Football Manager Handheld Preview

By Kristan Reed Published 24 February, 2006

Addicts beware.

When a game as all-consuming as Football Manager enters your life, there's only one problem: knowing when to stop. That one-more-fixture, one-more-transfer feeling creeps into the lives of all but the most disciplined players, and this uncontrollable, bona-fide addiction is responsible for more than the odd divorce and relationship headache along the way.

After ten, 12 years of dabbling with Sports Interactive's various releases, we know this; we know responsible playing is the answer, so we only get to dip in and out these days. As a result this cruel denial of our FM fix nags away, forever reminding us that a manager's work is never done. If only we could use all those dead hours during the week and could play it on the way to work or during lunch breaks, Ragbag Rovers would be kings of Europe by now.

But unless you're lucky enough to have one of those ultra portable, extra-expensive laptops, the chances are that on-the-move play is pretty impractical for all but the most devoted FM-phile. So, imagine our delight (and slightly guilty fear) when we got to feast our eyes on Sports Interactive's forthcoming Football Manager Handheld, due for release on the PSP on April 13th.

Reasons to be cheerful part 2006

'Football Manager Handheld' Screenshot owngoal

They missed the 'chances of heading into own net' stat out.

Far from worrying about commutes and lunch breaks, SI boss Miles Jacobson jovially suggests another reason to celebrate the brand's transition to the Sony handheld: "It's the best game to play while having a crap," he says, giving us a disturbing mental image we didn't want to dwell on for long. Vivid imaginations are a double-edged sword, evidently.

The mental image of thousands of FM fans dropping their kids off at the pool while wheeling and dealing in the transfer market is a bizarre and extreme thought to pontificate on, but Jacobson's absolutely right, filthy animal that he is. We only trust he washes his hands.

He's right, for the simple reason that FM fans will doubtlessly go to these lengths to make sure their gameplay sessions remain uninterrupted by even the crudest calls of nature, and will probably even whip out the PSP during half time intervals of real games to pick up from where they left off.

But anyway, enough hideous visions, let us tell you what else we found out about "the ultimate handheld game and various other cheesy expressions" during our latest visit to SI HQ.

Up to speed?

'Football Manager Handheld' Screenshot watford

Miles can't resist showing off his Watford exploits again.

The first thing to address is the speed of the game, and how the PSP can possibly cope with the vast quantities of statistical data that bring manly PCs screaming to their knees. Well, evidently FM Handheld was never going to be a direct port, and so the game has been streamlined to make sure the whole experience is as slick as possible. "The only slow thing in the game is the set up," promises Jacobson, and having run through a few league games, it's easy to see that this is definitely the case. "There's no waiting around - matches play out quickly," he asserts, as results similarly trickle through at an impressive pace, leaving players able to swiftly get on with their own affairs.

Obviously the vast layers of depth has been stripped down and refined for the purposes of intuitive, on the move play, leaving what has been compared to a CM3-style experience - a decision many long-term fans that hunger for the old-style simplicity will appreciate. As such, there's room for 36 players in your squad, a return to the halcyon days of the old-style training regime, eight leagues to choose from and no longer a 2D match engine, so we're now back to focusing on the excellent commentary and imagining what our players are up to (no bad thing, given our love for the way things were).

Plenty of FM-era features make it into the mix, though, with full media involvement, including transfer rumours, accurate player histories, five speed-settings during matches, full tactical control, agent approaches and player unrest, injury diagnosis and feedback, staff feedback, data accurate to the January transfer window (barring loans, we're told) not to mention the same excellent transfer/contract negotiation system that we're all used to.

Under control

'Football Manager Handheld' Screenshot naughty

Someone's been a naughty boy.

Perhaps the most pertinent issue is how you translate a mouse-based control system to the PSP, and the answer is surprisingly simple. A control legend at the bottom of the screen gives players four context-sensitive shortcut options at any one time, making it straightforward to select specific actions quickly and easily. The shoulder buttons, meanwhile, act as 'back' and 'next', and within minutes the general navigation becomes almost as easy as the full game. It'll take a bit of getting used to, for sure, but SI has opted for a pleasingly intuitive solution that's the next best thing. "The beauty [of FM Handheld] is how well the control system works. It's real pick up and play... you do not need the instruction manual."

Even so, we did have initial concerns that the vast amount of text that you need to cram on the screen would also prove to be a limiting factor, but not so. A small reduction in the number of stats, the removal of superfluous graphics like club badges, and the super-sharp quality of the widescreen PSP display makes it possible to still cram in tons of detailed information with very little in the way of compromise. Fans old and new can't fail to be impressed at how well it has translated to the small screen.

Out of necessity and hardware limitations, SI has been forced to have a rethink on what core features really matter to players, and as such has ended up with a product that has far greater mass appeal than it would have had otherwise - a point Jacobson repeatedly qualifies. "We want more casual players playing our game. Software developers are entertainers and we want to entertain as many people as possible," he admits.

"FM Handheld will definitely attract new players," he states confidently. "Some are too scared; they've heard about the divorce cases, this way they can sneak it into the loo, play it at half-time, whatever. This is a big deal for us. It's the first time we've made a handheld game, [but] we're using every single byte of memory to get the AI spot on."

As for multiplayer, that's off the menu, despite the obvious potential of the PSP's wireless capabilities. "We will look at it in the future," he promises.

Despite that minor disappointment, Football Manager Handheld is looking every bit as essential as anyone could hope, giving Sports Interactive's legion of fans even more excuses to feed their addiction. Check out our full review closer to the game's April 13 release date to find out whether our last line of FM defence will finally be breached.

Football Mananger Handheld with be released on April 13th on PSP, published by SEGA.

Picture of Kristan.

About Kristan Reed

Kristan is a former editor of Eurogamer, dad, Stone Roses bore and Norwich City supporter who sometimes mutters optimistically about Team Silent getting back together.

Read more articles from Kristan by visiting the Kristan Reed archive page.

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Comments (43) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • gazareth #1 6 years ago

    Terry needs to have a stat for "Ability to get away with diving across own penalty area in order to make goalkeeper-like stops"...

  • Hicksy #2 6 years ago

    I have VERY high hopes for this

    Please be good :D

  • MrGrumpy.au #3 6 years ago

    I played for months on end(it had me hooked, line and sinker) when I was younger a game on C=64 called Football Manager, Addictive Software(no sh*t!), Progammed by Kevin Toms.

    This was the greatest sports strategy game I had ever played (at the time) it had everything and you could never find an excuse to get away from it.

    Anyhow my question is will I enjoy this one as much as the old 1984 C=64 one?

    And believe it or not I Still play it on the old 64 from time to time...

  • sickpuppysoftware #4 6 years ago

    I'm glad this sounds like it's been simplified. I used to love the older versions. The later versions had far too much info and tinkering for a football lightweight like me.

    This may well introduce me back into the fold.

  • DiscoMike #5 6 years ago

    Football Manager on the C64 was shite.

    Tracksuit Manager FTW.

  • DUFFMAN5 #6 6 years ago

    Great News
    I loved CM3, played forever. At least We can win the league again ( poxy Chelski, come on Barca ! ), 9 years with Arsenal on CM3. THis could be THE reason to buy a PSP, that and Simpsons/Family guy umd. On that subject a lot of the film companies are reducing the amount of films they will release on UMD (IMD website ), being as they are all so very'very greedy and expect people to pay £10-£15 for their product and Joe public isn't buying, good for him !
    Slaters

  • yegon #7 6 years ago

    Can't quite put into words how badly I want this.....ooooh baby. The dodgy PSP CM5 proved that the navigation/data side can be done (but went pear shaped with the 2d engine and the laughable commentary).

    I'm pleased there's no match engine, as I can only assume they will have devoted a lot of energy in developing an excellent commentary.

  • Perry #8 6 years ago

    The sole reason I bought my PSP was for this game.

    People knock the PSP, and rightly so in some cases (although playing PES5 on the tube this morning on the way to work still means its the best £200 I've spent), but this just has me soooooooo excited.

    CM3 almost resulted in my then girlfriend (now wife) leaving me. I'd constantly be up until 4am playing. I bet she is over the moon this is coming out!

    The move to the old style has me even more excited. I went and re-loaded CM01/02 the other day on the PC (by far the best of the series IMHO) and it was surprisingly still good (up to 3am first day it was installed).

    Come on SI - make this work, bug free first time. Bring on April!
    Edited by 2 at 24/02/06 @ 09:57

  • yegon #9 6 years ago

    >>>re-loaded CM01/02 the other day on the PC (by far the best of the series IMHO)

    Yeah, I agree.

    I love FM2006, I really do, and I'll never go back to a desktop version without a match engine....but there was definitely a certain magic about the pre match engine days (probably due to the fact your imagination will always better whats on a screen). Plus, the older versions were much faster paced for me, so the experience was a bit different.
    Edited by 1 at 24/02/06 @ 10:11

  • MrGrumpy.au #10 6 years ago

    @DiscoMike, '84 v '88 isn't really a fair comparison and I'd moved to the PC around '88 so I didn't even know that Tracksuit Manager existed.

    So I guess I won't like this, I'll just go back to TIF2004 with my custom team (Misfits United) and take them through again then.

    Thanks

  • riz23 #11 6 years ago

    "It's the best game to play while having a crap."
    That really needs to go on the box art. :)

  • trevd72 #12 6 years ago

    "It's the best game to play while having a crap."

    for me thats the test of a good portable game.

  • tentonipete #13 6 years ago

    i failed my a-levels because of cm1 italia.

    i've got champ man for the psp but it's not filling the void. it's a pile of crap. i mean it's still champ man so it's addictive but you'd think that they hadn't employed any testers at all. or maybe the testers were blind.

    anyway

    features i'd like football manager handheld to have:

    1. the ability to have a managerial career spanning many countries.
    2. possibility of using generated players. that always used to be really cool and i never used the real names.

  • reality_cheque #14 6 years ago

    I'm not a football fan, but even I want this!

    I used to love seeing how far I could get not knowing anything about football tactics or who the players were :)

  • LetsGo #15 6 years ago

    Don't get me wrong, i'm sure this game will be great and I do hope it is but Eurogamer does have a 'Fanboy-ism' towards Footie Manager.

    Yes, Championship Manager PC is shit, I wont argue with that and Football Manager PC does truely ROCK however, Champ Man PSP is fantastic (not done by the PC folks) and is there a Eurogamer review saying this? No. I hope it's not because it's a good Champ Man game and Eurogamer don't wanna give it any press.
    Edited by 1 at 24/02/06 @ 11:05

  • krudster #16 6 years ago

    No, it's because we weren't sent it! It's that simple.

  • Perry #17 6 years ago

    Do you only review what you are sent? Genuine question. Because £30 or whatever is not that much for a Gaming site is it?

  • LetsGo #18 6 years ago

    Agreed Perry. Esp. a well known brand like champ man.

    Krud, if I sent you my copy so you could play it, would you send it back to me after? :)

  • krudster #19 6 years ago

    We're happy to buy the odd import here and there, but it's really in the publisher's interests to send us stuff. Unless they think we're going to slate it, of course.

  • LetsGo #20 6 years ago

    So I can send you mine?

  • Perry #21 6 years ago

    Whilst I completely agree that publishers should send you a copy - there is no excuse for that (unless they know their product is cr@p and would rather sell it on the name rather than the content - quite likely in this case I'd say).

    I'd have thought that reviewing a PSP game would be quite high on the priority list considering that there are not hundreds of titles out there, like the PS2 / Xbox's / Cube etc. Especially because the split between Edios and SI is well known in the football management game community.

    Comparison is a good thing, usually.

  • vane101 #22 6 years ago

    LetsGo puts Eurogamer on the back foot! :)

  • krudster #23 6 years ago

    To be honest, we had more than enough games to review when it came out (and I mean MORE than enough), so its absence wasn't felt. If someone wants to write a review for us that's up to standard, we'd certainly consider publishing it. But I've got loads of stuff on at the mo, so I'm definitely not going to have time to do it, thanks for the offer of sending it.

  • LetsGo #24 6 years ago

    *shurg* Fair enough but I still can't understand how a BIG name brand slips under the net.

    Esp. considering it's very good. I hope you can see my frustration tho and how it looks...

  • Perry #25 6 years ago

    Krudster, if you are still reading. I emailed Red Octane about the Euro release of the Guitar Legends (April 7 by EG piece on it). Said no date in their email to me.

    Any inside knowledge?

  • Furbs #26 6 years ago

    Just curious LetsGo, but why do you want a review of a game you already have and like?

  • Kay #27 6 years ago

    I'm stupidly excited about this game! I'm just hoping they don't mess it up - hopefully there'll be none of the bugs and glitches of Champ Man PSP that I've been hearing about. A perfect, streamlined handheld experience is what I (and many others) wanted, and it looks like that's what we'll be getting.

    Roll on April!

    K

  • LetsGo #28 6 years ago

    Because everywhere I read on internet sites there is an anti-CM feel which I can understand to an extent however, the PSP is getting the same stick but people don't relies it's good and it's developed by someone else.

    Also, Footie Manager gets a lot of PR on the site but the PSP version of champ man has had none. When the review of Footie Manager comes out, how can they give an honest review if they have not played the competition? You hear FIFA mentioned in PES reviews and hear PES mentioned in FIFA reviews because its the same genre.

    As previously stated by many others, people think Eurogamer is a buyers guide so how would they be able to recommend FM psp over CM psp if they only review the one?

  • smoison #29 6 years ago

    Football manager is about on par fun wise with reading a dictonary (or the bible)

    Pong is about 1000 times better, and Like every other football manager, it could be a HTML website game....
    Edited by 1 at 24/02/06 @ 13:00

  • Perry #30 6 years ago

    I agree with your sentiments about comparison. When they review FM PSP in April, how can they compare it to the only other handheld game in its genre.

    Quite odd.

    I know the guys (and girl) are busy reviewing other games, but for such a popular genre in the UK (& I'd imagine a fair chunk of your readers are from the UK) it is a little odd.

    Add to that its PSP, and you can review it on the WAY TO WORK?

    Anyway - just my thoughts on the matter

    Good one Smieson or whatever your name is. Is FM 2005 still the fastest selling PC game in UK history? I seem to remember reading that somewhere
    Edited by 1 at 24/02/06 @ 13:02

  • krudster #31 6 years ago

    Perry, inside knowledge? Yes, I spoke to Kelly Sumner, the RedOctane MD in the US. Definitely April 7th. We ran a story on it over a month ago.

  • Perry #32 6 years ago

    Thanks for that Krudster

    Yes, I read the story with great interest (as elluded to in my post)

    I've been looking everywhere to pre-order, but none seem to offer it.

  • Sunrise #33 6 years ago

    NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

    The government should prevent it's release! I'm not strong enough to resist its life-threatening features :(

  • Furbs #34 6 years ago

    Kelly Sumner? Of Commodore fame? Living legend \o/

  • krudster #35 6 years ago

    That's the fella!

  • Dougs #36 6 years ago

    This may well be the game that convinces me get a PSP. Despite having it on PC. That way the missus can't moan as much....

  • yegon #37 6 years ago

    Lets Go wrote
    >>>Champ Man PSP is fantastic (not done by the PC folks) and is there a Eurogamer review saying this? No.
    -----------

    Err, if you love CM PSP you ought to be glad that EG didn't review it - they would have absolutely panned it. Gave it a fair old chance myself, they got the navigation right and they were brave with the 2D engine. BUT Woeful commentary, borked match engine, a multitude of bugs = phail/10.

    If you were in any doubt about the numerous crippling bugs check out this thread

    http://www.eurogamer.net/forum_thread_ posts.php?thread_id=49197&forum_id=1

    There are other trheads but I canny find them.
    Edited by 1 at 25/02/06 @ 15:04

  • thefilthandthefury #38 6 years ago

    LetsGo has a point. Even if they WOULD pan Championship Manager, they should at least review it so people have something to compare FM to in order to make their mind up which to get.

  • bunglebonce #39 6 years ago

    Terry needs to have a stat for "Ability to get away with diving across own penalty area in order to make goalkeeper-like stops"...

    Don't forget the stat to climb on top and literally over defenders. Oh, and a 20 for getting away with charging down & beating away shots in his own box with his arms held in the air. Geremi would maybe get 19!


    FM PSP. Crapping never felt so good.

  • Redeye #40 6 years ago

    Fantastic. Another reason for my bird to moan at me... >;)

  • Monkey #41 6 years ago

    CM for PSP was alright but the Gers doing the quadruple is definately not going to happen in the next 4 years... or the fact the fans are happy to go two seasons without a trophy... not realistic methinks!

    I'm looking forward to FM, have been for ages!
    :)

  • Sorbicol #42 6 years ago

    I've stopped buying FM as there are just too many hours of my life wasted to this game over the course of the last 10 years. Thank the Lord I don't own a PSP!

  • tentonipete #43 6 years ago

    whoever said that CM PSP was great is mad and has obviously only played the game for about 1 season.

    it's got a multitude of bugs and is okay at best. it's a 6.5/10 tops. passes the time but after a while the faults get too much and it's not picked up any more.