EA: FIFA Wii Needed “New Direction”

15 Jul 2009 at 11:05:00 by Andy Alderson

EA Sports has revealed that community reaction to the last FIFA game on the Wii prompted it to take the sequel in a “new direction.”

Speaking to IncGamers, the game’s line producer Sid Misra said that feedback from the fan community has been crucial in the development of FIFA 10 for the Wii.

“It was very important for us to move the Wii in a new direction,” said Misra.

“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,” he added.

FIFA 10 looks set to be more of an arcade experience than its predecessor with stylised visuals and new dramatic gameplay mechanics like a momentum system and what Misra calls the “Wow Moment,” in which the game slows down as the camera zooms in on an action flashpoint.

Although FIFA 09 on the Wii reviewed well, scoring an 80% average on Metacritic, EA received a lot of criticism for the game’s hugely unreliable online mode and lack of features compared to the other console versions.

Find out more about FIFA 10 in our hands-on preview due later today. In the meantime check out our preview of the PS3 version here.
 

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