Media Meditation #4: I *am* a Manager!

My favorite sport all time is definitely football (soccer in the US). It is unfortunate that there aren't any football matches near Vermont.

But not to worry! Football Manager 2011 is arriving soon, on November 5th. Although I am rather new to the series, having only played Football Manager 2010 before, no other video game I have experienced has had me hooked so badly.

Cover of Football Manager 2011

(Courtesy of Sports Interactive)

Football Manager is a game where you take on the role of the Head Manager of a football team, rather than playing on the field. The game contains many features (some of which will be understandable to only football fans), but most importantly, the game enjoys a very good reputation as a football management simulator. Mainly, this is because there are an enormous amount of features that managers must manage, making the game complex and very dynamic.

Here's a video of the Football Manager 2011 announcement:

Secondly, and perhaps one of its most amazing and jaw-dropping feature, is the wonderful database. To illustrate, Everton FC, a Premier League (the highest football league in England, and one of the best in the world) club, and one with an extremely long and prestigious history, signed a deal with the developers of Football Manager, Sports Interactive, to use the Football Manager 2009 database to scout potential players for the club.

David Moyes, the Head Coach for Everton

(Image courtesy of SkySports)

Now, consider the enormous amount of information in the game, covering staff, scouts and players from 117 different leagues around the world. This information was gathered through voluntary researchers and Sports Interactive's own research network. All around the world, these scouts have provided data regarding the abilities of countless players. Without knowing it, Football Manager have achieved an amazing phenomenon where users are not only willing to participate, but eagerly provide personal knowledge (or observations).

To illustrate even further, Football Manager 2011 now comes with a new feature - uploading of match highlights to Youtube or Twitter. The game will be automatically tweet updates regarding the progress of your team as they advance in leagues, competitions or win important matches etc.

For Youtube, match highlights can be uploaded straight from the game itself, streamlining a previously tedious and fairly annoying process and allowing others to share in the joy (or tears) of winning/losing a match. This is an excellent display of the trend towards media convergence, and one in which many video games overlook easily.

Here's an example of Newcastle United (my favorite team) thrashing Sunderland (haha, losers):

The Football Manager 2011 demo is out, and it is free to download, of course. I encourage you to try this game out if you are a football fan!