🎮 My favorite game series
One of my saves on FM24, using the game mode that allows you to create your own team. I started on the lowest Portuguese division available in the game.
I've been playing Championship Manager and, after that, Football Manager since 1995 or 1996. The name change was due to a fallout between Eidos and Sports Interactive around the mid-2000s, with the latter launching the Football Manager series after the event and the one that became successful. The new Championship Manager and its inferior gameplay disappeared into the annals of history.
My first game of this franchise was Championship Manager 2. A neighbor knew my parents had bought me my first computer, asked me if I had some floppy disks, and then made me a copy of the game.
This was the first game I installed on that computer, I think. It was awesome because I loved football (soccer), especially the tactical and managerial side of the sport. I spent countless hours playing it, particularly during easter and summer vacations. On some days, I would only stop to eat, go to the bathroom, and sleep (late at night, mind you). I was hooked!
From then on, I played every Championship Manager title until the fallout, and every Football Manager game released since then. As I type this, Football Manager 2024 (FM24) is running. The versions released since 2020 also helped me distract from the pain and pass the time on those nights – and there were many of them! – I was kept awake by even more intense pain than usual.
The last one I'll play
Football Manager 2024 will be the last of this generation (FM25 will employ the Unity engine) and probably the last one I'll play. I'm sad about it because I enjoyed this series for over two decades, and it brings me pleasant memories. But its price has increased, and I can't afford it anymore. I'm only playing FM24 because it was my wife's and my sister-in-law's fortieth-birthday present.
It's the end of an era for me. Everything comes to an end eventually. Maybe that will be an opportunity to try the games I bought and got from giveaways over the years.