The Championship Manager website announces the 2007 edition of the soccer management sim developed by Beautiful Game Studios and published by Eidos.


New additions include a Match Analysis Tool that tracks all manner of match stats, and a "team talks" feature that allows managers to communicate with their team and receive feedback. CM2007 is due in the northern hemisphere's autumn, so spring for us.

netKar PRO is renowned as a highly realistic racing simulation, and now it's about to offer its services to the world of real motorsports. BallRacing Developments and netKar PRO have announced a joint project to create a realistic simulation aimed at the professional motorsports industry, including F1 teams.

BallRacing will handle the hardware development while netKar PRO will provide the software in order to develop a unified product suitable for real driver training.


This does not spell the end of netKar PRO for sim racing fans, however. According to this post (in Italian) by production director Marco Massarutto, a consumer version of netKar PRO will remain in development in addition to BallRacing's project.

Codemasters and Atari have announced Ricky Ponting International Cricket 2007, or as it's known to the rest of the world, Brian Lara International Cricket. The follow-up to 2005's successful cricket game will be released on PC, Xbox360 and PlayStation 2 in time for the ICC Cricket World Cup next year. The game is under internal development at Codemasters, following the acquisition of original developer Swordfish Studios by Vivendi Univeral Games last year.

The 2007 edition boasts the licenses for the sport's biggest one-day tournaments, namely the Champions' Trophy and the big 'un, the 2007 Cricket World Cup, which begins in the West Indies next March. Also on the list of licenses are players like Ponting, Lara and Muttiah Muralitharan, as well as the official World Cup stadia.

Some weaknesses of the original game will be addressed in the new version: multiplayer options are planned, and changes to the fielding system mean batsmen can now be run out at either end of the pitch and stumped by wicketkeepers. Codemasters' press release promises photo-realistic visuals based on real player likenesses, which might be exaggerated, but the screenshots are nevertheless impressive.

Codemasters certainly knows how to time its releases. The original game was hugely popular on the back of Ashes hype in 2005, especially in England where it hit number 1 in the charts. With the next version due in time for the World Cup, and following the payback Ashes series this Aussie summer, Ricky Ponting/Brian Lara 2007 is well placed for more success when it's released next March.

Codemasters has announced the existence of the next instalment of the Colin McRae series, dubbed Colin McRae: DIRT in PAL territories, which includes Australia. Its American moniker is DIRT: Colin McRae Off-Road. PC, Xbox360 and PS3 versions will launch simultaneously, and a mobile version is also in the works.

There are few details so far, but DIRT will feature on- and off-road racing in a variety of vehicles, like Dakar-style trucks, 4x4s and plenty of rally cars. As well as point-to-point and Hill Climb challenges, the Pikes Peak International track through the Rockies will be included in all its 12.4 mile glory. There's also a new damage system, which Codemasters describes as "devastating". Devastatingly good, presumably. Multiplayer goes without saying.

There are some images posted at the official website, but according to IGN they're only concept shots using 3D models. So that's why they look so good. All three types of DIRT are due sometime in 2007.

Cyanide Studios has released the first official patch for Pro Cycling Manager 2006, taking it to version 1.0.0.3. (Do you get the feeling they're planning a lot of patches?) It contains assorted changes and bug fixes for the database, race and career mode, and multiplayer.

A download link is posted on the game's forum, with mirrors available at 3D Gamers and Gamers Hell.

If you haven't heard of Pro Cycling Manager 2006, and chances are you haven't, it's made by Chaos League developer Cyanide, and allows you to direct a professional cycling team as it competes in all the major international races. It joins the legion of popular sports management games that put players in control behind the scenes rather than on the field. Or track, in this case.

A demo is available on the game's website, with mirrors at 3D Gamers and Gamers Hell.