Football crazy

Football Manager 2006 is out on Friday and it would be a shock if it didn't go straight to number 1 in the PC charts. The game, formerly known as Championship Manager of course, is the most in-depth and enjoyable of its kind. Having said that, I played the demo and have to wonder whether they've taken it almost too far now. Winning games isn't easy – I was at Leeds last night to see the Saints dominate but still lose, so sadly I know – but FM2006 makes success a real challenge. The real story with Football Manager, and Champ Man before it, though, is the demographic. A lot of the people, most likely men, who buy the game, are older than the average PC gamer. I've been told that a high proportion of FM players are over 35 and rarely buy any other games. Is this because Football Manager is just so intense that they don't have time to play anything else? Or are they just not tempted by the diet of first-person shooters and strategy titles that make up the majority of mainstream PC gaming? If so, shouldn't publishers be making more games that appeal to this older demographic?