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The success of the app store platform on the Apple iPhone and iPod, which is believed could be bigger then some already established handheld consoles, that many have asked the question when will Football Manager be available on the iPhone? But would a pocket version of the game really be a success?
Football Manager is already available on Xbox and Sony PSP and it is so often that these games are referred to as Football Manager Lite and as such has never seemed to have much favour to those in within the Football Manager community. Searching for a review of the game from some of the top gaming and FM sites shows just how little importance that game holds on consoles and to the hardcore fans, but lets not forget that such a game is not for our benefit and instead aimed towards the casual gamer. But with many of the top studios releasing versions of popular titles in at the apps store, would the same work for Football Manager?
Could the iPhone fit into the FM brand?
What the iPhone has given rise to is a type of gaming were the consumer can pick up a game for a few hours and of dispose it quiet easily before moving onto the next game. But this is something that has never been built into the Football Manager culture and ethos, the management simulation has always been about the analysis of the information available and making decision based upon this as many strategy games are. This would be something hard to replicate successfully with the disposable culture of the iPhone gamers. On my own phone I have the likes of Sim City and Worms, both of which I have played a few times and never went back to which is common with many of the games that I have downloaded for the phone and reflected in the amount of time that games actually spend in the top 10.
is it worth it?
But this also leads us to another problem with the app store is the price sensitivity of its customers which who are spoilt with many apps who wish to be a success never breaking the 99p and many of the top games only reaching around £5 making them often hard to make money from and therefore would it make any financial sense for a relatively small team at SI games to be concentrating their time and effort upon an app game for the iPhone? A huge complaint by many of the iPhone developers is that there is little sustainable money in it for anyone that wanted to become a developer on a professional basis especially when you consider the piracy can of worms that this can open, something that SI Games and SEGA are actively trying to combat. Many of the studios using the iPhone are doing so as a supporting media to persuade people to use their full version products and allow engage with the consumer.
How could SI Games exploit the iPhone?
One potential idea could be for the guys at Football Manager Live to some how create a remote device allowing people to perform small tasks while on the go which would affect what happens later on in their Game Worlds when they are back at their PC’s or Laptops allowing manager to perform small tasks like selecting a side, bidding for players or building tactics, then games could be played on the PC later on. This could ultimately allow those managers who complain about not having enough time to commit to the series another way to connect with the game and build their strategy. I think the iPhone can have a massive potential for many MMO’s and connecting to Game Worlds while on the go.
But at the end of the day the iPhone lacks the technical abilities to be able to sustain the battery power to for those of us that can quiet easily get consumed into our Football Manager games as well as the ability to do justice to a game that we have fully enjoyed for years on PC, this has been something said by Miles that the iPhone has been something that has been looked at, but it it is not ready to host a game of FM capabilities. Even the Xbox and PSP games holds a huge amount of the magic that the PC game offers, enough to make it a well made game and earn respect on those console platforms. There is many Football Management simulation games available on the iPhone none of which have found particular favour with the the iPhone user and none of even come close to the quality that we would expect a Football Manager game.
Would you like to see Football Manager Mobile on your device or could you imagine any uses mobile devices could have to interact with Football Manager or Football Manager Live? Please comment below your suggestions and opinions. Or you can join the conversation on Twitter @fmpundit
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{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
What about if you could control your FM game on your PC via your iPhone? Tbh, I’ve got FMH for the PSP and I litteraly may only play it once or twice a year when I’m on the plane going somewhere. I think if they are going to do something for the iPhone then controlling your PC based game whilst on the move would be the way forward
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.-= Joey´s last blog ..Joe_Nicholls: Nice lazy day @ home today
I don’t think an Iphone version of the game could work, at least not for me, it would lack depth, as the psp version did.
Even if I’d like to have some little FM tools on my Iphone, like a version of the tactics creator, to build tactics on the fly, or something like a PKM viewer, to watch my matches on the go.
Yes, a pkm viewer would be great!
A bit addicted?
.-= paine´s last blog ..You cannot be serious! =-.
I think your right that it is the depth of the game that really turns many of the gamers on to Football Manager as opposed to FIFA manager which is more of a fun casual game.
I think though you might be onto something here I thinking more of the PKM view rather then the tactical creator. But for really hardcore gamers this could be a good way to anaylse those games when you aren’t doing so well to see if you can someone spot the problems in your tactics. Or just to show the highlights to your mate about the time you beat United with Kettering Town