FM/WSM 06 US release date announced

[Ryan S]

Worldwide Soccer Manager 2006 has been confirmed for a ship date (bar any manufacturing problems) of November 1st, 2005.

There will be boxed copies of the game available in North America and Canada from this date. Details of retailers will follow at a later date.

We will also be releasing a digital download version of Worldwide Soccer Manager on the same date. This will be a "try before you buy" version of the game (so a 6 month demo, and if you like it, you can then "unlock" the rest of the game) and will be available for customers throughout the American continents, so, for the first time, the game will be available for those in Central and South American countries.

We are still finalising the details with Sega of America's online distribution partner to see if any of the countries in these continents will not be able to purchase, but at the moment it is looking like we'll be able to sell to customers in all countries in both continents.

This is a big test for the game, and we are hoping to turn a lot more people enjoying our game in these countries into legitimate purchasers to test the market for the future. With your support, we might even manage to get boxed copy releases in these countries too.

Oh, and the price of the download (and the boxed copy in the US & Canada) will be under $30.

Thank you all for your patience whilst waiting for this announcement, but there's been a lot to sort out!
http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/521102691/m/3212033861

[DaddyTorgo]

oof! not to complain, but i wish i had known this before i spent to have FM shipped over. oh bollocks

[st.cronin]

This may be the year I take the plunge.

[JonInMiddleGA]

We will also be releasing a digital download version of Worldwide Soccer Manager on the same date.

Glad to hear it, that might just sell me the game right there ... depending upon which copy protection scheme they use.

[vtbub]

Woot!

Can even buy the wrong one this time:)

[Eaglesfan27]

YES!!!! YES!!!! YES!!!!

Fedex and other shippers are still having trouble reliably delivering here. If there is a significant benefit to SI to buying the boxed version, I'll look for it in stores. Otherwise, I'm downloading it ASAP :)

[Easy Mac]

Gamestop is the only store I see it online for right now. $30.

[GoldenEagle]

Has anyone ever confirmed that the USL leagues are in FM06?

By the way, this is great news!

[RPI-Fan]

Gamestop is the only store I see it online for right now. $30.

Highway robbery.

[jbmagic]

i hope the Manual is great too for newbies to understand the game.

thanks

[MizzouRah]

jb - download the "Hints and Tips for Football Manager 2006" available at their site. Marc Vaughan & Nick Habershon did one heck of a job. I'm learning a TON about FM and I'm actually enjoying the demo quite a bit.

Digital download would definitly be the way I go if/when I purchase the game, great news.

[illinifan999]

I really hope I'm able to find this.

[Desnudo]

Dang, if I'd known about the download option, I wouldn't have bought FM.

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I am a die hard European/English football fan and prefer to hear people talk about pitch, pace, kit, etc. rather than field, speed, and uniform. Is there a way in Worldwide Soccer Manager to pick that option for terminology or do you have to buy FM to get it?

[Easy Mac]

From the lined to thread:
I should point out that languages for the boxed copy are English, American English and Spanish, and the digital download will have those 3, plus Portuguese.

[Crapshoot]

Good news. My worry though is that the language will be Americanized- as in "Soccer" instead of football in the game, and field instead of pitch and so forth.

[FrogMan]

Good news. My worry though is that the language will be Americanized- as in "Soccer" instead of football in the game, and field instead of pitch and so forth.
Read what EasyMac posted. There will be three languages in that version: English (that is UK English in terms of FM, so "pitch", manager and not coach, sent off and not ejected, all that), American English (coach and not manager, a player is ejected, you play on the field and not the pitch), and Spanish.

From what many have said, in WWSM2005, while the game defaulted to American English when you installed it, it was possible to switch it to UK English in your preferences...

On the news itself, it's indeed good news and as DaddyTorgo said, I would have probably waited if I'd known they were this close to announcing a release date, but oh well...

FM

[Cydney]

Uhh, North America and Canada....??
Now I don't know where I am....

[Crapshoot]

Aha - thanks Frogman. I read over that as English and Spanish... :D

[Marc Vaughan]

jb - download the "Hints and Tips for Football Manager 2006" available at their site. Marc Vaughan & Nick Habershon did one heck of a job. I'm learning a TON about FM and I'm actually enjoying the demo quite a bit.

Digital download would definitly be the way I go if/when I purchase the game, great news.

Glad you're enjoying it - took ages to write the dashed thing ;)

(in the main spelling mistakes & grammar(sp?) problems are mine, Nick does what he can with proof reading and correcting them for me, but there's a lot of text there for him to read through)

[Marc Vaughan]

Read what EasyMac posted. There will be three languages in that version: English (that is UK English in terms of FM, so "pitch", manager and not coach, sent off and not ejected, all that), American English (coach and not manager, a player is ejected, you play on the field and not the pitch), and Spanish.

From what many have said, in WWSM2005, while the game defaulted to American English when you installed it, it was possible to switch it to UK English in your preferences...

On the news itself, it's indeed good news and as DaddyTorgo said, I would have probably waited if I'd known they were this close to announcing a release date, but oh well...

FM
I'm pretty sure we've put all languages into the patch as per usual if you have purchased a copy without the language you'd prefer to play in.

[Marc Vaughan]

i hope the Manual is great too for newbies to understand the game.

The manuals pretty good - there's also an in game help system for Fm2006 now (press F1 at any time to get help context sensitive to where you are in the game at the time).

[Izulde]

Has the sim speed been improved from '05 so that you can run more leagues without eating your computer alive?

[FrogMan]

Has the sim speed been improved from '05 so that you can run more leagues without eating your computer alive?
On the SI forums, I keep reading about this new option to run leagues in "basic" mode. From what I understand, it basically sims the league, has the players in the game, but you wouldn't be able to manage in these. Read about a few people running a game with England (top to bottom) and the rest of all 158 leagues in basic mode with very reasonable speed on reasonable kind of machines. Remains to be tested, or explained in depth I guess...

FM

[FrogMan]

Aha - thanks Frogman. I read over that as English and Spanish... :D
no problem. The reason I pointd it out is that your question is one that came out at one point about WWSM2005 and that's what we were told about the different types of Englishes...

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

Marc (or anyone else from SI),

Any comment on if there is any significant advantage to SI to selling boxed sets versus downloads here in America, or will Sega be happy with either?

If there is no difference to SI, I'll just go ahead and download as soon as it becomes available and won't spend time looking everywhere for a boxed set :)

[Crapshoot]

I would imagine that downloads provide direct revenue, while box sets have retail taking a piece of the pie - I remember a similar situation with Gal Civ. Might be off base on this one though.

[sovereignstar]

Oh man, I may have to try and flip soccer mode to on again. Did I read something about an MLS draft somewhere?

I suppose I'm gonna have to buy the boxed version if I want to be able to play in on me Mac laptop too.

[sovereignstar]

Why is the demo still unavailable?

[sovereignstar]

Found the answer to my question.

http://community.sigames.com/groupee/forums/a/tpc/f/521102691/m/8012046261

You guys might want to consider doing something about this page (http://www.sigames.com/downloads.php?type=view&id=356) then.

[MizzouRah]

Glad you're enjoying it - took ages to write the dashed thing ;)

(in the main spelling mistakes & grammar(sp?) problems are mine, Nick does what he can with proof reading and correcting them for me, but there's a lot of text there for him to read through)
Most definitly!!

Lots of informations to dissect while I'm playing through the demo.

[jbmagic]

The manuals pretty good - there's also an in game help system for Fm2006 now (press F1 at any time to get help context sensitive to where you are in the game at the time).

Thanks Marc. with your great strategy, the manual and in game help it looks like it will be a great game for any new people to FM and soccer to understand how to play.

Just hope i be able to find it in the US stores this year.

[jbmagic]

Oh man, I may have to try and flip soccer mode to on again. Did I read something about an MLS draft somewhere?

I suppose I'm gonna have to buy the boxed version if I want to be able to play in on me Mac laptop too.


also like EHM, be very careful if you buy the digital download version.


there is a 5 total install only. after that you wont be able to install the game anymore.

so even if you install it on one computer and then decide to unistall it because you doing a clean install for example and then install it again. then you would of use 2 of the 5 total install.

[Marc Vaughan]

Marc (or anyone else from SI),

Any comment on if there is any significant advantage to SI to selling boxed sets versus downloads here in America, or will Sega be happy with either?

If there is no difference to SI, I'll just go ahead and download as soon as it becomes available and won't spend time looking everywhere for a boxed set :)
Either approach would be great from SI's point of view - because we can track sales locations we can use American sales to persuade retail to take us seriously whether those sales are online or offline ...

[Marc Vaughan]

so even if you install it on one computer and then decide to unistall it because you doing a clean install for example and then install it again. then you would of use 2 of the 5 total install.
If you run into any hassle (with any SI product) because of this limit let me know and I'll sort it out for you ...

[Marc Vaughan]

Thanks Marc. with your great strategy, the manual and in game help it looks like it will be a great game for any new people to FM and soccer to understand how to play.

Just hope i be able to find it in the US stores this year.

Oh and Nicks converting the hints and tips file to the in-game help format for me in the next week or so, we're hoping to bundle it into a forthcoming patch so you can easily access hints while playing the game.

[winkingpirate]

Marc,

Quick question, when scouting in the demo, what countries are coverd by central europe, and which countries are covered by souther europe, i couldn't find that answer in your tips guide?


Thanks

[sovereignstar]

Marc,

Quick question, when scouting in the demo, what countries are coverd by central europe, and which countries are covered by souther europe, i couldn't find that answer in your tips guide?


Thanks

I haven't played the game in a long while, but isn't there a way to sort through the national teams through some kind of hierarchical menus at the top? I would think that Central Europe and Southern Europe would be in there.

[Eaglesfan27]

Either approach would be great from SI's point of view - because we can track sales locations we can use American sales to persuade retail to take us seriously whether those sales are online or offline ...
Excellent, I can't wait to purchase via download :)

[DaddyTorgo]

ohhhh lordy. i'm beginning to get FM-excited.

[SirFozzie]

I've got the fever, and the only cure is MORE FM2006..

you better deliver my copy when you get it DT asap, this is the sim of the year for me :D

[DaddyTorgo]

i know what you're saying Foz. The day I get it I will make the ULTIMATE sacrifice and deliver it to you before i even load it onto my machine. actually i'll probably load it onto my machine while i'm driving out to Franklin...I've already got the patch DLed. believe me, I'm running home from work everyday and BURSTING into the house looking for it. i'm expecting it this week I'd think, and I do believe that 95% of my shifts this week are mid-day type stuff.

[DaddyTorgo]

dola

trying to decide if i want to continue my Rosenborg save game that i was doing so well in...i am ALREADY attached to random players like michael buskermolen and even though the universe will be limited i might keep playing it...

[sovereignstar]

I haven't played the game in a long while, but isn't there a way to sort through the national teams through some kind of hierarchical menus at the top? I would think that Central Europe and Southern Europe would be in there.

Looks like I was wrong here. All the European teams are lumped together.

[jbmagic]

for you guys that played fm 2005, are you seeing big improvements for fm 2006 so far on the demo?

how is the MLS league?

[DaddyTorgo]

for you guys that played fm 2005, are you seeing big improvements for fm 2006 so far on the demo?

how is the MLS league?
huge improvements jb. HUGE. 2005 was alright, I logged more hours playing it then i did playing any game since CM 01/02, but 2006 just has "that feeling." I can't explain it any better then that, you just are constantly saying "just one more game...just one more." I can see myself playing nothing but 2006 for at least the next 3-4 months.

[Eaglesfan27]

huge improvements jb. HUGE. 2005 was alright, I logged more hours playing it then i did playing any game since CM 01/02, but 2006 just has "that feeling." I can't explain it any better then that, you just are constantly saying "just one more game...just one more." I can see myself playing nothing but 2006 for at least the next 3-4 months.

Sheesh. I've avoided playing it so far because I don't want to see that and become hooked again ;)

I'm determined to continue my career in 2005 (I NEED to see if Alberto Flores really develops into a superstar) but from everything I've heard 2006 is going to keep trying to pull me away.

I just wish they could make it so it was possible to import a career from a previous version.

[FrogMan]

Sheesh. I've avoided playing it so far because I don't want to see that and become hooked again ;)

I'm determined to continue my career in 2005 (I NEED to see if Alberto Flores really develops into a superstar) but from everything I've heard 2006 is going to keep trying to pull me away.

I just wish they could make it so it was possible to import a career from a previous version.
doc, same thing here, having so much fun with my QPR career in FM2005 that it will be very tough to let it go and go on with FM2006, especially since I've already got the "one more game, only one" syndrom... ;)

Oh well... I guess a better game can't be bad :D

FM

[Eaglesfan27]

doc, same thing here, having so much fun with my QPR career in FM2005 that it will be very tough to let it go and go on with FM2006, especially since I've already got the "one more game, only one" syndrom... ;)

Oh well... I guess a better game can't be bad :D

FM
My solution:

FM 2006 will only be on my new desktop until Alberto Flores retires in my FM 2005 career. Once he retires, I'll probably retire that career/dynasty. FM 2005 will remain my laptop game which will probably get more play for a few months at least as I usually play FM while kicking back on the couch or in my favorite chair and having the TV on in the background.

The good thing about this plan is that I can run many more leagues on my new desktop :)

[jbmagic]

is it important to start getting familar with all the real soccer players before making the purchase of the game?

[Eaglesfan27]

is it important to start getting familar with all the real soccer players before making the purchase of the game?
Not at all. I knew very little about real soccer players before I started getting hooked on the series. However, this game caused me to start watching soccer again and following players.

[finkenst]

I must echo FM and EF27...

How I wish i could import my wwsm2005 game into 2006...

[Ramzavail]

Now that the price will be under $30 for the download version, I am definitely waiting and getting this on Nov. 1.

I just wonder if I can load my two demo save games of FM 06 into WSM 06 - anybody know?

[MizzouRah]

Now that the price will be under $30 for the download version, I am definitely waiting and getting this on Nov. 1.

I just wonder if I can load my two demo save games of FM 06 into WSM 06 - anybody know?
I'm not sure, but I *think* you can. I remember reading something about this on the SI forum.

[SirFozzie]

yes, all that really changes between WWSM and FM 06 is the default language and the title. (and the default method of copy protection, depending on if you get the download version)

[FrogMan]

okay, quick question for Marc V (or anyone over at SI) now that I've changed my focus to the download version of WWSM2006 instead of ordering FM2006: will the downloadable version of WWSM2006 be already patched to 6.0.1?

I'd assume so, but was wondering...

Thanks in advance.

FM

[Sidhe]

I'll be downloading this Nov 1st. I couldn't quite get into FM2005 but I could see how brilliant it was. FM2006 has gone the extra step someone like me needed, judging by the demo. I can't wait to get it and get started on a career!

[TroyF]

FM06, Civ4 and GTA for the PSP in the same week.

Sleep? Who needs sleep?

[LoneStarGirl]

I bought one for GE today. But shhh dont tell him, its a suprise

[RPI-Fan]

I bought one for GE today. But shhh dont tell him, its a suprise

CHAMIONSHIP Manager 6, right?

[moriarty]

CHAMIONSHIP Manager 6, right?

:D