Sports Interactive has ruled the football management simulation market for many years with its Football Manager series, but others are still adding further features to their games in order to try and compete.

With FIFA Manager 10, EA will introduce a new online mode where players will be able to test their football management skills against others on the internet. Sports Interactive brought out its Football Manager Live game in November 2008, a pay monthly title allowing users to compete against other real life users online. Sports Interactive’s game has proved to be incredibly popular, and it seems that EA now wants in on the action.

FIFA Manager 10 will feature improved aesthetics, and include more than 3600 clubs and 31000 players from over 40 different countries.

Click on the thumbnails below in order to see these FIFA Manager 10 Screenshots in their full glory:

Command & Conquer 4 has now been officially confirmed by Electronic Arts. The game is scheduled for release in 2010, and will be available for the PC-only.

Command & Conquer 4 is to be set in 2062, with humanity at the brink of extinction. Taking place after the events of Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, the game will provide the conclusion to the Tiberium series, and Command & Conquer 4 lead producer Mike Glosecki has said that “This game is designed to give fans all the answers they’ve been looking for”.

Mike Glosecki has also said of Command & Conquer 4 that “With its objective-based multiplayer mode, persistent player progression and all-in-one mobile base, players will experience Command & Conquer like never before.”

The game will include two campaigns, which players will be able to enjoy in either single-player or cooperative mode, and will also feature a new 5v5 objective-based multiplayer mode.

24 tracks have now been confirmed for Guitar Hero 5, and the game is definitely looking very exciting right now. Featuring artists such as Beastie Boys, Thrice, Darkest Hour, and Vampire Weekend; Guitar Hero 5 is a game that is sure to impress many, and its September UK release date just can’t come quick enough.

There’s a list of all the bands and artists that will feature on the game available at the Guitar Hero 5 website, and whilst you’re there you can even get your hands on an exclusive free Wolfmother MP3 by registering at the website. The track is titled ‘Back Round’, and is taken from the band’s upcoming ‘Cosmic Egg’ album.

Here are the 24 tracks that have now been confirmed for Guitar Hero 5:

• Band Of Horses – “Cigarettes, Wedding Bands”
• Beastie Boys – “Gratitude”
• Beck – “Gamma Ray”
• Billy Squier – “Lonely Is The Night”
• Blur – “Song 2”
• Bob Dylan – “All Along The Watchtower”
• Children Of Bodom – “Done With Everything, Die For Nothing”
• Coldplay – “In My Place”
• Darkest Hour – “Demon(s)”
• David Bowie – “Fame”
• Deep Purple – “Woman From Tokyo (‘99 Remix)”
• Elliott Smith – “L.A.”
• Iggy Pop – “Lust For Life (Live)”
• Jeff Beck – “Scatterbrain (Live)”
• John Mellencamp – “Hurts So Good”
• Kings Of Leon – “Sex On Fire”
• Queens Of The Stone Age – “Make It Wit Chu”
• Rose Hill Drive – “Sneak Out”
• Santana – “No One To Depend On (Live)”
• The Bronx – “Six Days A Week”
• Thrice – “Deadbolt”
• Tom Petty – “Runnin’ Down A Dream”
• Vampire Weekend – “A-Punk”
• Wolfmother – “Back Round”

The official RRP for DJ Hero has now been announced, and the game is to retail at a price of £107.99. Quite a steep price tag for the game really, HMV has already announced that it will be selling the game for £99.99 however, and I’m sure that a lot of other stores will follow in issuing a cheaper price for the game.

DJ Hero has already been causing quite a stir, and enjoyed a very successful launch party at the beginning of June at which Eminem and Jay-Z performed, along with a number of very high profile DJs.

DJ Hero is all set to hit the shelves later on this year, and I can definitely see this game being on the Christmas list of many.

Guitar Hero III for the mobile phone is a good fun game to play when you’re travelling on long distance journeys. It’s obviously not the same as playing it on your console, and there are only three buttons to hit making the game quite easy to master, as far as mobile games go though it’s still a pretty cool game, and if you’ve got 20 minutes or so to kill on the train then this game is absolutely perfect.

I used my N95 for playing Guitar Hero III, and found the controls to be an absolute dream. There are three difficulty settings, and whilst none of them are too tricky to handle once you’ve been playing the game for a while, there are a couple of tracks that can cause a few problems.

There are two game play modes; career mode and quickplay mode, and just like the console version of the game there are Achievements to aim for in career mode.

The MIDI sound is pretty poor, and if you were hoping for MP3 quality tracks from the game then you’re in for a disappointment; despite the poor quality of sound though, the game is still fun to play, and although it may be slightly lacking in some areas, Guitar Hero III is still surprisingly enjoyable.

There are only 15 tracks in total, there’s a decent range of rock music here however, and the game provides you with the opportunity to button bash along to tracks from the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 2000s. Artists include Kiss, Motley Crue, Alice Cooper, and Black Sabbath, and whilst they may not sound a whole lot like the originals; the game will still make you smile, and provide for a pretty entertaining gaming experience.

The game is far from perfect, I did find it quite fun to play however, and was quite disappointed when my battery packed in whilst in the middle of a game, as Guitar Hero III will now no longer load up on my phone.

Guitar Hero III Mobile has not been made over complicated, it’s simple to pick it up and play, and I definitely feel that the simplistic nature of the gameplay is key to the success of the game.

If you’ve got a few pounds to spare and Guitar Hero III is compatible with your phone then you should definitely give this one a go.

7/10

With the arrival of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince on the PSP, a new PSP bundle has now been released to impress Harry Potter fans here in the UK.

The PSP comes in a very nice blue colouring, and is presently retailing at a price of £149.99. Not a bad price really considering that the PSP 3000 alone currently costs only a little less, and if you’re not yet a PSP owner but love the Harry Potter franchise then now may well be the time to get your hands on one.

Here’s a picture of the bundle to show you the beautiful nature of the blue:

With Twitter such a popular social networking platform; it was only a matter of time before video games started embracing the technology.

Champions Online is hoping to provide an in-game Twitter system when it’s released, with the service currently being tested in beta.

An in-game Twitter service has recently been launched for World of Warcraft, and it’s surely only a matter of time before you’re able to tweet your mates whilst playing all your favourite MMORPG games. TweetCraft is the name of the in-game Twitter client for WoW, and it seems as though services of this sort are going to become increasingly more popular in the gaming world.

Ashes Cricket 2009 is to be released for the Nintendo Wii this August, and gamers will be able to use the Wii Remote to bat and bowl within the game.

The game will feature fully licensed players, kits, and venues from the upcoming Ashes Series, and will enable you to get involved in the action with a number of different gaming modes. You’ll be able to perfect your shot with the Wii Remote, bowl out your opponents with your supreme bowling skill, and lead your chosen country to success/failure in the Series.

Not only will the game feature England and Australia, but six other Test playing nations also.

Ashes Cricket 2009 is bound to be a lot of fun with the Wii Remote, if you’re not a Wii owner however then fear not as the game will also be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360.