PSP Launch: Football limbers up for kick off

It's This is Football PSP, isn't it? The good Lord himself only knows why Sony has only given 'Football' a working title, and he's too busy playing Pro Evo against Satan (Man U fan, obviously) to tell us why.

We know it's TIFPSP (which is clearly a crap acronym) because in the States they've already called it World Tour Soccer, which is the US name for TIF. And - and - a version of TIF was quite clearly featured on the E3 PSP showreel. See? That's cutting edge journalism right there.

The mysterious UK name will be revealed in time but there's plenty of other stuff we can tell you right now. First of all you're guaranteed wireless two player kickabouts, but two players is your limit. The team are working on adding more players next time, apparently, so you'll just have to wait for furious 4 versus 4 games across the train carriage.

Real Madrid's new camouflage strip made things tough for the fans

A little more interestingly, Football's single player mode is based around a Challenge System. You start with hardly anything unlocked, and as you progress through high score challenges you unlock more money that you can use to buy better teams, new stadiums and so on.

There is one broken meta-tarsel bone in the foot of Football: Pro Evo. Konami are bringing a version of the BEST. FOOTBALL. GAME. EVER. Onto PSP which should back up it's multiplayer mode with a portable Master League and the sweetest soccer action since Aberdeen won the European Cup in 1983.

Full confirmation on Football's actual name when we get it. Whatever you do, don't go anywhere until you've heard it, and expect whatever it's called to be on shelves in March. However in the meantime you can hit the back of the old onion bag with this working-titled developer Q&A.

We've seen football games on PS2, can you tell us what is different about this title?

We've focused the game modes around the strength of the PSP, i.e. its portability. We have therefore extended Challenge Mode offering a rich reward structure in the form of unlockable content. Each challenge gets harder, with the rewards getting better. As this is based around a high score table (rather than a football score), we hope to encourage what we call 'pass and play', where the PSP can be passed amongst a group of competitive friends to see who can get the best score.

We have focused our competitions toward a single player, but in keeping with the unlockable content / reward structure. Players will start with a small sum of money, only being able to afford mediocre teams, and with success comes more money, better teams etc. These follow through to exhibition mode, and WiFi mode, such that the volume of content you have at your disposal is also a mark of how far through the game you are.

Being portable and single player, we have also had to cater for multiplayer Football in a different way to PS2. Using WiFi ad-hoc mode, we allow users to see all other users in their vicinity, challenge them to a game, and then take them on!

So it's not just a port?

No, although we have maintained the accessibility, depth and fun of the PS2 versions!

Are there many major differences in the development for a software title for PSP?

The design has to take into consideration the nature of the new console - small screen, portability - etc., which does change some approaches to implementation.

Tell us more about the WiFi elements in the game.

Football is a very social game, and therefore it was a priority for us to cater for this on a single player platform. Football PSP therefore offers 1v1 gaming, which we will develop to 4v4 with subsequent releases.

Are you going to include any downloadables that can be used to enhance the title at a later date?

Not in the initial version, but PSP has brought up a host of application ideas for downloadable content.

As a developer what is the most exciting element of working on software for PSP?

To be involved in the development of a first generation product to coincide with the launch of the platform is very exciting in itself. However, the true excitement comes in adapting the gameplay in fun ways for a portable platform, especially when thinking about people playing Football on planes, trains and buses, at school or work!

What features has the game got that takes into consideration the fact that the PSP is portable?

WiFi was the biggest consideration. As was stated above, football is a very competitive and social game, and we didn't want to lose that. Catering for the single player football fan, and providing them with new ways of playing games in a more 'portable' way was always a goal. However, the PSP is a very good console to develop on; its power and features mean that not too many compromises need to be made when compared with other consoles.

Graeme Boyd