CM 2009

We now know that there will be no Championship Manager 2009, instead we will have a fully up to date version of the 2009/10 football season, entitled Championship Manager 2010. The game will be released in September of this year. However, with no definitive release date for the game or demo we are just going to have to make do with the few features and screenshots that have been made available by the guys at BGS and watch this space for further news and developments over the coming weeks and months.

So far, the confirmed features are: -

• 3D Match Engine - with 500 fully motion captured images and 7 different camera angles - this is the first 3D match engine that has been created specifically for a management game

• Pre Game Editor - will give the fans the chance to create their own patches and updates - with the ability to edit clubs, player attributes, staff, stadiums and even aspects of the club itself.



• New Leagues - 5 new countries added with 12 new leagues - including the Romanian Liga I, Croatian Prva HNL and Druga HNL, Northern Irish Premiership and Championship, Republic of Ireland FAI  Premier Division and First Division and the Welsh Premier Division.



• Restructured and Improved Existing Leagues - extra tier added to English divisions - taking them down to the 7th tier, with the Northern Premier Division, Southern League and Isthmian League. As well as adding the fourth tier to the German divisions, with the North, South and West sub-divisions.



• Training Improved - watch your team train via the new 3D match engine - set up games between first team and reserves.
  
  
• Media Suite - vastly improved news and media interaction - with the new media suite there are articles and headlines from real world broadcasting sources, written by real journalists.
  
  
• Dynamic Display Window - sleek new interface - making it easier to navigate and find the sections you are looking for.
  
  
• Weather Effects - you will be able to see how the changeable weather conditions affect the players and the pitch during the match - eg. if it's raining, the pitch will cut up.
  
  
• Set Piece Editor - allowing you to plan each phase of your corner or free kick.
  
  
• Scouting Networks - build up networks of scouts around the world and unearth the hottest young talents.
  
  
• CM Season Live - An innovative new feature for CM 2010, CM Season Live will be a monthly data update that reflects the real life changes in 49 competitions over 10 countries. This will give you the chance to correct the mistakes that your teams manager has made, allowing you to take over the managerial reigns at various points in the season and see if you can do better than your real life counter part.
  

Despite pushing the game back a few months, there are a few previews and screenshots doing the rounds on the web, a selection of them can be found at the following links.

VideoGamer.com
telegraph.co.uk
ComputerAndVideoGames.com
TotalVideoGames.com

You would have to say that it all sounds very promising and CM 2010 is shaping up to be a great game. With a few features still to be announced and the guys at BGS affording themselves a little more time to hone the game so that it meets the high standards that the fans expect, it looks like being the best Championship Manager yet. Roll on September.