The demo released by EA did even more to fuel the rumors, because EA chose not to include the match view in it. None of these rumors were backed up by EA themselves, but like rumors do, it grew its own wings and was repeated over and over, in newsgroups, in mailing lists, and in private discussions.

So it was greeted with much enthusiasm when rumors began to appear of an EA sim that included virtual stadium. Their virtual stadium technology, to have appeared first in Fifa Soccer 96, somehow always found its way into discussions, in the form of 'hey, if only EA took their technology and put in on a management sim'. Still, none managed to touch the hearts of hundreds of thousands of soccer fans like CM2 did, and still does today.Īnd it always seemed weird that Electronic Arts, the established ruler of PC sports games companies, certainly in the number produced, never approached the soccer management genre.

Another notable contribution was PM97, the successor to the very successful Player Manager series. Sierra were the first of the big companies to try their luck, with USM2, which was quite good indeed. It is the Doom and Myst of soccer management sims. It has been so successful, that it inspired a host of similar games, and made many game companies aware of that sadly forgotten genre. I am referring, of course, to Championship Manager 2, that, although having quite a number of substantial failings, had managed to strike the exact spot where difficulty and frustration on one hand, and playability on the other, balance out, making it one of the true legends of PC gaming. For two whole years, in an industry where a new generation of hardware appears every 8-12 months, one game is still the established king. The soccer management games genre of PC games has a very interesting phenomenon- one game has been ruling it for over two years now.

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