Why is the Championship Manager series so succesful, what elements are most important in making it a success? Does it concentrate on different aspects of management to similar games (ie. not about running the hotdog store?) Is it the ease of use? An official license??

It focuses mainly on the ''on the pitch'' aspects where other football (ie. soccer) management games got too bogged down in sponsorship deals and the financial side.

It has always had incredibly accurate statistics on the players. More than once, you''d find a relative unknown on Championship Manager (all versions) who turned out to be an amazing player, and then a couple of years later, he''d be playing for the national team in real life. With real players and real teams, you not only get a higher degree of interest (eg. in managing your favourite team) but there is also a lot of replayability. One time you might pick Manchester United and hope to win the European Champions League, and another time you might pick some lowly Scottish 3rd Division club and attempt to build them up from the ground for a good challenge. Or you might pick your local team and see just how far you can take them.

It is packed with stats. There are so many things to focus on that you can go about assembling a winning team in several ways - so in essence, it''s a non-linear game. eg. You might want strong strikers who are good at heading and hope they can win ''in the air'', or you might pick faster strikers with good shooting skills and always play it to their feet. The in-game feedback is just about adequate to see your tactics either succeeding or failing. Other games failed to provide this feedback in as much detail so you couldn''t micromanage your tactics.

I wouldn''t say ease of use was a factor. ''Champ Man'' has always been pretty clunky to look at and use, but there''s so much depth that you get used to it. At least the interface is consistent, quirks and all.

And I dunno if they ever had an official license. They probably didn''t really need one, as the soccer industry isn''t as highly protected and trademarked as some American sports are.

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It works cause it is the most acurate representation of the football(or Soccer to the US) that any game has managed!

And every footy support thinks they could do a better job that managers in Real life... all young boys want to be football players (or game develophers).

QED