Championship Manager 5, Xbox 3+

Herald rating: * * *

Championship Manager is the sort of game that should never have made it from the geeky confines of the PC to a video game console like the Xbox. The game, which explores the complicated world of football management, is made up of a vast series of text screens.

There are no FIFA-style animations. You can watch 2D games play out but only to analyse the tactics of your players. From the start you are faced with rows of teams, the names and footballers.

If you don't know where these teams and players sit in the world of football, you'll be lost in Championship Manager, as I was.

I managed to run Aston Villa into the ground, blowing millions of dollars and losing a succession of games and players.

CM5 is all about tactics and you can tweak the on-field strategies of your team to the barest degree. The game plays out over the football season according to a calendar and events will come up every day that you may have to respond to.

A talent scout will come looking for your players offering cash and you in return may wish to seek out other players for your team.

It can become quite compelling in that Sim City kind of way, but CM5 is strictly for soccer fans, there is no dipping into this game for 15 minutes of gaming oblivion. Sir Alex Ferguson wannabes only should apply.

*  $100