FIFA 10 Interview

15 Jul 2009 at 14:50:33 by Andy Alderson

FIFA on the Wii is a different kind of experience; it seems to be more kind of arcade focused than that next-gen version. How is the new art style and arcade play represented in the Wii version?

It was very important for us to move the Wii in a new direction. We got a lot of feedback based on '09 that they liked the realism in terms of authentic teams, stadiums, kits and all that. They liked some of the aspects of the gameplay; they liked the idea of stylisation – not necessarily the Miis themselves, because they thought they skewed a little too young. So this year we were looking for a marriage of both within the gameplay and then finding an art style that really suited and was a bit more approachable to all ages.

So it's a balance of art styles between the arcade and the realistic. Do you think there'll be better feedback this time around?

So far we're seeing a lot more positive feedback. We know the Wii isn't an HD experience, it's not a 360 or a PS3, but we can still do some stuff on the Wii. We want to push what we can do on the Wii, so you're going to see some cool shadings on the kits. We wanted there to be detail on the players, but we still want to do it in a stylised way, so you'll see a bit more bevelling in the features of the players. Instead of being perfectly round, you'll see it a bit more bevelled, which we think creates a really cool artistic style.

It's definitely unique. I've not seen anything like that in a football game before.

But it's still important for us to make sure players are identifiable. You have to know that Torres is Torres, and Ballack is Ballack, so it's a lot of work to make sure that we're identifying the key features that makes each player unique.

We've talked about the art style, but the gameplay as well is a little more skewed to the arcade style of things. Can you tell me about the new gameplay innovations like the momentum system and the “Wow” moments?

What we really wanted to do with the idea of momentum was create almost a gameplay intensity meter. It's about moving the ball up the pitch, like you'd normally do, as we didn't want anyone playing the meter or changing the way they played just to fill the meter. We want you to play a proper game of football – pass it up the field, dribble up the field; whatever you want to do, you do it. It's just about moving the ball up the field. So if I'm moving up the field and you intercept it, then you steal some of that momentum that I've built up so far. You don't have Momentum until that meter's completely filled, but once you have it, you're in a special situation where shots are a little stronger and more accurate, and you see these Wow moments, which are a really cool feature of the game. They get us pretty excited when we see them at work, or when we see other people get them, as – especially when you see them for the first time – the response is unanimously positive.

This is where the game slows down?

Exactly. Say you've run down the wing and put a cross into the box. Just as you've flicked to take the header and the defender goes up to try and clear it, the game slows down and it zooms into that moment.

And then it becomes about timing?

No, you've already done the timing. It's more about trying to figure out what the outcome's going to be. Both guys jump up to get the ball, and you don't know who's going to win.

So it's dramatic effect?

Yeah, there's a lot of tension in that moment. There's a great feeling – especially when you're the attacker – if you get the header, and it goes into the back of the net, it just explodes back into real life and the crowd goes nuts after the stopping of the sound at that point. It just creates a lot of drama in that moment.

One thing I did see, the free kicks seem a bit more based around timing.

Yeah. We really want to make the free kicks skill-based but a bit more accessible, and we really wanted a head-to-head component to it, too. Our game is supposed to be a social game, and when you give something to someone and not to the other person, you break the idea of social, so what we've done this year is put a timing element into the free kicks so you run up to the ball and kind of flick the Wiimote to take the shot, as close to the ball as possible to get the best possible kick. How good your kick is will affect the chances of the keeper being able to make a save, so they're waiting for the ball to come into the box, and there'll be a glow on the ball to indicate when it's time to flick, so the keeper has to flick to save. So if I take a yellow shot, you have a pretty good window in order for you to save. A green shot makes it a little smaller, and with a blue shot, you're almost guessing when to flick.

So it becomes a one-on-one between the free kick taker and the keeper?

Absolutely.

That's something that, normally, you only see in penalties in football games, but now it's extended to free kicks?

And corner kicks, too. It's the same idea, where you flick the ball from the corner to put it into play and into the box, and once it's there you wait for the glow on the ball before the attacker and the defender both flick it, and what you're really trying to represent there is the timing of the jump and the timing of the header. Again, it becomes a head-to-head, and it creates a lot of emotion and social feelings - and trash-talking, particularly when the corner's getting set up! So we find that they're really fun moments.

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