[Hitman]

EUROPE'S BEST-SELLING SOCCER MANAGEMENT GAME COMES TO THE UNITED STATES

SEGA's Worldwide Soccer Manager, which Hits U.S. Stores on Dec. 8, Is
Officially Licensed by Major League Soccer



NEW YORK (Wednesday, December 8, 2004) - SEGA® of America and Major League
Soccer (MLS) today announced the North American release of Worldwide Soccer
Manager, a sports management simulation game that is officially licensed by
MLS. Developed for the PC and Mac by UK developer Sports Interactive,
creators of the highly popular Championship Manager(tm) series, Worldwide
Soccer Manager represents the next evolution in fantasy sports by enabling
gamers to control all team-related activities for their favorite
professional soccer teams in the U.S. as well as 50 other countries across
the world.



Worldwide Soccer Manager features an award-winning game engine that offers
highly realistic simulations where gamers are responsible for overall team
performance through the management of important franchise elements
including, but not limited to: coaching, scouting, trading, human resources
and finance. Soccer enthusiasts, fantasy sports and tycoon fans, and other
sports fans who are seeking a fresh, challenging experience can put their
knowledge to the test by managing every facet of a soccer club.



"We have brought a title that is wildly popular abroad to the U.S., where
soccer continues to grow in popularity with the success of our national team
and Major League Soccer," said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president of
entertainment marketing, SEGA of America, Inc.



"By including players from all MLS clubs, as well as real players from
Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Spain, Italy and England to name just a few, we
hope Worldwide Soccer Manager will ride the current wave of fascination in
fantasy sports that is pervasive in the U.S., and take this genre to the
next level," said Miles Jacobson, CEO of Sports Interactive.



In addition to MLS, Worldwide Soccer Manager features leagues from more than
50 different countries, so players can manage clubs from countries such as
Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, England, Italy and Spain. The game includes a
player database of more than 240,000 players and staff from 3,000 clubs
worldwide in more than 170 divisions.



"Major League Soccer is pleased to partner with video game leaders such as
SEGA and Sports Interactive to include MLS teams and players in the world's
most popular management-style soccer game," said Stu Crystal, Vice President
of Marketing and Consumer Products for MLS. "Worldwide Soccer Manager's
entry into the U.S. market will allow core soccer fans who understand the
nuances of the game of soccer to truly experience the evaluation and
management process that Major League Soccer's coaches and General Managers
execute on a daily basis."



Worldwide Soccer Manager is currently available in all major retail outlets
in the United States with an MSRP of $39.99.



About SEGA

SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA
Corporation, a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and
outside the home. The company develops, publishes and distributes
interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware
platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by
Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. SEGA of America's
Web site is located at www.SEGA.com.



About Sports Interactive

Sports Interactive (SI), the creator of the Championship Manager® series, is
the world's leading developer of sports management simulations. Founded in
1994 and based in Islington, North London, SI has a full-time staff of 34
and employs the services of more than 2,500 part-time researchers across the
globe. Five of SI's creations are among the UK's Top 20 best-selling PC
games of all time. The company's future games will be published by the
global computer and video games giant, SEGA. Further information on the
company is available from its website, www.sigames.com.



About Major League Soccer

Headquartered in New York City, Major League Soccer is the top flight
professional soccer league in the United States and features many stars from
the U.S. and around the world. The 12 teams in MLS are: the Chicago Fire,
Colorado Rapids, Columbus Crew, FC Dallas, Kansas City Wizards, Los Angeles
Galaxy, MetroStars, New England Revolution, San Jose Earthquakes, 2004 MLS
Cup Champion D.C. United and the two newest expansion teams, Real Salt Lake
and Club Deportivo Chivas USA, which begin play in 2005. Major League
Soccer's tenth season kicks off on April 2, 2005. For more information about
MLS, log on to the League's official Web site at www.MLSnet.com.

[JayJay4Pres]

NOw can someone name a store where the game can be purchased before the 13th of December?

[flmls]

sweet.

[TNJOHN]

I too want to know where to purchase this! I have looked all over the major retailers sites (bestbuy, ebgames...etc) and none of them mention it for sale. Anybody seen it in the store yet?

[DutchFootballRulez]

Gamestop will have it Next week Tuesday

[SoftTackle]

Gamestop is carrying it, but you better pre-order it because it is a very limited release.

Or better yet just order it from UK from places like Gameplay or Sendit.com

[Charge!]

Originally Posted by SoftTackle

Gamestop is carrying it, but you better pre-order it because it is a very limited release.

Just as long as you don't preorder it from Gamesplanet. I ordered FM 2005 and PES4, only for them to tell me the order was cancelled, then proceeded to bill me for the order to the tune of $75 US. More than a half-dozen emails to them have gone unanswered, so my cc company is now in possession of the paperwork it needs to remove the charge for them. I purchased WWSM today, and it appears to be a Gamestop exclusive in the US.

The 5.02 FM2005 patch is different from the upcoming WWSM one, as it will change your opening screen to 'Football Manager 2005', with a '-1' replacing the 'Version 5.0' that came with the original game. Weird, because the executible is FM2005.

[Tekneek]

At Gamestop's site you can search for locations with the game in stock. For me, there has not been one within 40 miles of my home that has it.

[Hitman]

Originally Posted by Tekneek

At Gamestop's site you can search for locations with the game in stock. For me, there has not been one within 40 miles of my home that has it.

I just ordered it from their website, paid the lowest mailing rate, and it showed up five days later (monday after Xmas)...

I am very happy because it is both PC & MAC and I am a Mac user. It has worked perfectly and I loaded the new patch before starting the game.

[Clint Eastwood]

I also just got mine in the mail. It's great finally having MLS players on this game. I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with the draft, and obtaining new players is a bit tough.