Alright Boyz, Here We Go! The FM2008/WWSM2008 First Impressions Thread
 

Just heard the announcement from Miles Jacobsen of SI (this is on the Football Manager Live Beta):

Due to some unnamed retailers once again breaking street date, FM2008 will be released Thursday (Today, UK time), not Friday.

Let's just say the expletives coming from his mouth are impressive. (he's pissed about this.) The breaking of street date happened in Sweden, and then spread to Holland

So.. we still have a week for WWSM to get here, but hopefully one of our overseas folks will have the game shortly.

I'll wait for the Spanish kiosks release on 26th. It's going to be a hard wait, but this year i want to support the Spanish sales, it's just a week and I received yesterday nba2k8 that is going to keep me bussy for a while.

I'm gonna be a good boy and wait for the American release too - maybe one day we'll get it the same day as the Europeans.

Winding up plans for the PLA, baby. Can't wait!

goddamm retailers!!

general question for the SI guys if they can know and can share: what kind of penalties does SEGA dish out to those retailers?

They have to stock copies of E.T. The Extra Terrestrial for the Atari 2600 that were dug up from the dump in New Mexico.

You what is the worst thing about the early release by those retailers?

There are already pirated copies around, and having pirated copies before the game is even released can damage the sales a lot, and at the end, can damage us as customers if SI needs to close doors one day because that.

Those retailers should be really punished with lawsuits if possible (probably too hard with different countries laws etc).

per Miles: Nothing, because they're not buying directly from SI or Sega.

I don't think I have ever waited until the Friday to play a new CM/FM game. I used to go to a store in Glasgow that would sell the game on the Tuesday or Wednesday before release.

http://community.sigames.com/eve/for...153#6502054153

The official announcement.

Oh, I asked Miles just to be 100% sure. This does NOT affect the US Street date, or the digital download date. that is still as scheduled.

Hopefully it won't take SI too long to fix the closing down bug, other than that the match engine seems to be a lot better. The transfer market stuff plus wages/transfer fund allocation is a great improvement.

i am fighting with myself to wait until the first or, even possibly, the second patch before buying so i can start with a fresh patch. i know i don't have the strength to not start if i had the game in my hands.


has anybody know if the install into default directory from the demo has been fixed?

Can't wait for this game, though I think I can live easier until I have it then others. That has always been one of the nice things about driving a truck. Once I put the computer down I will spend the day driving back and forth in the mountains of Arkansas. Takes my mind off this kind of stuff pretty fast....

When are those dates, again?

Wooooooooooooo PLA rox!

Fix what? They short-circuited the install process for the demo on purpose.

From the blog, slight modification made by me

UK, Ireland, Italy, France, Portugal, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and any other European countries where the game is normally released apart from the countries below, the release dare will be Friday October 19th (turned out it is today, the 18th). Which really isn't very far away at all.

In Spain, the game will be released on October 26th. Which is slightly later, but we're trying something new in Spain, and will be selling from kiosks for the first time, which is very exciting. There'll be a bit more news about that in tomorrow's blog, coz there's some very cool stuff going on over there.

In Australia, the game will be released on October 25th.

In the Czech Republic, the game will be out on 1st November, and in Poland 8th November. The reason for the delay is to ensure that the translations are spot on for your countries.

For those in Japan, you'll be able to get a fully translated version of the game on December 10th and Korea are planning on launching on 1st November.

Worldwide Soccer Manager will be released in the USA, Canada and Mexico on October 23rd as a boxed version exclusively from www.amazon.com, or as a digital download.

Futbol Manager will also be released as a digital download for the rest of South and Central America on the same day, October 23rd

I haven't done much research on the options of the new game, but for me the difference between 06 and 07 was vast enough for me to warrant the purchase and was very thankful subsequently (the game speed alone was worth it)....I know historically, I've purchased the FM series every other year - can somebody upsell me? Why should I get the 08 version? Will I be telling people to buy 08 like I was telling people to by 07?

Proof is in the pudding. Download the demo and see for yourself.

For me, this game is another giant step forward. I would say the differences between 07 and 08 are bigger than 06 to 07.

COuld you elaborate on what you're seeing as a major improvement? In looking at the new feature's list, I didn't see anything that really jumped out at me.

The speed of the sims, the expanded depth of press and player interaction, the interface itself are places that have improved greatly, just off the top of my head. I haven't been keeping a running log of all the improvements I've run across, but have been very impressed with the overall product.

Like I said, get the demo and see for yourself. Just reading a list of new/added features really doesn't convey just how much stuff was improved and the level of polish in the new version.

From playing a bit of the demo, there seems to be less of those utterly ridiculous "from the goal kick, the keeper passes directly to opposition striker for an easy chance," "awful backpass straight to opposition striker for an easy chance," and "your team goes 2-0 up against some relegation fodder and all of a sudden the opposition starts to resemble the 1970 Brazil team" incidents.

Players seem to be less outrageously priced in the transfer market and there seems to be more room for actual negotiations as opposed to last year's take it or leave it stuff.

These are two big things for me, but if you didn't have a problem with them last year you might not find huge differences in the gameplay.

Well, maybe now my copy is on the way.

I want to buy this but where is the best bet for me that is not digital download? amazon?

IIRC it's either Amazon or import from UK/Europe, it won't be sold in stores here.

Can anyone post machine specs for the game? I can't seem to find the info anywhere on Amazon or SI's site.

http://www.gogamer.com/Football-Mana...VVviewprod.htm

Gogamer has the FM version of it

so it works correctly in the finished game?

This is great news. Some of that stuff seemed ratcheted up a notch last year and I wasn't able to get into the game as much as a result.

Yes but how is the AI? (joking, really):D

Why did you have to post that?

The last 3 years I have bought from Gogamer and paid the higher price. This year I have told myself I was going to wait and get the US release or DD...

Now I see "in stock"...must resist..serenity now...urge getting stronger..

I just got the same damn feeling.

I'm so weak....

I will be buying this while I am down in Australia, I will grab any copies for those that want FM in the states, let me know through PM...

They have one less copy now.

i should smack you

2 less now :)

Why are you guys buying the FM version when the US version comes out on Tuesday, is cheaper, has free shipping and will get to you faster?

because I like "hearing" the English commentary as opposed to the American Commentary.

I just really wish you could turn team talks off forever... I don't care to see what my assistant says to my players, because I don't believe it has THAT much affect over the game. It seems like i have to click and go through 4 or 5 more screens to get to the game now. It's just a minor annoyance, but it is an annoyance :(

I've got it set up for my assman to handle team talks, so I haven't seen a team talk screen in forever.

Ive got WWSM and my prefs are set to use English as my language as opposed to English (US), and it has a distinct British flavour.

eh, oh well then. call it exuberance then.

Yeah when you have the asst. manager do team talks now it still shows the screen and what he has said to the players... I just want it to skip that screen like it used to...

Because the FM version works with all of the editors and third party tools and WWSM doesn't.

Was this the case last year (re: third party editors) I bought WWSM05, FM06, and FM07 so I've been out of the loop for a few years regarding the headaches with WWSM.

$20 extra for getting the game four days early is silly, but the editors and FM Scout (I'm not sure what other third party tools even are) are a big deal IMO...

gogamer cancelled my order because Im on a temporary debit card as my debit and credit cards were stolen from my car last night :( I guess "Preferred customer'' is not the "name on the card" eventhough it is. So now that Im back at square one and Ive learned about the UK English choice, what should i do? Order it from amazon?

You could just wait

for what, I asked Gamestop if they'd carry it and they told me "no", so I'd have to buy it online anyways. Is it going to be at a B&M?

I was hoping GoGamer would ship today! :(

To get your debit/credit cards back? Seems like that would enable you to get it online

Ok well I didn't know about third party editors or FM Scout. They sound cool but at least FM Scout is Windows-only so I'm out of luck.

FM scout worked fine with WWSM07; I never tried the editors, so I can't speak to that.

oh, well yeah that too, but I'd love to drive up to BB and buy it if available.

i dont think FM scout works with the DigitalDL of WWSM though, at least it didnt when i did the ddl of wwsm a few FM's ago

These threads seem to be starting earlier and earlier. Why create an "impressions thread" if no one even has the game yet?

Status. Kind of like people being upset about werewolf posts boosting post count totals

Okay FM vets where can i go to get a good beginners guide on how to play and understand this game. I already know soccer as a sport since i have played, coached, or been a ref most of my life. I am interested in learning the whole international system and how to play the game without getting totally overwhlemed.

The SI forums are pretty good for starters, there just is a lot to read. Other then that, I'd just play a season or two with different teams to get a feel for the game. Eventually you will get hooked on playing a certain dynasty and from there you will probably have your "team" that you root for. Various forum members have picked their team that way. It's how I became a Crystal Palace fan. Even bought a shirt that said "Palace til I die!"

Yes - it works perfectly.

With the new version not sure how long it will be before the tactics forum gets going but look for posts from wwfan. I learned a lot about making tactics in FM from his posts and along the way a lot about football in general. Unlike you I knew nothing about football before buying WWSM in 2006. Knowing the game of football gives you a big head start.

Ping: WSUCougar
 

You planning on getting WWSM08?

Carlisle United ftw! maybe they can pull a rabbit out of thier ass again and get to the championship this year!

Due to FM, i have followed Napoli in real life as they have literally risen from the ashes and moved from C2 to C1 to B and now are in the top flight Series A of Italy. This all happened in the past 5-6 years, with them moving up and winning the division. Just crazy to see it happen in real life, and not a video game(i actually took two seasons longer to get them up that high

i rather think that the SI forum bites donkey balls. the left one.

on the other hand, i think this board and marc vaughan's guide are brilliant.

Nothing to argue with there....

Got my copy in the mail today from gogamer. I'm a happy camper. :D

Hello? Is this my conscience? :confused:

(:D )

(Yes, at some point.)

Does anyone have any information on the Digital Download? The SI forums had a guy from Sega "promising to check into it" and he disappeared 5 days ago. The SI and FM websites say WWSM08 will be available for digital download tomorrow, but the silence is deafening...

...Mark?

Cool - let me know before you do - I owe you one :)

Yeah, I've been waiting for this but if we don't get any news tomorrow and it's not available for download I guess I'll have to go with amazon.com, there's been no response the past few days on the SI forums.

UGH.

8:30 AM here on the east coast, and

• The SI website has no download link for WWSM08
• The link to "downloads" brings you to a page that says the server is down
• The SI forums page is down
• No information from SI or Sega in almost a week re: WWSM08.

:( :confused: :mad: :confused: :mad: :( :confused: :mad:

I just checked amazon and my preorder has still not been shipped. No email notice or report on their page that it has been delayed, so who knows? Ah, shit just went to their website and it says ...



For Christ's sake they had over a week to get this in stock, WTF? :mad:

Have the weekend off and the game should have shown up on Thurs or Friday. If it's not in the mail today or tomorrow I'll just cancel and wait for the DD.

I saw a post earlier this morning on the forums that the download should be availble by 9:00 Pacific today.

Thanks for the info. Looks like amazon is going to be losing some sales.

THAT would be sweet! Thanks for the tip! :)

I assume there's a patch in the works for the game already. Historically, the patch for the DL version is at least a day behind the patch for the boxed version. Has there been any word on when the first patch will be out?

(and do we have the return of Pumpy Frog Tudors Man?)

I've been on the SI forums quite a bit the last week or so, and that's pretty much all anyone was talking about. As usual, there were loads of bug reports, but the SI dudes were collecting them and letting people know that they've been working on the first patch since the gold-demo and it would be out pretty soon.

Me? I'd be happy with the game quite frankly :D

I was hoping to live vicariously through someone today with the download game but maybe we have a stall- but I was really impressed with the changes on the demo, I like the personal news and the league news split up, tactic changes while game is being played however I wasn't a big fan of the facegen, it was just ok.

Here's what Marc Duffy said earlier on the FM boards:

With the news from TredWel I just canceled my amazon preorder. Since they wouldn't get it in the mail today and likely not tomorrow I'm certain I would not have it for the weekend. I guess now it's up to SI to get the DD online, pretty sure if not today at least I'll have it for the upcoming weekend.

:(

Where are you in Fairfax? :cool: :cool: :cool:

do not understimate the ability to extend the duration of a game of overseas ping pong well over the four days left until the weekend though.

Not really faulting the SI guys here, more like the Sega dudes on that one...

Who are they using for digital distribution nowadays anyway? I'd assume it's not Digicrap River anymore or else we'd have heard about unhappy people already, but I'm curious...

FM

PS: Pumpy, not too sure about the return just yet ;) I will most likely get the game at some point, but this year might be the first where I get it after all the patches have been pumped out. I'm having too much fun with BBCF right now and I just can't see how I'd be able to split my time between the two...

I'm actually with you on this one. Part of me wants to get the game right now, but I can't really see when I'd really jump into it.

It's surely possible that it will not be done by the weekend. I was surprised with the time between releases though that amazon evidently had no stock on hand to fill orders. Good thing is I'm not desperate to have it asap (that is, it's not worth the extra $20+ to get it imported), but like most will be happy when I do get it.

Elicense was their choice for ootp and the last ehm and haven't heard anything different (nor a confirmation that it is elicense) for this version from anyone at SI. Some on the SI forums keep asking about STEAM (never used it so don't know about it). The disk itself has securom (sp) which some users have problems with. So like anything else there are goods and bads. And yes, if I find they returned to digital river I'll change any plans I had for DD and wait for amazon to have disks in stock.

I'm in the Oakton/Vienna area.

The latest from Marc Duffy

dola

from Duffy


anyone have experience with these distributors?

Amazon.com out of stock for a few days, no digital download until tomorrow, pretty weak. I was hoping to play after work and Champions League games this evening.

Doh. So much for getting it this week for me, not sure I want to try downloading this thing while on the road with the usually slower access to the internet.

I've bought a bundle of Civ4 w/warlords from Direct2Drive and it worked perfectly. Their download manager made the download so easy, and fast. That is actually pretty good news...

FM

Good to hear, I'll make that my choice.

Hmmmmmmm


This is starting to get...dare I say it...Maximum?

I'll be the first guy to eat crow if it is out today, but after going dark for 5 days and then posting the truth, which wasn't the truth, and then pushing it out, for someone who really was looking forward to getting the game on his birthday, I'm pissed.:(

Direct2Drive looks pretty bigtime to me. Lots of popular games on there to download, movies, tv shows. If it sucks they must have bamboozled a bunch of big name companies.....

Oh christ. No Elicense and I'm out. Every other online distributor has been so bad that I wouldn't even consider a company I've never heard of.

yeah, you're giving me so many flashbacks of the one time I went digital with the game, it was for WWSM2006. There were delays after delays, more than a week's worth. I'd like to think they got better after that year, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

Don't get me wrong, I will probably go back to digital again this year, but will wait until much later, when everything's ironed out...

FM

I've bought stuff from direct2drive before. The biggest problem I think is for most games you have to wait for a direct2drive patch to be released which can take a very long time after the "regular" patch is released. I'm not sure if the delay is with direct2drive or the developers on those delays though.

as I said, I would recommend Direct2Drive to anyone. My experience with them with Civ4 (and Warlords) has been great. One more plus to them is their patch delivery. They house the patches themselves, so no more downloading from Si at turtle speeds...

FM

I've not experienced the delays with civ4, so hopefully it's with the developpers, in which case we could hope that SI will deliver...

FM