Best Football Sim (that's "soccer" to you colonial types)

[Main_Brain]

So I went and got the Fussball Manager 08 which I think is internationally called FIFA Manager 08 ?
Anyway the Game has changed in some points since the last version i played ('05) and yet I didnt have to use the Manual once yet :/

3DMatch is quite decent as far as I could tell, watching my Amateur Troupe was neary as bad as watching Amateur Soccer IRL
However I know that I will use the 3D Feature only few times before returning to Text-based Game. The Flair of a impractible new Feature I guess.

Player Skills are now hidden at the Beginning until you scout the Players which is bad News for my newly founded Team. My Transfer Players turned out to be.. not as good as i hoped.. I nearly got beaten by my Youth Kader

Go Fighting Irish

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by DrSpike
Anyone have both 6 and 2008 on the Xbox 360? I'd like to buy one of these games - preferably the newest - but it seems that it has put a lot of people off.

Get 2008. PES6 on 360 is missing a lot of editing features and you can't even save replays.

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by Main_Brain
So I went and got the Fussball Manager 08 which I think is internationally called FIFA Manager 08 ?

That's definitely not the true Football Manager 08 I think in NA it's called Worldwide Soccer Mananger, and Latin America it's Futbol Manager. FIFA Manager I've never played any version.

It's just as well you haven't got it anyway, as right now it's full of bugs. I'm waiting for the first patch before I start a long term game.

[DrSpike]

Originally posted by Maquiladora


Get 2008. PES6 on 360 is missing a lot of editing features and you can't even save replays.

As a clear fan of the series aren't you annoyed that the latest game seems to have been dumbed down?

[Maquiladora]

Originally posted by DrSpike

As a clear fan of the series aren't you annoyed that the latest game seems to have been dumbed down?

I would say it's more like an unfinished AI than dumbed down game play. Dribbling is much easier now but I imagine it's still difficult keep it against a human, who'll chop you down, run into you and double mark you, which the AI never does.

IMO 08 rewards skill more than PES6, which was pretty random (shooting, rebounds) at times, even online.

[DrSpike]

Ok, I'll get 08 then. Not right away though as I've too many games to play already.

[LordShiva]

Pressures 1 and 2 seem to work better.

[duke o' york]

I love Football Manager, but the most recent I have is 2005. I took Hartlepool to the Premiership through a succession of inspired loan deals, along with the odd transfer coup, but then abandoned them for Charlton during pre-season. I took the Addicks into the Champs League (I was level on points with Arsenal going into the final game of the season, but they were playing the bottom of the league team, and I'd have needed a 10-0 win to catch up on goal difference. ) in two seasons, then was offered the Liverpool job. I won everything every season, and two World Cups and two Euro Championships with England, despite selling one of the best young prospects in the world (all right, two, but I didn't think I needed a brilliant reserve keeper - oops!), and finished off with a stupid team: Kirkland, defence made of youngsters who aren't current players, right winger and holding midfielder the same, Arjen Robben, Ronaldo, Rooney and Bojinov. I still felt terrible about thrashing Newcastle and Charlton though, and Hartlepool swiftly dropped to the Frist Division without me at the helm.

As far as actually playing the matches, Sensible World of Soccer stole too many hours of my youth, but PES craps all over FIFA from a great height, even if I haven't played the most recent incarnations. In fact, I may dust off my PS1 now and go and play it again!

[Maquiladora]

I still play Winning Eleven 3 on my Dreamcast through a PS1 emu

[duke o' york]

I played a few games of PES2 last night, and the old magic hasn't entirely gone, but I think I will need a bit more practice. Oh, and maybe if I hadn't just jumped in at the hardest difficulty expecting things to go as they did before I might have done a lot better. Still didn't lose, mind, just didn't win by as many as I used to. I think my best opening result in the Master League (with all the average players) was 6-0, and last night I only managed 2-0 and 3-1. Oh well.

[Cort Haus]

I just got "Premier Manager 08". It's the first management sim I've played since the ZX81, and only got it because it was four quid in Virgin.

Has anyone else played this or an earlier version?

[Maquiladora]

The last Premier Manager I played was PM96 on the Mega Drive, great game but very easy, like most PM's. You can speed through the seasons though.

[Maquiladora]

Just finished unlocking all the classic teams on PES, the AI pulling out some right BS at times, especially in the knockout stages.

Last team I unlocked was Argentina, I played Classic Germany in the final, finally won 4-3 AET swapping goals all through the game but to be fair all theirs were after 3 million deflections from corners.

The AI doesn't take enough long shots either IMO, it's my main source of goals, hammer it on target and hope it flies in or the keeper spills it and goes in or for a corner.

[El_Cid]

Having taken Wrexham into the premiership(and just about surviving there), after a similiar story with Swansea in FM2007, I think the games are too easy.
I play with totaly random stats players, so I don't know who the good players are by real world rep and it still seems too easy to bring low league teams to the top flight.

I understand FM2008 is more difficult, but well I flogged my copy on ebay as I await the patch to remove the secuRom stuff. When FM was CM it used to play a bit harder I think....or maybe my memory of those days is a bit hazy?

Imho it should be incredibly hard to bring a low league team(with a small following(20,000 ish), into the top flight.

[Maquiladora]

Your memory is definitely a bit hazy CM1 and 2 were really easy, you could dominate quickly. CM3 it's tricky at first but it's still possible to dominate your league immediately, especially with the right tactics.

What makes FM now so difficult to dominate straight away is signing players and staff, theres much less quality to go around and that is interested in your crappy club. I remember signing Tommy Svensson (famous Swedish coach) as my assistant for Rotherham in the first season on CM01-02, which is ridiculous as the bloke was Sweden's head coach at one time.

If you find FM too easy you can try and play it in a more realistic way. Try not using player search or staff search to find people to sign. Use only scouts to find players and only the job centre to advertise for staff, it's much harder to get up and running.