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.

Fans of Sports Interactive's Football Manager 2008 who want it on a console need wait no more, because Sega Europe just announced that the latest football management simulator is going to hit European shelves this March 28. Details and screenshots of Football Manager 2008 for the Microsoft Xbox 360 await at the full article.

Think you've got what it takes to handle your very own premier soccer team? We've just picked up word that Football Manager Handheld 2008 for the Sony PSP has now gone gold, and will be releasing at the end of this month.

The game will test your organizational skills for Europe's favorite sport, with this latest release offering up several new features, such as reserve squads. More information about Football Manager Handheld 2008's upcoming release is available in the full article. 

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!

Sega Europe Ltd. just sent out a press release saying that it has teamed up with development studio Sports Interactive to bring PlayStation Portable owners the latest iteration in the Football Manager series of video games, Football Manager Handheld 2008. It is expected to ship this Christmas.

Aside from the graphical enhancements that come with the new game, Football Manager 2008 will sport new skin and layout that should provide players better navigation. Tactics can now be customized and be shared with other users while the match engine was optimized to limit waiting and loading times.

Aside from the already mentioned, Football Manager Handheld 2008 will also let players add a reserve squad. Sports Interactive Studio Director Miles Jacobson had this to say:

When we first started on the quest for a real pick up and play football management game, we didn't even believe ourselves that the game would be able to have the depth that is does, whilst still being so much fun to play in bite size chunks, or on long journeys and holidays.

While waiting for the actual release date, just take a look at the first batch of screenshots released for the title.

The president and CEO of Sega of America Simon Jeffery spoke to Develop magazine and has given word that Sega plans on continuing its aggressive marketing strategy. The company has already acquired Sports Interactive, Creative Assembly, and Secret Level.

Jeffery announced, "Yes we do plan to acquire more studios in the near future." Are the massive buy-outs being done by Sega indicative of their plan to reclaim their position as one of the leading game and console developers?

If not, then perhaps Sega is planning on consolidating all of their purchases into a single large studio. Jeffery gave word that Sega "will also be opening new studios," but he "can't go into the details at present."

So there you have it, Sega isn't slowing down, and from all indications, the company might be gearing up for a massive break-out season with their new purchases. A lot factors have to be considered before we can say that Sega will be one of the biggest game publishers in the market, but it's well on its way.

SEGA Europe has recently announced the future release of their new MMO - Football Manager Live - developed by Sports Interactive,scheduled to kick off in Spring 2008. Basically, Sega and Sports Interactive is packaging this game as a new take on the Football Manager series. This also joins the ranks of sports MMOs such as Ultimate Baseball Online and Shot Online.

Football Manager Live will allow its players to build a football club from scratch, only this time, you could compete against your friends and other football aficionados online. The price? Some serious bragging rights. Matches will take place in real-time with a range of tactical options for managers to control as they follow all the action via the 2D match engine. In addition, the in-game chat option means managers can exchange comments, while other aspiring managers can view their competitors and learn their tactics.

You'll have to choose your club's name, colors, badge, and pitch size. After you've taken care of the small stuff, it's time for you to focus on the serious issues such as balancing finances (because athletes could sometimes be spoiled brats), buying, selling, trading players using an auction style transfer system.

 

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?

 We guess after everything has been said and done, PlayStation 3 will still be loved in Europe. We all know about the launch delays and launch announcements delays and every single bad press that has plagued Sony ever since. Despite all those, it has been reported yesterday that fans are still willing to welcome the console with open arms.

Like this group for example: some members of the UK development community talked with gaming site GamesIndustry recently and reflect on their views about PS3 and everything in between. Sports Interactive's Miles Jacobson seemed somewhat hopeful as he mentioned that the delay is actually beneficial:

I'm excited by the amount of quality in the launch titles for Europe, and the five month delay has certainly helped from that perspective. Cost could become an issue later on in the cycle, and a good online system will be important, but for early adopters, it'll be all about the games.

While the first generation titles are already excellent, as far as Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley is concerned, the second wave of games will do it for Sony. He exclaimed:

It's not been the smoothest of run-ups to launch so far but the technology, once you get to grips with it, is fantastic. Most first generation games will have developers just getting things running well enough to satisfy Sony. In my opinion its the second wave of PS3 games that will begin to tap into its power.

Lastly, Team 17 Studio Director Martyn Brown mentioned that the Cell architecture is not a problem at all for developers, in contrast to most reports. He explained:

There was a lot of rumour-mongering prior to the PS3 development hardware arriving that it would require huge teams and untold complexities. There's certain elements of that which ring true, but only for titles that are wildly ambitious in terms of range and content detail, but as for day-to-day development, we've more or less taken it in our stride.

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!