Just so you lot are aware: (copied from sigames.com) It is with huge sorrow that we must announce that Eidos have decided not to release Championship Manager 4 on the American continent with real player data. We were given the option of releasing with "fictional" data, as we are forced to do in Germany, but this was ultimately unacceptable to us. The decision was made after Eidos US consulted with a number of lawyers who believed that the risks of releasing the game outweighed the potential commercial success of the game. We are very disappointed with this decision, particularly after the amount of work that everyone at SI has put in to try and make it happen, but we have lost the battle. That does not mean that we won't win the battle in the future, but, for the time being, Championship Manager 4 will not be released across the Atlantic.
      It's a shame that CM4 won't be in U.S. stores.       Granted, people here can still order the game online from the UK, but the very presence of the gamebox sitting on the store shelves would definitely have increased the visibility of the game and the sport in general here.       And yes, off-the-shelf sales would have done pretty well here. Perhaps not as quite much as in Europe or in South America, but it still would have done well. -G
This is great news. For me only. Marc, I'm sending you an email, then getting offline to go program some more.
I'll never understand why people will give a game like CM (a game dedicated to football, a game any football fan loves) a hard time over a few bucks. Coz I don't think it's more than a few. Just like the football-cards in Holland are +- out because the players want to be paid idiotic amounts of portrait rights. What exactly is the problem if you can tell me? PS. Started Cm 4 yesterday. Like it, but it's quite different.
Has anyone tried the ebay versions - the non-English versions? I saw several on ebay out of Thialand (hehe) and wondered if anyone has checked them out...
I have and it's great! The box is in Thai, but the game is in English and it is just as good as any other CM4 at any retail store(in Europe, of course). Just find the right seller and believe me it's worth it. By the way, I bought mine for $20.00 . Good Luck!
The game is available from gogamer.com. It's $39.90 from there, for the people who do not like buying stuff off e-bay. It's a legit place, a friend has bought a couple things off there, and it also has good reviews from bizrate.
I bought mine two weeks after the game came out from a British online vendor (can't remember the name off hand.) The price was decent as was the shipping cost. Other Americans who want the game shouldn't have much trouble getting ahold of a copy.
I should get mine in about two weeks from Thailand. I'll be sure to post reviews. I paid $23.99 including shipping from ebay.
As others have mentioned, they found British vendors who wouldn't sell and ship to USA because it would be, in the eyes of the company that makes CM4, illegal. As for the piracy issue, thanks for the input.