This product is like new. At NexWave Games, like new means:
Additionally, all discs at NexWave Games are carefully inspected and assessed for quality. When discs arrive, we do not accept any that are so badly damaged that they are unlikely to work. We only accept discs with light scratches at most. Discs with scratches are then treated in our professional disc repair machine. By warming the disc and polishing it with soft brushes, these machines can remove a very thin layer from the disc. This removes the layer containing surface scratches and improves the disc’s readability. This ensures the disc works properly, even on consoles with ageing lasers that have difficulty reading games! Great news for the player.
Pro Evolution Soccer Management for PlayStation 2
Pro Evolution Soccer Management for PlayStation 2 puts you beside the pitch as coach and manager. You choose a club from six European leagues and decide which players will form a team together. Training, the line-up and transfers become regular parts of your working week. You do not just look for a good striker, but also consider whether his abilities fit the rest of the squad. The computer plays the matches according to your decisions; you do not control the footballers yourself when passing or shooting.
Through the menus, you assign duties to the coaching staff and adjust your team's playing style. You can train players in particular skills or for a different position. Signing someone involves negotiations, while performances on the pitch show whether your plan works. During a match, you can intervene with substitutions and tactical adjustments. This calls for a different way of looking at a conceded goal: you look for the cause in your organisation and try to deal with the next attack more effectively.
You play the career alone. The separate Match section lets two managers each guide a team using two controllers in total. This is a standalone management game; importing team and editing data from Pro Evolution Soccer 4 or 5 is an additional option. This allows you to use your own squad without direct control of the footballers replacing the management approach.
Region and language
Our PlayStation 2 games are PAL editions and come with a Dutch or English box, unless stated otherwise. By default, you receive the version for the European market. We note it in the product details if the region is different or the box is in another language. In almost all cases, the game is playable at least in English, and often in the other five common European languages too.
Manual
Pro Evolution Soccer Management for PlayStation 2 includes the manual unless the product title states otherwise. If the booklet is missing, the title says “No Manual”. This lets you see before ordering whether the game comes with a manual.
The manuals included with our games usually contain at least English and often around six European languages. The exact languages vary by edition, so Dutch is not always included. The booklet explains the controls and the main rules. You can use it to check how to control the game, which actions are available and how its different features work.
The history of Pro Evolution Soccer Management
Konami released Pro Evolution Soccer Management in Europe for PlayStation 2 in 2006. Producer Akiyoshi Chosokabe came from the development team around Shingo Takatsuka, the creator associated with the Pro Evolution Soccer series. Konami announced the spin-off in October 2005 as a new way to play within the same football world. The familiar combination of matches and club building shifted towards a game in which you take charge without running across the pitch yourself.
That decision built on the attention paid to formations and player abilities in the regular PES games. Management made squad selection, training and negotiations its main subject. The original packaging also highlighted coaching advice, player customisation and developing players for new positions. The match presentation used technology from the PES series. You could therefore see the consequences of your decisions as a football match, rather than simply reading a result on a statistics screen.
The link with existing PES data gave this release its own place among the football games of the time. Teams and edited data from Pro Evolution Soccer 4 and 5 could be imported, while the management career was on the game's own disc. Not all club names were officially licensed, even though there were recognisable players and leagues. The challenge remained building and guiding a team capable of meeting the board's expectations, with dismissal a possible consequence of poor results.
Similar games for PlayStation 2
Pro Evolution Soccer 5 on PlayStation 2 also uses formations, player abilities and transfers within the Master League. However, you play the matches yourself, with your timing deciding whether a pass or shot succeeds. Management leaves the work on the pitch to the computer and makes preparation and guidance your main task. The option to import edited team data from PES 5 connects the games, but does not change that difference in control.
Pro Evolution Soccer 6 on the same console combines building a squad with matches in which you dribble, defend and shoot yourself. A good squad still depends on how you perform with the controller. Management instead asks you to assess what the computer-controlled footballers do with your plan. Both make you think about a team's composition, but in PES 6 the decisive moment is more often on the pitch than in the manager's decisions.
This Is Football 2003 on PlayStation 2 offers a career that lets a school team grow into higher competitions. Transfers and improved results therefore also have a place beyond a single match. You still control the footballers yourself, though. Pro Evolution Soccer Management starts directly with guiding an existing club and lets matches unfold automatically. The similarity lies in improving a team over time; the way you try to turn around a poor match differs.
LMA Manager 2006 on the same console shares the managerial role, with transfers, training and a three-dimensional match presentation. Codemasters puts considerable emphasis on negotiations, contract terms and following player behaviour during matches. Pro Evolution Soccer Management takes the PES player world and data exchange as its starting point. Both ask you to make decisions from the touchline, but organise club business and the information used to make those decisions differently.
RedCard on PlayStation 2 also centres on a full football team, but puts direct contact, heavy tackles and special shots first. You control the actions yourself and can adjust how strict the referee is. Management instead looks at the effects of selection, training and tactics over a longer period. The same sport consequently calls for a different kind of attention: reacting quickly to an opponent with the ball versus working out why your team keeps leaving space.
