Foot-to-ball-a-rama: Football Manager 2009 Demo

Sitting in a darkened room in a distant country, in a place which seems to have taken pleasure in ignoring my need for tea, the news that there's a demo out for the latest version of that most British of games, Football Manager, pleases me. Specifically, Football Manager 2009. It allows you to play a half season of the game to get a handle on the new features - including for the first time actual 3D in-game highlights. Which means we have to retire the old PC Gamer "Revolutionary 2D Match Engine" gag. Man! Anyway - the trailer and some gameplay videos are beneath the cut. Hurrahs and similar.

The Trailer:

The Match:

WHich reminds me a bit of Sensible Soccer, and makes me suspect the argument I've been hearing - that the simple 2D non-animated view left more room to players to create closure by imagining what was happening which the 3D view removes - is probably overstating the point. This doesn't appear to be close-up replaytriffic stuff. Anyway, more stuff on their page.

Also, you can tell I'm jet-lagged, due to a distinct lack of foot-to-ball jokes.