Football games are bigger business than they ever were and with the arrival of all three next generation consoles, we spoke to Andrew Wilson, executive producer of football at EA, to find out what the next-gen can do for football games.
We might be coming to the end of the current football season, but EA and Konami are both busy preparing next season's football games that should be with us in time for the new season kicking off in August/September.
But what will they offer that we haven't seen before? Surely it's not just a case of better graphics and more stats than we actually give a Klaxon about? To find out we grilled - and we do mean grilled - the man almost in charge of FIFA for EA, Andrew Wilson.
What does next-gen really mean for football games?
Andrew Wilson: The thing we saw on current-gen was a lot of limitations with technology and processing power. There were a lot of things we wanted to do on current gen that we wanted to do but couldn't.
Like what?
Wilson: Well the intelligence of the football player and the amounts of levels in which they make decisions. On current-gen they had one or two different levels; so they're in the box, in comes a cross, what do they do next? That's it.
On next-gen machines we can process so much more data. We can run more data in terms of giving them decision-making options about how they come to those decisions.
We're starting to see levels of decision-making options that we never saw before and this will make the game far more realistic. You'll also see less repetition on the field. Our aim is to get 100/200 hours of gameplay where you are constantly seeing different things and different decisions being made even if you're in the same context.
Why haven't we seen this in EA's first two attempts at next-gen football on 360 with FIFA 07 and Road to the World Cup?
Wilson: We launched our new engine for FIFA 07 and that was the first year of a new engine. We saw a few things with the new engine that became the foundation for these new ideas.
We saw a different level of athletic ability in the player, so how the player moved and how they interacted with the ball. We also gave the ball its own level of physics. But we started to see the different levels of decision-making on the pitch with depth and context to what's happening.
The thing with writing artificial intelligence is that once you build the infrastructure you can start building on top of it. And year on year we can build more attributes on top of this.
The World Cup game didn't use that engine, it used an old engine. FIFA 07 was the first and 08 will be the second run of that engine.
We were very happy with where we got to with 07 and the launch of a new engine because they're a risky manoeuvre. If it all goes bad, it's not a great thing for us. The player-ball interaction felt very next-gen and we want to capitalise on that with 08 in terms of animation, AI, physics, decision-making. That will give us a level of gameplay that we've never had.
Are we ever going to see AI in the crowd, so they affect players' performance?
Wilson: We had one of our engineers at GDC who started last year what we termed 'Emotion Engine' which was about building a foundation for driving crowd reaction based on little micro-trends within the game.
So different things happening within the crowd will have an impact on how your team plays on the field. If you're getting booed constantly it will have a mental affect on your performance. We started this last year and we're continuing development of that feature. We don't know where it's going to end up or what it's going to do but if we do a good job, you'll never notice it.
What about in-game commentary where you hear repetition after an hour or two? Can next-gen consoles change this?
Wilson: We ran out of space on the disc with current gen. Last year's FIFA had 26 leagues, 15 thousand players, kits, players, stadiums, audio and music, so you just run out of space. The next-gen discs have got more space so in the short term we will have much more commentary on our games.
Looking long term, these consoles are now online. And I would love to think that we can start to pump dynamic commentary into the game on a weekly basis so you never hear the same thing twice.
But think about competitions. Imagine having commentators popping up to commentate on interactive games. So you're not reliant on commentary from our game anymore you got a gamer who gets online and comments every week instead, who then gets a reputation.
No matter what you ship on the disc you'll never get that depth you want. We want to get people involved and creating. We can start that by offering free stuff to download but it's only a matter of time before players start talking to each other about what's going on on the pitch.
On to the PES / FIFA issue. Do you think you have a good enough football game to beat PES in terms of sales even if you didn't have the licenses you have?
Wilson: I hope so. What we've seen in the last five years is that the market has grown substantially and I believe this is a result of the competition. Both companies are pushing to make betters games every year. We've gone from a market that sold us 2 millions units to a market where we're selling 20 million units and that's a result of the competition.
Yes, there's pressure and yes we want to build the nest game we can. But the reality is the world would be a bad place if here was only one football game. Konami's competition pushes us to be better.
Tell us one thing about FIFA 08 that will be different from others?
Wilson: I can't - not at this point.
Go on, hint it...
Wilson: ...
One element that isn't going to be an annual update...
Wilson: If I'm hinting around things... what we've seen with next-gen consoles is that they spend a lot of time online. And when I look at the future of football gaming, online has to play a very integral part and we don't want to be left behind.
But you held the FIFA Interactive World Cup online. It can't get any bigger than that, can it?
Wilson: Yes it can... Much bigger.
Really?
Wilson: Absolutely.
How?
Wilson: There were three people once uploading videos to the web, now we have YouTube. There were once three people chatting via the internet and now we have Skype. The FIFA Interactive World Cup is a great start but we want to get more people involved than that...
Wilson: Well the intelligence of the football player and the amounts of levels in which they make decisions.
Too right you need to improve the intelligence of players.. especially the goal keepers, is it me or have they just got worse over time?
On current-gen they had one or two different levels; so they're in the box, in comes a cross, what do they do next? That's it.
Personally id like to just header or kick it. Why do we need all this decision making? This is where PES betters Fifa, its simple and too the point!
Also can anyone tell me why EA have got it into their heads that when you take a throw you have only three players to choose from? If you want realistic decision making EA give us more players to throw to and let us take quick throw ins also! Nothing worse than the play stopping to let everyone get back in to position, that wouldnt happen in real life!
Wilson: We launched our new engine for FIFA 07 and that was the first year of a new engine. We saw a few things with the new engine that became the foundation for these new ideas.
Thats why FIFA 07 was plagued with bugs then? Theres only one thing that i saw and that is it needs to be greatly improved.
We were very happy with where we got to with 07 and the launch of a new engine because they're a risky manoeuvre. If it all goes bad, it's not a great thing for us. The player-ball interaction felt very next-gen and we want to capitalise on that with 08 in terms of animation, AI, physics, decision-making. That will give us a level of gameplay that we've never had.
If your happy with that then the future of FIFA doesnt look good. And the only thing you need to improve on is the AI, oh and the basics.
On to the PES / FIFA issue. Do you think you have a good enough football game to beat PES in terms of sales even if you didn't have the licenses you have?
If you carry on going backwards you wont!
Wilson: I hope so. What we've seen in the last five years is that the market has grown substantially and I believe this is a result of the competition.
No, its a result of FIFA getting worse and PES getting better.
Tell us one thing about FIFA 08 that will be different from others?
Wilson: I can't - not at this point.
Go on, hint it...
Wilson: ...
And like the guy said in the other post, its not going to be different at all - basically, same c**kups different year!
Sorry about the rant but i could go on all night about EA and their lack of commitment. All they are bothered about is getting another game out for all the money. And they know people will buy it no matter how many glitches and faults are in the game. They seriously need to start making FIFA better because its not what it use to be. Theyre too busy making it look stunning, too busy putting all their effort into Wes Brown looking exactly like him than putting the effort into the AI. I think they should take a year out or take a year out of improving the graphics because they are quite good and just concentrate on AI.
Wilson: We ran out of space on the disc with current gen. Last year's FIFA had 26 leagues, 15 thousand players, kits, players, stadiums, audio and music, so you just run out of space. The next-gen discs have got more space so in the short term we will have much more commentary on our games.
Well this is all well and good but fifa will never EVER beat pro evo with real footy fans, just jerks who want easy goals and sponsors for the Somalian Rymans premiership!
I for one am over the moon that i have just found out Fifa 08 is coming out on the PS3 It trully amazes me how people can slag something off, even before they have played it. Also, just because you didnt like older versions doesnt mean it should be scrapped or that everyone else doesnt like it. I also cant understand this comparison everyone does between Fifa and Pro Evo because to me its like comparing Brothers in Arms to Medal of Honour, they are completely different style of game. In Fifas case its more an arcade game then the more complicated Pro Evo... I personally prefer Fifa every time. I was brought up on Fifa as i was growing up, buying it on Sega Mega Drive, then Playstation 1, then PS2 and i WILL be buying it on Playstation 3 when it comes out... I wont however be buying Pro Evo, as Fifa is the game i like...
Can you ask EA, Will the tricks be easier to do in the new Fifa 08. I had all previous Fifa's on PS2, but when i got it on 360 i couldnt do any tricks what so ever. Im buying a PS3 when Fifa is released. Will the anolog control the skills?
Fifa is the best i have bought every Fifa and pro ev game that has come out on the playstion consoles and Fifa is far better and more releastic that pro ev
also how can anyone already say that fifa 08 is crap without being released yet? that is so narrow minded of you if that is how you view the world thinking that nothing ever improves then your dismal existance must be very very boring mate
I heard that there will be irish league teams in fifa 08 is this true ???? i really hope so, the likes of linfeild,glentoren & portadown are 20 tyms betta dan the conferance and league 1 &2 teams !!"!!
will romario, the brazil legend be on fifa 08, he plays for brazillian club vasco da gama, and he is a big star so will he bear a big resemblence to his real life counterpart?
I agree, fifa is way more realistic, example, chelsea are called the london blues on pro evo, and bellamy and giggs arnt even on the wales team, instead there are made up players called "soto gryn" or somthing like that, will romario be on fifa 08?
i cant believe how crap and boring the crowd is in fifa 07. it looks like nintendo 64 crowds, all gray and no colour with 4 flags in the whole stadium. NO REAL feeling of excitment when u score a gaol except the same 3 idiots running to the corner and doing the same celebration. wheres the flares in the crowd, the mexican waves, the players on the side lines with the coach, wheres the side line referee's and why cant you hear the players voices when they talk with the referee about getting booked. when some one scores a gaol (especially in the home crowd) the crowd should absoloutly go buzurk and the comentators should conversate more often. stop concentrating on putting a shine on the players bald heads and make it like they made GTA SAN ANDREAS. . even though the graphics were not GRAN TURISMO STYLE but it was all worth it in the end when the gameplay was fantastic and the graphics were more then enough. get your heads out of your asses because ur losing alot of real gamers by p**sing us off and wasting our money.
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