Thursday 24-Jul-2003 6:00 PM Harry Potter's sport of choice revealed Whilst the world clamours for more of the bespectacled wizard's exploits, EA has clearly spotted a gap in the market; sports titles for the kind of pasty-faced bookworms who prefer reading about kids on broomsticks to actually playing football. Yep, Quidditch World Cup is an alternative sports title based on the game found in JK Rowling's series of books.
We're assured that even those of you who don't know your Bludger from your Quaffle will be able to enjoy Quidditch; producer Tony Casson was on hand to guide us through this latest Potter spin-off, and he reckons it's just like any other sports title...
First off, we don't understand the obsession with Harry Potter. [Speak for yourself! Ed.]
Casson: If you read the books you would understand the obsession, and I don't say that because I'm working with Harry Potter, I say it because the books are brilliant. But we know that people, like yourself, don't know what Quidditch is, so we're making it accessible for everyone.
Okay. So how do we get into the world of Quidditch?
Casson: First you can pick which team you want to be, then one of the players from that team will go through the whole of the different areas of Quidditch, explaining how to do things, how to play the game. So to begin with you'll be set up with challenges, so that as soon as you get into the game you're faced with some mini-tutorials.
You have to play the three challenges before you can get into the game proper, but that's a good thing - we know that people will need some help to understand the game at the start.
So to begin with we keep it very simple; all you have to do is learn how to tackle and how to shoot. The other two challenges you have to play teach you how to pass, and how to receive. So it's very simple - press the X button to tackle, press the circle button to shoot. Very, very simple.
So to begin with you'll have to complete tasks like scoring three goals in the best time possible. And so you're gradually learning the skills you'll need for the game proper.
After the first match we unlock another two challenges, and this continues through the course of the game so you're gradually learning more and more skills. Progress through these matches successfully and you'll win the Hogwarts house cup; once you've won this cup, that unlocks the world cup, which is where the professionals play. These guys are athletes; they are hardcore athletes. You don't mess with them.
Calm down, mate! So is Harry Potter the Beckham of Quidditch?
Casson: He's the up-and-coming star. You've got to remember that Harry's still at school. So anyway, you can do stuff like bank up special move points, as you play through a game, so if you want to activate a special move, once you've unlocked it you can use those and obviously they can change the course of a match.
Your team is split into different players; you've got the chasers, they're the guys who score the goals, but they're also the guys who help to defend. You've also got the bludgers, or you can be the seeker, who's the guy who tries to catch the snitch. The Snitch is worth 50 points, so while it's not the be-all and end-all oif the game, it is a really important element of the game.
Obviously when you're playing the game and you only get ten points per goal, the snitch can come in very handy. So you have to time when you actually want to catch the snitch, so it's entirely up to you when you want to go after it.
So does it make much of a difference which team you choose to play as?
Casson: Each of the teams has their own gamestyle; some teams are more immediately accessible, while others have strengths that come out as you keep playing with them.
Once you get into the International mode, that's when the tactics become involved. You can immediately see the difference; teams are a lot more aggressive, they're more tactical with their formation play, each team has their own characters and players, each team has its own stadium.
There's obviously the whole Harry Potter phenomenon that's going to make the title appealing to a certain market, but does the game stand up in it's own right?
Casson: It's a sports title, like any other sports title. One of the biggest compliments that we had today was from one of the other journalists, who said "Quidditch? Cash-in right?" But after I showed him the game, he was like "I'm gonna put this in my magazine, this is totally not what I was expecting."
We wouldn't be happy just releasing a weak sports game. We've worked really hard on making sure that this plays right, not just for the casual gamer; we've worked hard so that the hardcore gamer sees the special moves, sees the depth, and gets caught up in the game. You've got teams that have got martial arts-style moves - there's a lot here to take in.
Aren't you worried the game could be too complicated for the younger player?
Casson: Not at all. Regardless of the terminology, at the end of the day the game is very, very simple. It's as deep or as easy as you choose to make it. You've got the chasers who are your attackers and defenders, you've got the beaters which are another form of defender, and you've got the seeker which is another form of attacking guy, but all he does is go after the Golden Snitch.
There's seven players on each team, two teams, and all the players are flying around on broomsticks, with four balls in play at the same time. The chasers try to score with the Quaffle, the beaters are in control of the bludgers, and of course you've got the Keeper protecting the goal.
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