LMA Manager 2003 (XBOX)

LMA Manager, the number one best-selling football management series for video game consoles is coming to Xbox Codemasters confirmed today.

LMA Manager 2003 will launch this autumn and gives Xbox owners the only football management game created specifically for console players. LMA Manager 2003 dispenses with the standard PC-style management game furniture such as dull columns of text and figures, and introduces a fresh design, intuitive control and dynamic presentation of information and statistics.

The game will feature 722 European football clubs, complete with authentic strips, player details and stadia for the 2002/2003 football season. In the UK it continues the long-running endorsement from the League Managers Association. Codemasters also promises dedicated editions for each of the major European territories, supported with specific packaging, territory-specific headline licenses and marketing materials.

LMA Manager 2003 makes 4-4-2 as easy as 1-2-3, but with numerous managerial responsibilities it also offers unrivalled depth of gameplay. This is the game for every football fan who thinks they can run their favourite team better than the real manager.

LMA Manager 2003 on Xbox will feature English, Scottish, French, German, Italian and Spanish divisions all running matches simultaneously. This enables you to monitor every team’s performance in every league, with detailed results available throughout the season. And if you fancy swapping clubs, simply move to another job on offer from any of the European clubs.

LMA Manager 2003 also boasts the most realistic and atmospheric 3D match action seen in any management game with incredible player intelligence, dazzling graphics, surround sound and action replays. A detailed TV-style highlights section allows players to review the important match action with in-depth analysis and comments from the classic team of Gary Lineker and Alan Hansen.

LMA Manager 2003 will be the only Xbox football management game that enables players to analyse on-pitch action and make tactical changes and substitutions at any time. Xbox owners can shout instructions from the dug out via a quick button press and can make decisions on their team and players based on exactly what they see. Real football managers don’t sit in the dugout looking at a spreadsheet to assess how their players are performing – neither do LMA managers!

LMA Manager is a seasoned professional on PlayStation and a recent number one smash hit on PlayStation 2. Codemasters is confident of continuing the series’ incredible success by making LMA Manager 2003 the number one football management game on Xbox when it launches this autumn.

World War II: Frontline Command (PC)

World War II: Frontline Command, Codemasters’ forthcoming real-time strategy epic for PC, will be the first action-RTS to deliver a true recreation of the battlefield experience and effectively portray the psychology of warfare, rather than the sterile theory of wargaming.

Designed and developed by The Bitmap Brothers, World War II: Frontline Command is a squad-based action RTS game that captures the heroism of some of World War II’s most significant battles.

As a commander of Allied forces in Europe in the last year of World War II, players enter into combat with the Axis forces to drive the enemy back deep inside its own territory.

While RTS games traditionally involve the player spending time concentrating on building, resourcing and preparation, World War II: Frontline Command’s authentic troops are fully resourced with equipment from the start, enabling the player to concentrate on the battlefield.

Its single-player campaign game features 25 missions, starting with the initial Allied assault on June 6th 1944 and ending at Hitler's lair in mountainous southern Germany. The close of the campaign will see the player pitted against crack German Army units with experimental hardware.

The game’s simple, click and drag controls and user-friendly interface ensures easy access to the engaging gameplay. Intuitive from the start, WWII: Frontline Command is perfect for the RTS first-timer yet offers advanced controls and techniques for the experienced player.

Uniquely, the game incorporates the Frontline system, which creates a graphical on-screen representation of the player’s units’ morale, health and vision within the game. The unit morale system responds to the horrors and triumphs of war, providing for realistic and dramatic gameplay.

The Frontline system shows the real-time changes in a unit’s morale. If morale is exceptionally high, the combat effectiveness will be raised substantially and make it easier to achieve current objectives.

If an individual’s morale peaks, they may perform a heroic act, such as putting a grenade through an enemy bunker or pillbox. If morale is particularly low, the unit’s combat effectiveness when fighting will drop accordingly. In the worst case scenario units will freeze in combat. However, a player can bolster morale by bringing battle-weary units back from the front lines or sending in reinforcements to help out.

World War II: Frontline Command’s action is visualised in detailed 3D environments featuring collapsible buildings, deforming landscapes, fire and smoke effects, and excellent water effects.

Currently in development at The Bitmap Brothers’ studio in East London, World War II: Frontline Command is due to be published this autumn for PC.