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Tuesday, November 20, 2012
06:21 PM - November 20, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Hello and welcome. If you are reading this, chances are you are either considering taking the plunge or have already purchased Football Manager 13 (and hopefully, have also perused our review of said game.)
A few final questions before you start: Are you willing to sacrifice a good chunk of your day playing the game—even when you know you shouldn’t, and just can’t help yourself—and are you willing to sacrifice the other parts of that day, when you're not playing the game, thinking about it? Football Manager is, by all accounts, addictive, and there have been stories about the game's crack-like hold on you.
So the answers to those question is yes you say? Excellent. Let’s get busy.
Read More - A Beginners Guide to Football Manager 2013
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
03:25 PM - November 14, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
When playing as an average club, you aren't Arsenal. So here's a guide how to manage your club.
It's no surprise that many players prefer playing with a medium or small club in FIFA 13's Manager Mode, rather than with one of the traditional big guns. The amount of challenges you face with a team that’s not named Manchester City/Manchester United/Barcelona/Real Madrid-- financial restrictions, less talented players-- make the mode a lot more fun to play. Of course, if you are used to playing with one of those said teams, managing a smaller club can seem challenging at first, trying to win and stay thrifty at the same time is not easy after all.
For those who may be struggling in FIFA 13’s Manager mode with an average team and a below average transfer kitty, here are some tips that may help you succeed.
Read More - FIFA 13: From Average Team to Contender
Thursday, November 8, 2012
12:17 PM - November 8, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
It’s 2am. The laundry’s piled sky high. The cat’s desperately meowing to be fed. And the girlfriend has—though this one I’m not totally sure since I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen to check—left me.
Yes, Football Manager 2013 is here, and it is as destructive to your life (sleeping patterns, especially) as ever.
Read More - Football Manager 2013 Review (PC)
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
05:14 PM - October 31, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Slow and steady wins the race. That’s the impression I get after spending a whole week with the Football Manager 2013 beta.
Of course, there’s no point playing it slow and steady if the series didn’t have a solid base to build upon — houses and foundations and all that — but that is the case with FM, as the series’ continues to improve year after year.
It's the same "evolution not revolution" mantra for 2013, as developers Sports Interactive continue to make subtle adjustments across the board, to what is already a very high quality game to begin with. At first glance, there are no earth shattering changes in 2013 that will immediately distinguish itself from the 2012 version. But after spending a little more time with the game, you may just start to notice, and more importantly appreciate, all the little things that have been improved, and like yours truly, finally be able to let go and press the uninstall button on FM 2012.
Read More - Football Manager 2013 Demo Impressions
Friday, October 19, 2012
12:43 PM - October 19, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Presentation, check. Player control, check. Defending, check. Player AI, check.
For the last couple of years, FIFA has improved upon almost every aspect of its game. Unsurprisingly, for a franchise that is steadfastly trying to simulate a realistic brand of football, most of these elements became deeper and more nuanced as a result. However, there’s one thing that’s crucially missing from the list: AI Management.
Now, it’s not the sexiest thing to market. You can’t see it, and possibly only a percentage of us who play the game will appreciate it. I try not to write these “wishlist” articles too frequently, but for a hardcore sports gaming site like OS, it seems apt to suggest some improvements for how the game can improve on its gameplay experience by giving its CPU managers a little more smarts. The problem with FIFA's existing CPU management is that it seems to operate inside a vacuum, meaning that its moves are usually preprogrammed to trigger at some basic benchmarks, without taking into account the entire context of what's going on in the match. And if that isn't the case, it surely isn't obvious enough, because as it stands, the CPU management in FIFA just feels a little shallow, especially when compared to the rest of the game's impressive depth.
Read More - The Next Frontier in FIFA Soccer: AI Management
Thursday, October 11, 2012
03:42 PM - October 11, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Before the full release of PES 2013, we had five questions for the game. Now, after the dust has settled on this stellar game of footy, we have our answers. As it turns out, most of them are positive, which isn’t surprising for an 8.0 game.
Read More - Five Answers from PES 2013
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
12:38 PM - October 2, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
PES 2013 is the game that PES 2012 wanted to be, but for various reasons couldn’t.
So it comes as no surprise that when you fire up the game for the first time, not much looks different on the surface. Visually, the game is similar to PES 2012 (and 2011, and 2010), and the gameplay also feels very much the same. But, as all PES aficionados can attest to, first impressions are deceiving with the franchise. PES 2013's depth, as is the case again this year, never truly surfaces until you’re ten or twenty games in.
And yes, the gameplay, as it turns out, is different from PES 2012. And for the most part it's better. However, the laser-like focus on gameplay means that other aspects of the game are starting to show its age. The result? A lot of fun on the pitch, but just a tad less impressive off of it.
Read More - Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 Review (360/PS3)
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
02:55 PM - September 26, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Last year, FIFA 12 bought itself a tremendous amount of goodwill. The game revolutionized the series’ gameplay by successfully rolling out three big new features — tactical defending, precision dribbling and the impact engine— without any significant disasters. Because of that, a lot of us were quite willing to overlook some of the match engine’s slightly rougher edges. So it’s not a surprise that for FIFA 13, the team at EA Canada decided to polish those rough edges up rather than introduce more significant wrinkles to the game, and for the most part they do so successfully. But is it enough to catapult FIFA 13 to becoming an all-time classic?
Read More - FIFA Soccer 13 Review (360/PS3)
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
03:18 PM - September 18, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
The introduction of True Performance Skating, the piece de resistance in NHL 13, affected so many things than just the act of skating itself. In fact, there’s a very good chance that you’ll have to change many aspects of how you play the game — mostly, rooting out all the rather unrealistic bad habits you’ve picked up in year’s past. For those who are struggling to grasp the nuances of the new system, here are a few tips on how to be a better player with NHL 13’s new skating engine.
Read More - NHL 13: How to Win With True Peformance Skating
Monday, September 17, 2012
04:16 PM - September 17, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
After FIFA 12’s dramatic revamp of the series, the 2013 demo seems like FIFA 12¾. That is not a bad thing, mind you, considering that 12 did plenty of things right, and managed to incorporate three new and big features without suffering from any game-killing, first-year mistakes. Judging from the demo, FIFA 13 adds a layer of polish on the features that 12 brought, and it does so successfully.
Before we get to the actual impressions, can I once again make clear my disdain at the short lengths of the games? We got five minutes for PES and now six for this FIFA demo. If these demo impressions generally sound a little conservative, that’s because I really, really don’t want to leap to conclusions about a game’s engine over games of three minute halves. Having said that, here they are anyway.
Read More - FIFA Soccer 13 Demo Impressions
Thursday, September 6, 2012
12:06 PM - September 6, 2012. Posted by Steve_OS. Written by Kelvin Mak
If you can't view the embedded video, click here.
The new features announced for this year include:
- Two new game modes: Classic and Challenge modes
- Improved match engine animation and AI
- Introduction of the Director of Football role, and more specialist coaches
- Revamped training
- Full integration with Steam's network for improved online games
Check out some of the Football Manager 2013 screenshots, right here.
Football Manager. Always.
Football Manager is the best-selling, most realistic football management series ever made. Football Manager 2013 celebrates 20 years of games from the people at Sports Interactive by introducing an array of new features.
This year’s version allows you to take control of any club in more than 50 nations across the world and includes all of Europe’s biggest leagues as well as database of over 500,000 real-world players and staff.
As well as some landmark new features in the Career Mode, there are now new ways to enjoy your Football Manager experience.
NEW TO CAREER MODE…
Match Engine
The 3D match engine has seen huge improvements this year. Everything on the pitch looks more realistic; from the stadiums, the players’ movement, intelligence, and the way the ball moves through the air.
We’ve also introduced hundreds of new animations to make the game feel more realistic and we’ve made the whole experience more televisual by introducing new camera angles and showing the kick-off and final whistle.
Manager Roles
Another notable difference is the significant restructure of the manager’s staff and a revamp of their roles. The most obvious is that we’ve introduced the position of Director of Football into the game for the first time, which will allow managers to pass on some of their workload, such as contract negotiations, if they choose to.
In addition to this, we’ve also increased the number of specialist coaching roles within the game and given the manager greater flexibility to choose which coaches offer advice and when. The manager can also choose to complain about boardroom interference – although that particular option should probably be used sparingly.
And much more…
A brand new training system, improved international management, tones in press conferences & a new user interface.
NEW WAYS TO PLAY…
Classic and Challenge Modes
Football Manager Classic is a less time-consuming way to enjoy Football Manager. The essence of the game is exactly the same – the manager still takes charge of a squad of players and competes at whatever level he or she chooses – but they will now find that a number of their responsibilities have either been taken over by their support staff or have disappeared completely.
For example, while the player still takes charge of training in FMC, this is carried out at a 'full team' level only – there's no individual player training. And when it gets to matches themselves, there are no team talks or opposition reports... you just go straight to a game using the same 3D match engine as Career Mode. The games are played out in a quicker 'highlights only' fashion, but you can even speed this up by going straight to ‘Instant Result’.
Players who opt for Football Manager Classic will also find that they have a couple of further options in terms of how they play the game; they can either play a full open-ended ‘Career’ or they can choose to play in the new ‘Challenge’ mode.
In Challenge mode they’ll find themselves in a particular situation which will test their management skills over a shorter game time – usually half a season. Can you win a trophy with a team consisting almost entirely of kids? Or could you guide your club to safety despite being bottom of the table at Xmas?
We first introduced Challenge Mode in Football Manager Handheld 2012 and it proved to be so popular that we’ve decided to include it in FMC too.
The game will come with four free-to-play challenges, each of which feeds in to a global leaderboard.
Plus over 900 other new features!
For full details, check out www.footballmanager.com
Wednesday, September 5, 2012
11:26 AM - September 5, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
So here we are, another transfer window shutting. Bless the Premier League, and a certain Qatari-backed team from Paris: as other clubs in the continent came to their senses and agreed to more sensible prices for player transfers, they kept things interesting with their dealings, as they plonked down more money than FIFA delegates at a World Cup bid.
So who made the list of notable teams for this roundup and why? And how will they impact your choice of teams in this year’s football games? Let’s find out.
Read More - Football's Transfer Window Roundup
Thursday, August 30, 2012
12:06 PM - August 30, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Pro Evolution Soccer 2013's second demo came down the pipeline Tuesday. With eleven league teams to play around with, we get a better idea of what we can expect come release day.
So what’s different?
Presentation:
For all the flak PES takes in this department, they've added a few nice touches on the presentation front. For instance, the home crowd will vigorously boo non-calls, while the player who tumbled over throw their hands up in the air and gestures to the ref. Also, the frequency at which defenders raise their hands and appeal for offsides is increased.
Read More - PES 2013 Second Demo Impressions
Friday, August 17, 2012
03:19 PM - August 17, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Kelvin Mak
Now that we've all had some time to play around with the first demo (you can read my impressions of it here) and the dust has settled a bit, let's take stock and predict what's in store for the full release of Pro Evolution Soccer 2013.
Read More - Five Questions for PES 2013
Thursday, August 16, 2012
01:38 PM - August 16, 2012. Posted by RaychelSnr. Written by Glenn Wigmore
Since giving NHL sports Game of the Year in 2007, the franchise has been good to great but not quite on the same level of it's peers. With an impressive list of features coming our way for NHL 13, is this the year the franchise returns to prominence? Kelvin Mak and Glenn Wigmore discuss this possibility in our newest Fact or Fiction. Be sure to give your own answer after the jump!
Read More - OS Fact or Fiction: NHL 13 will be the Sports GOTY
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