In my Sept. 30 column, I extolled the virtues of the new soccer video game, FIFA '12 and shared my excitement as I got ready to play my first game on the new version. And don't get me wrong - FIFA has proven to be a great game during these last few months, and my friends and I have gotten hours of enjoyment from it. But there was an even better game released on Oct. 21 that is even more realistic, dramatic and addicting than FIFA: Its name is Football Manager 2012.
First of all, I know that if you're reading my column and grew up in the United States, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Sold in the United States as Worldwide Soccer Manager, the Football Manager series has never gained much of a foothold stateside; indeed, despite a new version coming out every year since 2005, I've never met an American that had heard of the game before I told them about it.
Consider this your indoctrination, then, as I bring you into the world of the most addicting game I've ever played. The concept is as simple as the title: You are the manager of a club team in world football. You can choose any club you want, from Manchester United down to FC United of Manchester, in almost any country on Earth. Like real life, there is no difficulty setting, and you are thrown off the deep end as soon as you start the game.
I'm not kidding; you have control of everything, from every player's training to player acquisitions to tactics, scheduling friendlies and firing and hiring staff. Every action you take has a direct influence on your team's success - if you exceed expectations, you are lauded as a hero, and if not, you find yourself in the fast lane to unemployment.
Sounds great, right? It might be the most realistic simulation of real?life events in the video game world. There's just one "catch:" Unlike FIFA, you can't control the players. Just like a real manager, once a match starts, all you can do is watch and adjust the tactics. You can't score stunners with a few clever mouse clicks or enter cheat codes to get super speed; your fate as a manager in the game truly rests with your players.
If you've stuck with my column to this point, you must be having the reaction now that most of my friends have when I tell them about the game or they see me playing it; how boring! Why would anyone sit through hours (all right, I admit it, I spend a lot of time playing this game) looking at a computer screen, meticulously preparing and adjusting hundreds of different elements, just to sit back and have to watch a few simulated people run around with no control over what they are doing?
I have to admit, it sounded like a dumb concept when I first started playing it. The game is almost the antithesis of FIFA, because it is a highly controlled simulation of the management side of soccer (which FIFA is definitely not) and an uncontrollable simulation of the actual games. But once I started getting into it, and I learned how to play the game, it is just incredibly addicting. I can't put it any more simply than that.
But don't just take my word for it; go on the Internet. IGN.com gave Football Manager 2012 a 9.0/10 rating (an "amazing" classification). There are hundreds of websites dedicated to the game; one of my favorites is Fm?base.co.uk. Take five minutes and check it out, because I'm determined to get at least one person from the United States to embrace "the greatest job on Earth."
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