Intel has excitedly announced the launch of a game called IT Manager III: Unseen Forces, which charges the player with working through the IT ranks of a large organisations. Grand Theft Auto: The Ballad of Gay Tony, it ain't.

You start the game as an IT manager, perform a number of tasks and move up through the ranks Sims style. We had a quick look at it, for research purposes boss, and it was fun, for about five minutes.

In fact, the game does have a fairly good sense of humour - it would have to given its very existence - and players are greeted with requests like "What's wrong with my work telly?". Something that might strike more than a note of familiarity with IT managers everywhere.

Once you have proved yourself amongst the ranks you become CIO and start making other people crawl around under desks. We didn't want to play for that long, but fingers crossed that you don't have to fight an end of level boss called Outsourcero or The Mumbai-stard, or something.

"IT Manager III: Unseen Forces is a great way for IT managers to have fun when they have a spare moment," says Ketevan Rogava, European internet marketing manager at Intel. "It gives players with big ambitions the ability to take control of their own company and make sure their office runs like clockwork."

Clockwork?! If they had the choice we think most firms would stick to running in a slightly more technologically advanced manner.

26 Nov 2009