie and I can't remember the exact clauses (doesn't help that I support a Championship side and haven't reached the Premiership yet in my Cambridge City game ;) ).

[Marc Vaughan]

Awesome, the gold demo is essentially the game as it will be in the box correct? As far as features at least I mean, I realize leagues will be limited, the six month cut off, etc.

Yes thats the case.

[FrogMan]

Marc, do we have to start with a quickstart in the demo or can we do a proper start to our game?

FM

[Runtheball]

Anyone want to buy my FM2005?

[Crapshoot]

We have one person working full time on the match engine, supported sporadically by other people (mainly me poking my nose in ;) ) ...

This years match engine is another notch higher than FM2005's which imho wasn't too shabby at all ...


Errr - strange as it might sound, let me check and get back to you .... the English league loan rules are a strange and wonderful beastie and I can't remember the exact clauses (doesn't help that I support a Championship side and haven't reached the Premiership yet in my Cambridge City game ;) ).

That's comforting Marc. It may well be that I've played the game so much that I recognize the goals and pretty much every variety - which says more about me than FM.. ;) - but I hate the people running away from the ball, and the striker through on goal who refuses to shoot.

Secondly, regarding the loans, I may have complained about this earlier, but this is the only area of English loans where I think FM screws up - you cannot take older guys on season long loans in the game (I believe it does allow you to take them on 3 month loans, which is pretty pointless with the transfer window, IMO) - so the Smertins, Pandiani's, and Nafti's, Diouf etc.

[Thomkal]

• Tutorial – For those who have found previous SI games a bit daunting they will be happy to know that a huge 30,000-word tutorial has now been implemented. Each screen has it’s own tutorial with hyperlinks to any area of the game you need help with.

Hey Marc,

I may finally have to break down and buy a FM game, I have tried several of the demos of previous versions, but gave up because I had no clue what I should be doing at any given time, and what some things meant. It frustrated me no end that SI pretty much ignored the newcomers to soccer by not including a tutorial in earlier versions (pardon me football). So I was very happy to hear about the its addition in this version.

Good luck with the game.

[Marc Vaughan]

Secondly, regarding the loans, I may have complained about this earlier, but this is the only area of English loans where I think FM screws up - you cannot take older guys on season long loans in the game (I believe it does allow you to take them on 3 month loans, which is pretty pointless with the transfer window, IMO) - so the Smertins, Pandiani's, and Nafti's, Diouf etc.
I'm pretty sure its all correctly coded - as I've mentioned the English transfer/loan rules are somewhat bizarre in places ... especially with regards to loans (you can only do season length loans at certain times of the season, if I remember right amongst other things .. will try and trawl up the exact details later).

[Marc Vaughan]

I may finally have to break down and buy a FM game, I have tried several of the demos of previous versions, but gave up because I had no clue what I should be doing at any given time, and what some things meant. It frustrated me no end that SI pretty much ignored the newcomers to soccer by not including a tutorial in earlier versions (pardon me football). So I was very happy to hear about the its addition in this version.
If you download the FM2006 demo you'll find it contains an integrated help system which will help hand hold you through the various aspects of the game and the interface.

The help is written simply in html so we're hoping to extend it with an introduction to the game of football/soccer and other stuff (my hints and tips for example will be released in html format for this reason) ....

Hope this helps,

Marc

[Marc Vaughan]

Marc, do we have to start with a quickstart in the demo or can we do a proper start to our game?

FM

Quickstart only I'm afraid - we have to do this (basically remove sections of code from the demo) to prevent people from hacking into the demo and turning it into the full game*, apologies ... if it wasn't for people doing such things then we'd be less restrictive with the demo's.

*Can't recall the company name but there was a dev house around 4 years ago which went under simply because their main titles demo was hacked into the full product before its launch so I'm a tad paranoid about this sort of thing ..

[GoldenEagle]

Marc, what about additional American leagues?

*Holds breath*

[RPI-Fan]

I'm pretty sure its all correctly coded - as I've mentioned the English transfer/loan rules are somewhat bizarre in places ... especially with regards to loans (you can only do season length loans at certain times of the season, if I remember right amongst other things .. will try and trawl up the exact details later).

I don't think he was complaining about the RULES being wrong, just about the behavior of the AI teams and the players not being appropriate compared to "real life".

[RPI-Fan]

Some thoughts after starting up a game with Crystal Palace:

-Like "preferred moves"; will add depth to the experience, especially when using fictional players
-Half-time team talks and full-time talks have just like 6 options each... really pretty bleh; I can take it or leave it
-Like the idea of manager contract; didn't see the option to negotiate my current one
-"Quick change" tactics is nice to have, and long overdue, but not revolutionary
-Graphical ratings I thought I would love, but I actually get a better "quick sense" from the numbers, believe it or not. Maybe a really good skin could make great use of the graphical ratings.
-Training looks VERY manageable now -- well done, mates.
-Match engine seems more authentic -- maybe it's just that I was playing with Palace (who I know all their players' characteristics), but everybody seemed to play like they "should" -- Johnson with his devastating offside runs, Riihilaati's painfully slow style of play, etc.
-Tactic change panel: Couldn't find it???
-Height & Weight: Nice addition, will be fun to have for fictional players -- love anything that adds personality to your team
-Finance graphs: Great, overdue addition.
-Tutorial: Nice for new playerys; VERY detailed and appropriate, IMO.

-Overall: B+ -- nothing groundbreaking, but some real nice subtle additions.

[Easy Mac]

Marc, can you or anyone who currently playing comment on any improvements to the MLS? Are the lower US leagues playable yet?

[RPI-Fan]

Marc, can you or anyone who currently playing comment on any improvements to the MLS? Are the lower US leagues playable yet?

No MLS quickstart, so will have to be someone on the inside to comment.

[FrogMan]

Quickstart only I'm afraid - we have to do this (basically remove sections of code from the demo) to prevent people from hacking into the demo and turning it into the full game*, apologies ... if it wasn't for people doing such things then we'd be less restrictive with the demo's.

*Can't recall the company name but there was a dev house around 4 years ago which went under simply because their main titles demo was hacked into the full product before its launch so I'm a tad paranoid about this sort of thing ..
Marc, it's ok, really. I only wanted to confirm what I thought it was. It's also the main reason why I will most certainly download the demo, with fiddle with it but won't start my main career (even though I know the career started in the demo is fully compatible with the complete release) since I want to start a game with my whole set of parameters.

Thanks for explaining the reasoning behind it too. I would never thought about hacking, but dang it's sure somebody out there is only waiting for the crack in your code that would allow him to do so...

Thanks again.

FM

[DaddyTorgo]

i'm in LOVEEEEEE. LOVEEEEEE. LOVEEEEEE with FM2006. Good lord Marc, you want me to stay up all night playing and get fired from my job and etc. etc. You chaps are top notch. Thanks a million!

[boilermaker]

gameplay
link to product page (http://shop.gameplay.co.uk/webstore/productpage.asp?productcode=RM02205&title=football_manager_2006_-_pc_and_mac), £24.99 (£4.95 for shipping to US/Canada)
That's where I ordered last year but I'm looking to order the American version to help out SI and save a few bucks.


Yeah, you know, I've had good experience with Gameplay before and if it's going to take longer for a North American release, I'd probably like to go back to them....but if it LOOKS good for SI to sell units WITHIN the United States....would it simply be considerate to that sensitivity to wait and buy it here?

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah, you know, I've had good experience with Gameplay before and if it's going to take longer for a North American release, I'd probably like to go back to them....but if it LOOKS good for SI to sell units WITHIN the United States....would it simply be considerate to that sensitivity to wait and buy it here?
can we get an "official" SI answer to this. To what end is us American players waiting and buying WWSM instead of buying FM and having it shipped over from the EU a positive to SI? Does it help you guys at all in terms of leverage or anything like that with Sega, or does it really not matter to you one bit?

[RPI-Fan]

i'm in LOVEEEEEE. LOVEEEEEE. LOVEEEEEE with FM2006. Good lord Marc, you want me to stay up all night playing and get fired from my job and etc. etc. You chaps are top notch. Thanks a million!

What kind of things do you like much better than in FM2005? Wonder if I should give it a stronger look than I have been -- at this time I'd just been thikning I'd hold onto FM2005.

Having significantly increased speed would be nice, though, however I won't be able to tell how much better it is without a full game configuration.

[DaddyTorgo]

What kind of things do you like much better than in FM2005? Wonder if I should give it a stronger look than I have been -- at this time I'd just been thikning I'd hold onto FM2005.

Having significantly increased speed would be nice, though, however I won't be able to tell how much better it is without a full game configuration.
the new physio setup and the options to give shots to players
improved player interaction
the little "blurbs" about player history that come in the news items (severely underrated...make the game much more "natural" and immersive)
player preferred moves
new tactical options

i'm sure there's more too, those are just the ones that immediately come to mind

[Bee]

the new physio setup and the options to give shots to players
improved player interaction
the little "blurbs" about player history that come in the news items (severely underrated...make the game much more "natural" and immersive)
player preferred moves
new tactical options

i'm sure there's more too, those are just the ones that immediately come to mind

Yep, I also like negotiating your own contract along with transfer fees, etc. And starting the game unemployed.

[DaddyTorgo]

so i install the gold demo and start it up, select english as my language and WHOA...it comes up as English! (little dig at last year there).

[FrogMan]

Tackling two with one reply...

Yeah, you know, I've had good experience with Gameplay before and if it's going to take longer for a North American release, I'd probably like to go back to them....but if it LOOKS good for SI to sell units WITHIN the United States....would it simply be considerate to that sensitivity to wait and buy it here?
and

can we get an "official" SI answer to this. To what end is us American players waiting and buying WWSM instead of buying FM and having it shipped over from the EU a positive to SI? Does it help you guys at all in terms of leverage or anything like that with Sega, or does it really not matter to you one bit?
I've also had very good experience with gameplay the one time I ordered with them (FM2005), but the price difference is looking to be something to note and for me, it's a factor. We're talking about £29.94 from gameplay or about 62cdn$ for me versus 35 or US$ from one of the other ones, or about 41cd$, that's a 20 bucks difference. Call me cheap, but to me it makes a differenceas I'm on a budget for about every leisure expense we make as a family.

Then comes the second part, the helping out SI part. Marc has said in the past that if we had the choice, it was better for them that we buy WWSM since it would show SEGA that their efforts are not in vain (maybe not his exact words but you get the idea). So to me, since I'm not all that worried about the game not being released at the same time, I'm willing to help out SI show SEGA that we are a worthy bunch of FM addicts, as little as my drop in the bucket can show...

FM

[DaddyTorgo]

i'd feel much more like waiting if we had a NA release date given to us sometime within the next 2 weeks say (ballpark). I'm not saying you all should have one now, but it would be nice to have an idea how many sleepless nights I'd be sacrificing by waiting...

[Marc Vaughan]

can we get an "official" SI answer to this. To what end is us American players waiting and buying WWSM instead of buying FM and having it shipped over from the EU a positive to SI? Does it help you guys at all in terms of leverage or anything like that with Sega, or does it really not matter to you one bit?

If enough of you get a copy of WWSM (and/or NHL EHM) then it will make Sega and the American retailers take the games seriously enough to improve the promotion and stocking issues stateside - beyond that there's not much difference really (I'd obviously prefer you to purchase WWSM, but as its release date isn't confirmed in stone yet I really can't object to you ordering in FM2006 from Europe).

[FrogMan]

Marc, while I know you can't give us an answer as to when WWSM2006 will be available as of now, can you tell me when WWSM2005 was released? I tried finding that on your site but anytime I click on the WWSM2005 link, it brings me back to the FM2005 and the release date was November 4, 2004, but I believe that WWSM2005 was released a bit later...

I'm trying to figure out if it will be a huge wait or not...

FM

[TazFTW]

Looking at the FM First Impressions thread it looks like the first mentions of WWSM appearing in the states was early-mid December.

[FrogMan]

Looking at the FM First Impressions thread it looks like the first mentions of WWSM appearing in the states was early-mid December.
hrm, hopefully they can pump it out earlier than that this year, given they're releasing the mother game a full two weeks earlier :)

I'm feeling kinda weird about this. I've got a new career in FM2005 (see my sig) and I'm fighting as hell in it, but a new version is, well, a new version and I'd want it now :D But then I go back to what I said earlier, that I was almost set not to pre-order FM2006 and wait to order it around early december for a delivery date of mid to late december so I could play it in the Holiday break. Looks like this is what could happen anyway :)

FM

[boilermaker]

I'm working at a local high school and intend to go to the school's varsity soccer team game tonight. I anticipate myself becoming very agitated that I won't be able to influence how they play, now, because of FM. "TIGHT MARKING! SLOW TEMPO! DEFENDERS MOVE UP!" :p

[moriarty]

I'm feeling kinda weird about this. I've got a new career in FM2005 (see my sig) and I'm fighting as hell in it, but a new version is, well, a new version and I'd want it now :D But then I go back to what I said earlier, that I was almost set not to pre-order FM2006 and wait to order it around early december for a delivery date of mid to late december so I could play it in the Holiday break. Looks like this is what could happen anyway :)


I'm in the same boat. Right now I'll wait until the US version comes out to support the US sales, but also to give me time to play a few more years in my current career.

[AlexB]

Marc,

Downloaded the demo, bt as it's 6 months I can't tell if the things that were that major annoying problems for me in FM 2005 have been fixed. I understand why the demo is 6 months, but all bar one of my main gripes were in the offseason: can you confirm that the following are now sorted?

No more 3 month loans starting in May/June/July?

The board take into account that they are guaranteed to get £x million from PL TV and give you the full budget when it is announced at the start of the season, meaning that you don't have to watch teams buy players you want in the period when you can't afford it?

Wage budgets are also adjusted taking the above into account, and the problem with wages allowed for clubs promoted from lower leagues has been fixed?

The financial model has been improved so that clubs do not accumulate ridiculously high levels of cash?

If the above have definitely been sorted, I will buy the game having played the demo, as the only things I have noticed are pretty minor: the above for me are not things I can get past.

[SirFozzie]

Found my first bug. Penalty shootouts are bugged, my Cambridge lost a shootout 4-3 to Wrexham, but after hitting continue (never had a chance to give my team a FT team talk (probably because I had the opportunity to do so as of the end of normal time), it said I had advanced to the next round with a 5-4 penalty shootout victory.

[Desnudo]

A couple of thoughts:

Lots of nice minor gameplay tweaks that I think will add up to a lot. Too many to list here, but things feel more immersive. I really like the dugouts and the flag on a player if they are injured. The additional commentary is very nice too.

I especially like the player interest in talking to club gauge when a club makes an offer for your player. That was always such a pain, trying to figure out whether your player would get upset if you rejected an offer.

Pace appears like it can actually increase through training now, which is very good.

Eddie Johnson = electric. I think he will become one of the top bargains in the game. Landon Donovan, as he should be, is not as good as the previous edition.

[SirFozzie]

Did you find a MLS quickstart Desnudo?

[Marc Vaughan]

Found my first bug. Penalty shootouts are bugged, my Cambridge lost a shootout 4-3 to Wrexham, but after hitting continue (never had a chance to give my team a FT team talk (probably because I had the opportunity to do so as of the end of normal time), it said I had advanced to the next round with a 5-4 penalty shootout victory.
'tis a glitch in one of the news items which can be displayed (so is fairly rare) - rather than with the shoot-outs themselves (so don't worry you're out of the cup ... no need to start booking hotels for the next round ;) ).

'tis noted and will be rectified in a patch.

[Desnudo]

Did you find a MLS quickstart Desnudo?

No, he's in the game in my Germany quickstart. I bought him for Hertha and he's got 6 in 5 games so far.

[DaddyTorgo]

A couple of thoughts:

I especially like the player interest in talking to club gauge when a club makes an offer for your player. That was always such a pain, trying to figure out whether your player would get upset if you rejected an offer.

what?!!?!?! where!?!?!? how!?!?! do tell!

[Desnudo]

It's at the bottom of the transfer offer screen when a team makes an offer for your player.

[DaddyTorgo]

*more drool*

[Galaril]

How is MLS? I know alot of people had complained MLS was half assed last years version. I think some of the problems were the lower leagues in North american, MLS playoff structure and college players being drafted as well as the draft.

[SirFozzie]

'tis a glitch in one of the news items which can be displayed (so is fairly rare) - rather than with the shoot-outs themselves (so don't worry you're out of the cup ... no need to start booking hotels for the next round ;) ).

'tis noted and will be rectified in a patch.

Actually, I did play in the next round of the cup, and won :D

[SirFozzie]

How is MLS? I know alot of people had complained MLS was half assed last years version. I think some of the problems were the lower leagues in North american, MLS playoff structure and college players being drafted as well as the draft.

No MLS quikstart, you'll have to wait till the game's out sadly.

[DaddyTorgo]

Marc

any reason why your player's agent will only tell you if the player wants to be able to discuss terms with a team if the team actually submits an "enquiry" as opposed to when they actually send you a $-value bid?

It's irritating and I don't see that there's any logic behind the distinction...

[DaddyTorgo]

dola

nevermind, i just had it come up with a player's agent requesting he be allowed to talk to the team that offered a $-value bid. Strange that the first time I was looking for it on a $-value bid it didn't show up. Is it always supposed to show up, or is just a "sometimes" thing?

[Katon]

Minor question - why is it that the league player/team stats pages don't include clean sheets? The game does track them for individual keepers, it just doesn't let you see who's leading the league.

[rexallllsc]

dola

nevermind, i just had it come up with a player's agent requesting he be allowed to talk to the team that offered a $-value bid. Strange that the first time I was looking for it on a $-value bid it didn't show up. Is it always supposed to show up, or is just a "sometimes" thing?

Isn't it only when a player really wants to move/move to that partocular club?

[SirFozzie]

Any USA Release date yet? I might double-dip this one with FM06 through cartman on release date and then down the road with WWSM if it's more then a few days. I am an addict ;)

[daedalus]

If enough of you get a copy of WWSM (and/or NHL EHM) then it will make Sega and the American retailers take the games seriously enough to improve the promotion and stocking issues statesideFunny how this was one of the first thoughts that was going through my head as the president of SEGA USA was visiting the Gameworks (which is owned by SEGA) that I work at.

As far as WWSM-vs-FM debate goes, I'm willing to wait to order WWSM instead of FM so long as I can switch the in-game language to British English (which I believe was the case with '05). Y'all talk English funny and all (:D)but I'm too used to terms like pitch and transfer to try to deal with field and trades while playing.

[Marc Vaughan]

dola

nevermind, i just had it come up with a player's agent requesting he be allowed to talk to the team that offered a $-value bid. Strange that the first time I was looking for it on a $-value bid it didn't show up. Is it always supposed to show up, or is just a "sometimes" thing?

It only shows up for players who have a particular personality type (ie. some are likely to accept your decision meekly, others like to feel they have a 'say' in such things) and obviously want to join the clubs in question.

Hope this helps,

Marc

[DaddyTorgo]

that does help Marc. I was honestly just wondering if I was missing something somewhere with that.

[Crapshoot]

Funny how this was one of the first thoughts that was going through my head as the president of SEGA USA was visiting the Gameworks (which is owned by SEGA) that I work at.

As far as WWSM-vs-FM debate goes, I'm willing to wait to order WWSM instead of FM so long as I can switch the in-game language to British English (which I believe was the case with '05). Y'all talk English funny and all (:D)but I'm too used to terms like pitch and transfer to try to deal with field and trades while playing.

Yup. I don't want them referring to it as "Soccer" or what not. If this a problem, I will buy the English edition instead... :D

[cartman]

For those who were interested in me bringing back a copy from Europe for them:

My trip got pushed back a couple of weeks. Instead of flying out today, I'm leaving on the 24th. So if there still isn't an announcement on when WWSM will be released in the US, or if there is, and it is after my return on Nov. 12th, I'll work with those interested on bringing back copies.