Jamie talks to us about how much FIFA 09 differs with the addition of it's All-Play features.
September 05, 2008 | 7:04 PM PSTby: Tim Livingston
Sports Joystick recently got a chance to sit down with Jamie Toghill, one of the producers for FIFA 09: All-Play for the Wii and after getting a chance to play a little bit of the big time soccer release, he was able to talk to us about what this year's game will offer, including the new mini-games and a new 8-on-8 mode.
TL: Tim Livingston, Sports Joystick Sports Editor
JT: Jamie Toghill, EA Developer for FIFA 09: All-Play
TL: Jamie, give a general overview of what FIFA09 is all about.
JT: Sure. So the first thing is, let's talk about All-Play. All-Play is basically an evolution of what Family Play was last year that we introduced on our Wii title. Family Play was more like giving an experience to the user that was easy to pick up and play. What we've done with All-Play is the same philosophy. What we want to do is make sure we're not taking away elements from the user that they might want to play, things like the skill moves and everything else, all the detail you see in the FIFA experience, it's all available in All-Play. So the qualities to pick up and play, the passing's assisted for you, pretty much everything is assisted. So when you're there playing All-Play, you never feel like you're out of the experience.
You feel like you're fully part of the experience, and you also never feel like you're playing a lesser experience than with the advanced player controls. It's just packaged in a different fashion. So it's a lot more accessible this year, and that's something that Peter Moore has been talking a lot about. He sees the future of our Wii games; they have to be accessible and approachable and that's what we've done here with All-Play this year. With advanced play, as well, we're not going to center our focus of attention on All-Play. Another thing we have going with All-Play is we have feedback. So feedback to the game is content centered, so it helps you learn. If you don't know how to do something, the game will tell you, and once you've figured it out, the game won't tell you. So one thing that's very annoying about these, I guess, "easy modes" in these games is that it keeps telling you the same thing over and over again. "Yeah, I know that. I've done it 300 times." Our game doesn't do that. Our game shuts that message off because it knows that you mastered it. So then you get to the point in advanced play where it's point and play. You control the play with the analog stick on the nunchuck, and then you use the Wiimote to point on the screen where you want to pass to and the players are moving to that space. So it's a new way to play this year. It's very tactical, as well. You're always thinking one or two steps ahead, whereas in traditional FIFA, you're got the controller and you're thinking about what your player is doing, and then looking around for a person to pass to. With our game, you're always looking for a player to pass to and where you want that ball to go, and naturally, the players will run onto it. So what you'll find with our advanced play controls is it is very different to the PS3 and XBOX 360 experience, but it still offers that level of tactical, strategic play that you really want from a FIFA title.
Now kids, don't play soccer under the overpass.
TL: That was the next question I was going to ask about the controls. It's with the nunchuck controller: you have the movement in one hand and the point and click pass method with the other. What about the skill moves? How are the controls in this game different from last year? Are there too many differences?
JT: Last year, our system was very similar to the XBOX 360 and the PS3, and we maxed everything out, so it had some similarities. We didn't have the point and play in there, which we now think is a much more organic way to play the game. You can do passing in this game that you can't do on any other football game on other platforms. Sometimes, you might see the passes that are more "Hollywood"-style passes, with one player passing from one side of the pitch to the other. That's something that the Wii is very good at, to make these experiences and give people a new way to play games and this is something you'll find with FIFA as well.
So when you're playing, as well, we have Gamecube controller support, Classic-style controller support, All-Play has two levels of it, really. All-Play on the Wiimote, if you have that, you have assisted player movement. So this is really for someone who hasn't picked up the game and play before, to see what it's all about. Then, you can basically unplug the nunchuck and the players assist it for you, and you basically doing the right gestures for shooting, tackling and passing. That's pretty much it. Then you put your nunchuck in and you have that movement and the extra layer. You have the same thing for advanced play. You can play Wiimote only, and the player movement has you point to the screen as well, and then when you plug the nunchuck in, that movement switches to the analog stick. So what we wanted to do was create a system where you can play the game how you want it to play, package it up in a way where four players can play at the same time, all play with different controls and all have the same experience where it doesn't feel convoluted and lost. That's what we were focused on this year.
TL: Tim Livingston, Sports Joystick Sports Editor
JT: Jamie Toghill, EA Developer for FIFA 09: All-Play
TL: Jamie, give a general overview of what FIFA09 is all about.
JT: Sure. So the first thing is, let's talk about All-Play. All-Play is basically an evolution of what Family Play was last year that we introduced on our Wii title. Family Play was more like giving an experience to the user that was easy to pick up and play. What we've done with All-Play is the same philosophy. What we want to do is make sure we're not taking away elements from the user that they might want to play, things like the skill moves and everything else, all the detail you see in the FIFA experience, it's all available in All-Play. So the qualities to pick up and play, the passing's assisted for you, pretty much everything is assisted. So when you're there playing All-Play, you never feel like you're out of the experience.
You feel like you're fully part of the experience, and you also never feel like you're playing a lesser experience than with the advanced player controls. It's just packaged in a different fashion. So it's a lot more accessible this year, and that's something that Peter Moore has been talking a lot about. He sees the future of our Wii games; they have to be accessible and approachable and that's what we've done here with All-Play this year. With advanced play, as well, we're not going to center our focus of attention on All-Play. Another thing we have going with All-Play is we have feedback. So feedback to the game is content centered, so it helps you learn. If you don't know how to do something, the game will tell you, and once you've figured it out, the game won't tell you. So one thing that's very annoying about these, I guess, "easy modes" in these games is that it keeps telling you the same thing over and over again. "Yeah, I know that. I've done it 300 times." Our game doesn't do that. Our game shuts that message off because it knows that you mastered it. So then you get to the point in advanced play where it's point and play. You control the play with the analog stick on the nunchuck, and then you use the Wiimote to point on the screen where you want to pass to and the players are moving to that space. So it's a new way to play this year. It's very tactical, as well. You're always thinking one or two steps ahead, whereas in traditional FIFA, you're got the controller and you're thinking about what your player is doing, and then looking around for a person to pass to. With our game, you're always looking for a player to pass to and where you want that ball to go, and naturally, the players will run onto it. So what you'll find with our advanced play controls is it is very different to the PS3 and XBOX 360 experience, but it still offers that level of tactical, strategic play that you really want from a FIFA title.
Now kids, don't play soccer under the overpass.
TL: That was the next question I was going to ask about the controls. It's with the nunchuck controller: you have the movement in one hand and the point and click pass method with the other. What about the skill moves? How are the controls in this game different from last year? Are there too many differences?
JT: Last year, our system was very similar to the XBOX 360 and the PS3, and we maxed everything out, so it had some similarities. We didn't have the point and play in there, which we now think is a much more organic way to play the game. You can do passing in this game that you can't do on any other football game on other platforms. Sometimes, you might see the passes that are more "Hollywood"-style passes, with one player passing from one side of the pitch to the other. That's something that the Wii is very good at, to make these experiences and give people a new way to play games and this is something you'll find with FIFA as well.
So when you're playing, as well, we have Gamecube controller support, Classic-style controller support, All-Play has two levels of it, really. All-Play on the Wiimote, if you have that, you have assisted player movement. So this is really for someone who hasn't picked up the game and play before, to see what it's all about. Then, you can basically unplug the nunchuck and the players assist it for you, and you basically doing the right gestures for shooting, tackling and passing. That's pretty much it. Then you put your nunchuck in and you have that movement and the extra layer. You have the same thing for advanced play. You can play Wiimote only, and the player movement has you point to the screen as well, and then when you plug the nunchuck in, that movement switches to the analog stick. So what we wanted to do was create a system where you can play the game how you want it to play, package it up in a way where four players can play at the same time, all play with different controls and all have the same experience where it doesn't feel convoluted and lost. That's what we were focused on this year.
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