Cracker game
Codemasters hopes to beat the software pirates who duplicate Sony PlayStation games by trying something new. LMA Manager 2001, the football management game now due on March 16, will include self-modifying code to detect pirate CDs and "automatically instigate a number of subtle changes that adversely affect gameplay," the company says. For example, over time, the performance of the player's chosen football team may become worse and worse. Simon Prytherch, the game's producer, says: "Even if a pirate cracks this system and makes illegal copies, the people who may use pirate CDs won't trust it to run properly and hopefully [will] buy the full copy of the game at retail."
One potential problem is that lots of geeky people may want a pirate version of LMA just to find out if the self-modifying code really works.
Online duel
Rage has just launched its online football management game, Internet Football Club, at www.internetfootballclub.com, and registrations are being taken now. The season starts on March 19. It is fun to play against other people, except the ones who won their leagues in the test version.
The new game provides competition for Anco, the company that kick-started the business in the early 80s with Football Manager II on the Sinclair Spectrum home computer.
But Anco is already retaliating at www.PlayAsManager.com with the net's first football management game in 3-D. The fee for playing a season in the Premiership is £11.75. Teams in lower divisions are cheaper.
Rage's IFC will be free for the first season. After that, "amateurs" can play a limited version of the game free, while "professionals" will pay £9.99.
Wap play
Nokia, the mobile phone company, has signed deals with two British software houses to develop games for Wap (Wireless application protocol) phones. Eidos Interactive will produce five, starting with Gangsters, which should be available in the first half of this year. Rage Software will produce games for the Nokia Mobile Entertainment Service. Nokia runs a Forum to help Wap developers at www.forum.nokia.com. Separately, nGame is launching a string of games for Wap phones and interactive TV sites via its website at www.ngame.com.
