Premier Manager 09

The majority of us accept that the skills displayed by the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney and (obviously) people’s champion Peter Crouch are beyond us mere mortals. But football management? Easy as. The likelihood is that in excess of 50 per cent of our readership could have done a better job with England than that pillock McClaren. Bearing this truth in mind, the appeal of football management titles is clearly understandable.

Let’s not forget, however, that there are more than two horses in the race for football management supremacy. Whilst Sega’s Football Manager and Eidos’ Championship Manager are busy battling it out at the hardcore end of the charts, Zoo is quietly enjoying success in the supposedly ‘lower’ end of the market with the ever-popular Premier Manager series – which, incidentally, is the only football management title coming out on PlayStation 2 this year.

“Premier Manager is a very different proposition to the other management sims on the market,” Zoo’s PR manager Andy Gray explains to MCV.

“Firstly it is the only football management game out on the PS2 for the 2008/2009 season and secondly we purposely target the younger and more casual gamers. Premier Manager ‘09 has a ‘pick up and play’ philosophy that suits that kind of audience.

"The fact that the game is skewed to the younger and more casual audience means that the average Premier Manager player is yet to invest in a next-gen machine, so the PS2 still made sense for this coming season.

“We endeavour to make it as accessible as possible by simplifying navigation through the menus and making everything as intuitive as we can. This means that any player can zip through a whole season in little under an hour and get the kind of instant gratification that this audience requires.”

Zoo’s title also has a far friendlier price point than its opponents. It’s true, however, that £19.99 doesn’t buy gamers access to any licensed rosters or teams – but the same can be said of Pro Evolution Soccer (to a certain extent) and Konami’s title doesn’t seem to have suffered for it.

“Premier Manager is not a licensed product but every team and player is instantly recognisable,” Gray continues. “This year we have been fortunate enough to work with Mitre to get some of its products featured in the game, such as the Revo ball which is the ball used in the Football League and Scottish League.

"This helps add to the feel of authenticity and has also presented us with some interesting avenues for giveaways and promotions.”

But what of the game itself? Well, for those unfamiliar with the genre it can be a daunting prospect tackling the endless menus and complex navigation typical of football management games – if this experience sounds familiar to you, then Premier Manager might just be the answer.

“Simple navigation is one of the core principles of Premier Manager and, with this in mind, we have introduced a favourites system that allows the player to flag their favourite pages in the game,” Gray adds.

“This might be a league table, a specific player fact file or perhaps the finance screen. One button press makes your current screen a favourite and therefore instantly accessible from the hub menu.

“We’ve integrated a new stadium builder that allows the player more flexibility in creating a new ground to accommodate their (hopefully) growing legions of fans. We try to make the game as graphics-led as possible so that we don’t have to rely on text and the stadium section is a prime example of this.”

And whilst the game lacks the licences of its rivals, its player roster still promises to be fully up-to-date.

“In addition there are the usual things you would expect from a season update such as a new database – for example Luka Modric plays for the mighty Spurs,” Tottenham fan Gray excitedly adds. “The player fact files and profiles also have more detail. Finally, players now have the ability to run more leagues simultaneously, giving them as much information at their fingertips as they require.”

 The new football season is just around the corner (that came along quick, didn’t it?) so it won’t be long until Olympic fever gives way to football madness – and Zoo is set to be the first on pitch to take advantage.