Sport Interactive's upcoming football management sim, Football Manager 2007, boasts many new features that revolutionize not only the game, but the entire sports management genre as well. While there are over 100 new features, below are a few highlights that were recently revealed:

It's More User Friendly:

• New skins
• Clearer icons
• Current news and important info
• Over 300 hints and tips for both experienced and new players
• Customized bookmarks
• Multi-core and hyper-threaded optimized sections for more active leagues
• Option to back up saved games
  
• Basic and advanced set up modes for starting a new game
  
• More info are also given, including better feedback from your staff, transfer deals and recommendations from agents.
  
• Scouting improvements, such as a report card that includes future prospects, personality, current club happiness, and a gauge that lets you know how long will the players stay with you.
  

With all these features, it seems that Football Manager 2007 has taken quite a big leap of improvement from the previous ones, and it's sure getting us excited! Football Manager 2007 will be available for the PC, Mac, Xbox 360 and the PSP during the holidays, so we're guessing that for most fans, Christmas will definitely be merry.

In what may well be the best game soundtrack of the year, EA's Need for Speed: Carbon features an international soundtrack comprising of some 30 diverse cuts that reflect the game's three distinct car classes, including Exotics, Muscles and Tuners.

The Exotic class consists of a mix of the new UK Grime scene, Muscles are fueled by riff-heavy power bands, and Tuners deliver a newly revitalized sub-genre of 'Electro' (electronic music).

Artists announced for the car classes are the following:

• Muscle Class : Kyuss (US), Eagles of Death Metal (US), Metro Riots (UK), Wolfmother (Australia)
• Tuner Class : Ladytron (UK), Goldfrapp (UK), The Presets (Australia), Melody (Japan), Tiga (Canada)
• Exotic Class : Lady Sovereign (UK), Roots Manuva (UK), Sway (UK), Pharrell (US), Spank Rock (US)

Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music and Marketing at EA added, "Street racing is an international outlaw sport with a velocity all its own, Need for Speed Carbon takes a cinematically sonic approach to the sport's different personalities and the crews that rule it. We've spent close to a year working with artists and labels from around the world to ensure that not only does the music capture the true hardcore styles of the sport, it also pushes it forward with breakthrough new artists. By combining these genres, we've now taken the premier street racing simulation brand in the industry to an unstoppable new level."

Need for Speed: Carbon will be available on most platforms including PSP, PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation3, Wii, Nintendo DS, PlayStation2, Xbox and Nintendo Gamecube.

Buy: [Need for Speed: Carbon Xbox 360]
Buy: [Need for Speed: Carbon PSP]

Alright, so you have seen the screenshots, but the kind people at Rockstar Games, have now officially released the trailer!

GTA: Vice City Stories takes place in 1984 as opportunity abounds a city emerging from the swamps, with its growth fueled by the violent power struggle in a lucrative drugs trade. You take control as Vic Vance, a soldier who has always been protected by his family and his country. But now, as you are kicked onto the streets, you are faced with a choice - build an empire or be crushed.

GTA: Vice City is being developed by Rockstar Games and will be available for the PSP this coming October. In the meantime, drool over the trailer below!

THQ has finally released some details regarding the superstars that will be available in their upcoming wrestling title - Smackdown vs Raw 07. This new incarnation, will feature an analog control grappling system, new movesets, and an interactive fighting area within the crowd.

The list covers the featured current superstars and also non-playing characters that will interact with the player. The only thing fans are waiting for (and has yet to be released), is a list of the WWE legends that will make an appearance. Keen fans of the series will notice a few superstars that have never appeared in the game before as well as the return of old favorites.

Current Superstars:

Batista	JBL	Randy Orton
The Big Show	Jillian Hall	Rey Mysterio
Bobby Lashley	Joey Mercury	Ric Flair
The Boogeyman	John Cena	Rob Van Dam
Booker T	Johnny Nitro	Shawn Michaels
Candice Michelle	Kane	Shelton Benjamin
Carlito	Ken Kennedy	Snitsky
Chavo Guerrero	Kid Kash	Super Crazy
Chris Benoit	Kurt Angle	Torrie Wilson
Chris Masters	Lance Cade	Trevor Murdoch
Daivari	Lita	Triple H
Edge	Mark Henry	Trish Stratus
Eugene	Matt Hardy	Umaga
Finley	Melina	The Undertaker
The Great Khali	Mickie James	Viscera
Gregory Helms	Paul Burchill	Vito
Hardcore Holly	Psicosis	William Regal

Non-Playable Characters:

Jerry Lawler	Mike Chioda	Theodore Long
Jim Ross	Nick Patrick	Tony Chimmel
Jonathon Coachman	Shane McMahon	Vince McMahon
Lillian Garcia	Stephanie McMahon	Michael Cole
Taz

WWE Smackdown vs Raw 2007 is the first multi-console release in the franchise history and will be available for the PSP and Xbox 360 in the later quarter of 2006.

Hot off the artist room floor are a selection of the box arts for three of the more promising games on the horizon - all due out this month.

Lego Star Wars II - The sequel to the first, promises to be back better than ever - and for the first time on the PSP. Look out for exclusive additions, such as WiFi support, unlockable characters and partial content from the prequel. Expected in-store date is September 12.

NHL 07 - EA once again returns with its ever popular NHL series. This year brings about the new Skill Stick system making the gameplay a little more intuitive, player-specific behaviors and an even deeper and enhanced Dynasty Mode. Expected in-store date is September 14.

The Godfather - Has a lot to live up to. The game lets you carry out orders, earn respect and rise through the ranks to take New York City. Expected in-store date is September 21.

Some details have started to come through regarding the download service in development for the PSP. In an interview with NikkeiBP, Izumi Kawanishi the executive in charge of Japanese software platform development, revealed that the PSP has no problems running PlayStation 1 games in an emulator, even though the control systems has required a bit of a "rethink" as the PSP has (obviously) only one analogue stick.

Also discussed in the Japanese-only interview, was that films (and games) will also be downloadable thanks to the widespread distribution of broadband, and that the service will also operate via WiFi-enabled PCs and the PS3. Furthermore, the PSP could be used as a mobile information system (with the PS3 handling the grunt work).

Sony is hoping to roll out the PSP Download Service when the PS3 launches - hopefully November this year. As always, be sure to stay tuned for further details.

There certainly seems to be no loss of opportunities to play those classics games from yesterday (see EA Replay, Capcom Classic Collection Remixed, etc.), so now Activision got into the act by announcing Activision Hits Remixed. The game allows players to relive the glory days of Atari 2600 through over 40 of its biggest titles (more than any other compilation available today!) including Pitfall, Kaboom!, Chopper Command, Stampede, Keystone Kapers, River Raid, Demon Attack, and Laser Blast - just to name a few.

Activision Hits Remixed also includes WiFi Multiplayer, including a 'Game Share' feature that allows two PSPs to play together using just one copy of the game, a killer soundtrack from the 80's featuring songs 'Tainted Love' and 'We're Not Gonna Take It' and the ability to unlock timeless Atari 2600 TV ads, patches, and original game manuals.

Activision Hits Remixed is slated for a Fall 2006 release, carrying a RRP of US$19.99

Cools (in conjunction with youresam and Bryan Spence), who released an alpha version of his LUA game, Drag Mini, for QJ's Summer Coding Competition, has followed up the game with the final release - v.2. The game involves racing, but not your typical around-the-track type, but rather the drag simulator/game type. In this release, he fixed a lot of issues and added some features as well - mainly the speed (full 58+ FPS) and the ability to drive other cars. The list below is taken from the readme included with the download:

• Added - Ability to play with different cars
• Fixed - Full Speed, no need for overclocking
• Fixed - FPS Displayed
• Fixed - Now works on any firmware and any luaplayer
• Removed - A very nasty hack!

Download [Drag Mini v.2]
Discuss: [Forum Release Thread]

Buy.com, the 'Internet Superstore' has a new product on display, in the form of another Value Pack for the PSP. Sony is set to release this 'Entertainment Pack' for US$249.99 on September 20th and will include:

• The PSP (obviously!)
• 1GB Memory Stick Pro Duo
• ATV Offroad Fury: Blazin Trails
  
• Demo/Sampler Disc
• Lords of Dogtown UMD
  

All in all, it isn't a bad deal I guess, considering that the standard 'Value Pack' comes with some fairly poor accessories (Soft Case, 32MB Memory Stick Pro Duo). In any case, judging from current individual pricing of what is included, you could just about say you're getting ATV and Lords of Dogtown for free ... next best thing to a price drop I suppose!

EA Sports has named Cincinnati Bengals Wide Receiver Chad Johnson as the cover athlete for its next incarnation of NFL Street which is headed for both the PlayStation 2 and the PSP. Johnson who has been with the Bengals since 2001, is one of the top performers in the position and has led the AFC in receptions during the year that has just passed. He has also been named to the first-team all-pro squad and reached his career high of catching 11 passes during a division-clinching win.

The accolades he gets on the field sure sound impressive, but when quizzed about starring on the cover, Johnson has this to say, "This is a big honor to be selected for the cover for NFL Street 3 since street football was the first step to learning our moves for our pro careers,Â? he beamed. Â?I really like this game and it is so much fun to play with all the new airborne moves you can do now. IÂ?ve always been known to have style when I play but now I can show how stylinÂ? I am in NFL Street 3."

With NFL Street 3 you can play your style of football both on the ground and in the air and boost your score by performing outrageous aerial movies, jumping in the air and collecting special items and game modifiers that are suspended above the field. Add into this the ability to control your Gamebreaker and the new moves available on offense and defense, and it appears that NFL Street 3 might be a worthy addition to your collection.

NFL Street 3 for the PSP and PlayStation2 is expected to hit shelves this November 14.