Following in the footsteps of Football Manager 2008, Sports Interactive has revealed the next installment to be released for the PSP, PC, and Mac OS X platforms. Football Manager 2009 (and its accompanying Football Manager Handheld 2009 for the PSP) will be arriving on November 14. Read more for details and an in-depth video walkthrough with the devs.

Sega Europe Ltd. just recently announced the development of sports simulation title for the PlayStation Portable Football Manager Handheld 2008. Staying true to the franchise, we just got word that Sega will also be coming up with a PC version of the game, this time to be called Football Manager 2008.

This particular iteration is being developed by Sports Interactive, studio director Miles Jacobson had this to say, "with dozens of new small features and larger things like a complete revamp of international management and the new match flow system, we're really looking forward to seeing the reaction from people when they get to play it on release."

Football Manager 2008 will be released before this year's Christmas. To help you get familiar with the game, we listed down its new features and hosted the newly-released demo just so you will know if it suites your taste.

Football Manager 2008 features:

• Match Flow: Match flow brings more atmosphere to match-days with match previews, team talks, opposition player instructions, the match itself, half time and post match. These now seamlessly follow on from one another, with no more pausing to make tactical changes, and a mini-radar pitch whilst making those tactical changes to keep you in touch with what's going on in the match.
• International Management: Media improvements, international retirements, player interaction, international scouting, improved pool selection, captain selection and a separation of international and club morale for players
• Easier to Use: A much cleaner skin, a brand new advisor system to help players through various areas of the game. A new notes and notebook system, better button positioning for simpler navigation and an updated tutorial and manual
• Confidence: Players can now easily tell what the board and supporters think about their performance in the game through the new confidence section. This gives players feedback not just on their current progress in competitions, but also their financial management and signings
• Transfer Center: A new way of managing all current transfer and loan bids for a players club, both incoming and outgoing, making it easier to compare bids and reject or accept them

See the full list and the download link after the jump!

 

One of the running debates among gamers right now is if piracy really does have the potential to kill a video game (well, you know the stance publishers and developers will definitely take...). But there is now one confirmed casualty of teh haxxor of the game code, and that is Sports Interactive's Eastside Hockey Manager series.

East-what? Yes, admittedly it's a lesser-known title - essentially Football Manager, except hockey - but beloved by those who've chosen to play the game. The latest in the series, EHM '07, was in fact distributed exclusively online, partly to cut out the middle retailer and thus recoup more per online sale of the title. And partly to avoid getting the game hacked on release and then pirated, explains Miles Jacobson in an SI forum post.

Didn't work. They didn't see sales go up, either. But they did see torrent downloads go up and up. What sucked for them was that sales weren't enough to cover dev costs, and yet the torrents went up. Somehow their reaction isn't too hard to imagine. Alright, that's it. **** it. If they really want to be that ungrateful, then they're going to see what paying nothing will really cost them.

Sports Interactive decided to stop development on the series.

The way we see it, big-title games can survive being pirated because their sales over a given period are enough to cover dev costs, or at least keep the developer going, even as pirated copies are available to other less scrupulous buyers. But lesser-known titles like EHM depend on bringing in the money to continue justifying their worth as an IP to a publisher or developer. Long story short: games development is still a business. It's probably easier for the bigger boys on the block than for smaller studios, niche titles, independent developers, and so on.

The point is, if you really do love a game, at least support it by paying up for what its worth (back it up all you want, but make sure you've paid for the game first, or at least are doing your bit to put food on a dev's table, like donating money or something). Give, and you shall receive, remember?

What is up with all these "manager" games, eh? First they announced Sports Interactive's Football Manager 2007, then there's also the FIFA Manager 07 from EA. Not that we're complaining, we're just wondering if this is a new trend for PC games or something.

So ANYWAY, Anaconda has just released a new batch of screens, as well as details, on this upcoming Proline-developed sim game Boxing Manager. Here, players will get to act a la legendary promoter Don King as you train and manage unknown talents and turn them into the best ones the boxing industry has ever seen.

Naturally, doing all that hard work in training your talents comes with perks. So whenever one of your talents wins a fight, you gain money which you'll then have to manage also in order to recruit more boxers and staff. And if you're good enough, you'll also be able to set up major live events and promote them via TV, radio and newspaper. And the fact that the game is rendered in full 3D, well, your eyes won't be in for a hurtin' (unlike your recruited boxers. Haha). No word yet on the release date so you're gonna have to stay tuned for that. Meanwhile, knock yourself out with these beautiful screens.

More of the brawlin' screens in the full article!

We're just letting the gamers there who own a copy of Football Manager: 2007 that something's cooking at the home site. And if you're wondering which console's getting new goodies this Christmas, it's for the PSP, Xbox 360, Mac and the PC. The main site's just announced updates relating to these consoles, and to give you guys a brief breakdown:

• PC and Mac: The patch 7.0.1 for your copy of the games are now ready for downloading.
• Tutorial videos: Just getting started? The site's now hosting several videos to help you guys along, and all will be narrated by Sports Interactive's Mike Jacobson. There are 13 video in total: Nine for the PC/Mac, and 4 for the Xbox 360 crowd.
• PSP: The guys with the portable get two new Football Manager Handheld 2007 wall papers over at the site. Just check around - they're there.

There's more site updates to come as Christmas kicks in, so keep your eyes peeled. Season's greetings, guys.

It seems that Develop Conference and Expo had a great time this year in Brighton, U.K. as the organizers just confirmed they would be holding the event there again for 2007. Organizer Tandem Events also ascertained the date of the said conference, which is to be held next year beginning July 24 until 26.

Little by little, Develop is becoming an important event for the gaming industry. Last year's roster of speakers include Sony's Phil Harrison, Epic's Mark Rein, Sports Interactive's Miles Jacobson and Lionhead's Peter Molyneux. Speeches and discussions touched on sensitive topics such as profits, technology and the next wave for the industry.

However, Tandem is yet to reveal the specifics for this year's events. Although it is expected that keynotes will be focusing on consoles, especially that the triumvirate is now complete. Advancements, problems and other pertinent matters will definitely be discussed. Develop is being supported by non-profit organization IGDA and industry association TIGA.

It's coming home. Football's coming home. Sports Interactive's Football Manager 2007 is out on PC and Mac, and it's at the top of both the all-format and PC charts in the UK. And according to their press release, it's "becoming the third fastest selling PC [game] ever." They're talking UK charts, we suppose, but that's a big accomplishment (more about how the game is doing in the U.S. and internationally later).

PSP and 360. As for Football Manager Handheld 2007 for PSP and Football Manager 2007 for the Xbox 360, Sega has shared the release date of December 1, 2006 for both. Handheld for the PSP has international management and multiple scouts and lots of new leagues to choose from (including Australian and Portuguese leagues). Manager for the Xbox 360 has Xbox Live Vision camera support and a Fantasy Draft mode - not to mention 50 achievements to challenge everybody.

This game has been a success story. Many Americans really aren't into "soccer", but for the rest of the world, "football" or "futbol" or whatever is the game of the world - much like football's World Cup is the "cup of life" when journalists are feeling poetic or when your mates have just finished singing a round of "Three Lions on a shirt Jules Rimet still gleaming..."

Strong sales. On Amazon.com, Sega of America's U.S. and Canadian version (Worldwide Soccer Manager 2007) is currently number eight on the top 10 best sellers for PC (it's sometimes higher on the list). And that's at Amazon.com - so it gives us an idea of how the game is selling (Amazon.com is "Amazon U.S." if you're looking at it from Amazon.co.uk or Amazon.co.jp, but Amazon.com is really kind of like "Amazon for the whole world" because it's Amazon.com that many people go to if they're not in the UK, Japan, or those other countries with "local" Amazons). In Amazon.co.uk, the game's been hovering around the top three slots.

High praise. With the game being called "a revelation" by a EuroGamer writer (giving it a 9/10 score), an IGN UK writer warns you to "be prepared for a serious lack of social life after it's installed on your hard drive" (and gives it a 9.3/10). The game also got 4/5 from "Maxim" and 5/5 from both "The Times" and the "Sunday Times."