[GoldenEagle]

Ok guys, I wrote this out but I have to go to a soccer game at 2. I need someone to put this on to Wiki. I have a contents table, etc. Aslo try to find my references and site them.

Introduction

Front Office Football (FOF) is a series of American football management games, the first being released in 1998. The games are developed by Jim Gindin. Gindin's company, Solecismic Software, sells the games through digital distribution.

The FOF series are text sims. The game engines are built on statistics and ratings instead of graphics. Your role is more general manager, as opposed to being a first-person quarterback. The decisions you make focus on building a team over the long-run through drafting and signing free agents. Game planning is also critical to building a successful FOF franchise.

Front Office Football

The first version of FOF was released on October 28th, 1998. It was the first version of the series. Games could be watched on the scoreboard, but play calling was not an option. The game was only released on CD. Today, the game is seen as a collectors edition and has been fetching high prices on Ebay.

Front Office Football 2

Front Office Football 2 was the sequel to the original game. It was released in August 1999. It made several enhancements to the original, including the ability to call plays during the game. Starting fresh with an expansion team was also an option. The game was sold through Digital River, an electronic distribution company.

Front Office Football 2001

This version was released in January 18th, 2001. The price of the game was $24.95 and was produced by EA Sports. It was given a 7.5 rating by Gamespot. The game including real players and teams. Gamespot reviewer Stephen Poole said, "It's easily the game of choice for football fanatics who want to micromanage every aspect of their favorite teams' operations."

Front Office Football 2002

FOF2 partnered with EA Sports again for the 2002 release. It including real players and teams. EA promoted the game as featuring stat tracking and scouting reports. The version was originally slated to be used in mutliplayer leagues, which EA sports were to sponsor. However, EA pulled the plug and the project never launched.

Front Office Football 4

FOF4 was the next version released. However, there was a break in the series as Jim Gindin took released The College Years, a spin-off of the popular FOF series. This version also was not produced by EA Sports. The Sports Game Network cites that the original release of FOF4 was buggy and that was not stable until 4.0b was released.

Front Office Football 2004

FOF2004 revolutionized the way that FOF would be played. It was the first version to offer multiplayer support, and as a result many multiplayer leagues began. The first league to launch was the now defunct WFL (Wignasty Football League). Many FOF2k4 leagues are still in existence, although several plan to eventually switch to the next version of the game, FOF2k7.

Front Office Football 2007

After a nearly two year hiatus, FOF2k7 was released on October 27th, 2006. New features included: A summer league, to which you could send one player to develop in. Solevision, which allowed you to view all 16 games at once. The game also included rookie interviews, the gray list, and many other exciting enhancements.