With FIFA 09 looking to take the series to new heights, the game’s producer Clive Gorman takes some time out to talk to IndianVideoGamer regarding the game’s new features, criticism over the PC version, what improvements EA have in mind for FIFA 2010, and more. He even takes a potshot at the competition, saying Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer games have failed to take advantage of the PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware. Read on for the full interview:

Can you start by telling me about the changes that you’ve made since FIFA 08 and UEFA Euro 2008?

The way it breaks down is there are five key areas. Most important to us was gameplay. We’ve made over 250 changes to the gameplay that affect two things. The first is the responsiveness, which means that not only are the passes quick, but players trap the ball properly, they realistically anticipate where the ball will come. There’s also the physical aspect of it; how players behave in one-on-one situations. Now you can actually jostle with your opponent and you’re able to start the jostle and pull out of it when you want as you would in real life. Also, the stronger player with higher attributes will be able to outmuscle the smaller player. So when two players come together, the stronger player has a better chance of winning the tackle, whereas the small, faster players will be able to get around slower opponents more easily. It’s all very realistic.

There are also adjustments to the way you take freekicks. You will be able to adjust the amount of spin on the ball. Goalkeepers themselves have seen an overhaul; this was one of the biggest demands. You won’t see the stupid moments where they just stood there and waited for the ball. Similarly, you won’t see ‘keepers stopping a perfectly placed shot, which would’ve been impossible to stop in real life.

Of course 10 vs 10 is a huge new feature for us. We want to make it a virtual sport. We want people to learn how to play in a particular position. That’s important because with the introduction of Clubs, there is a grading system and if you can learn to play together as a team, you’re going to be more successful. There are 15 divisions, so the guys who don’t learn how to play as a team and work together, they’re going to be at the bottom. Those who take the time to play together and work as a team will move up the ladder and earn the bragging rights.

We’ve also introduced customisable controls, which is important especially in Asia. We have a competitor, who has a large market share and they use different controls. So now we’re giving the player the option to play FIFA the way they want. Then of course, there are the custom team tactics, which allow you to get under the hood of the gameplay and make the changes that go a step beyond what was possible before. Another new addition is Adidas Live Season, which will allow in-game statistics to change on a weekly basis based on how players perform in the real world.

Read the rest of this entry »

After several discussions and design changes, we have finally arrived at the final two designs for our IndianVideoGamer T-shirts, which will be available to IVG members at a special discount courtesy Myntra.com.

IndianVideoGamer members suggested and voted for their favourite slogans and the two that received the most votes were “Don’t piss me off. I play violent video games” (Design A) and “I see fragged people” (Design B). “IndianVideoGamer.com” will be printed on the back of all T-shirts. While Design A is available in black and white, Design B is available in grey and white, and all colours and designs are available in sizes S to XXL.

Read the rest of this entry »

The first thing that hits you about IndianVideoGamer Mumbai Meet 4 (IVGMM4) is lack of detail and realism. While most next-gen titles have ultra-accurate renditions of everything ranging from wrinkles to turd, IVGMM4 employs a more whimsical style due to the nature of its graphics engine. Unlike other games that use the Unreal Engine, the developers at IVG have employed their own custom engine nicknamed “Booze and Pizza”, and if your system can handle it, there’s a secret mode unlocked called “Booze, Pizza, Cheech & Chong, Transformers HD”.

On stepping into the in-game world of IVGMM4, you’re greeted by its denizens, journeymen like you who’ve travelled near and far to meet like-minded folk. Hosting the festivities is the overlord Sam, who controls the supply of food, games and beer. In Andrew Ryan-esque fashion, he even monitors the activities of all and sundry via digital camera. Due to a touch of tech-n00bness, however, most the data cache on his camera is erased, but its presence more than enough to keep the more friskier bunches in check.

Other titles in this genre have repetitive goals and objectives, making them quite boring to play (Assassin’s Creed, I’m looking at you). The objective of IVGMM4 is simple - come, meet up and have a good time. A no-brainer really. With an excellent system of mini-games such as Wii Sports, Soul Calibur 4, FIFA 09, Pure, Guitar Hero 2 and Halo 3, getting by is an absolute blast.

However, the greatest strength of this title is the widened and enhanced roster of characters. Unlike previous instalments in the franchise that had smaller numbers, IVGMM4 is probably the biggest in this aspect. And perhaps, the most fun too. From the drunken ramblings of gonekrazy to the team killing antics of THEDIRECTOR, each and every character was awesome to interact with.

Each character has its own unique back-story that further deepens the experience. For instance, Donz being PS3-phobic would not even touch the PS3, while Sam wouldn’t touch the Xbox 360 for being afraid of the same. At the same time you have those with more liberal allegiances such as Markettantrik, who gladly accepted this reviewer’s challenges in Soul Calibur 4 on the PS3 and FNR3 on the 360 and whooped him soundly at both.

Read the rest of this entry »

Microsoft has announced a new bundle for the Xbox 360 in India, just in time for the festive season. The bundle includes the Xbox 360 Core console, which only seems to still be available in India (doesn’t that make you feel special?), a 20GB hard drive, a wireless controller, and two games – Forza Motorsport 2 and Viva Pinata.

The bundle, which actually makes the Xbox 360 Pro console, still priced at Rs 27,750, pretty much irrelevant, is available for an attractive Rs 14,990. The bundled accessories and games are together worth Rs 12,885, and the wireless controller is in addition to the wired one that is a standard inclusion in the Core package.

While the price is great and its wonderful news for those who have been waiting for the Xbox 360 price drop that never seemed to come, this could also be another attempt from Microsoft India to get rid of its old Xbox 360 Core stock. The consoles, which form the core of this bundle, were most probably manufactured in 2006 or even 2005, long before Microsoft owned up to and started fixing the infamous RROD hardware issue. Then again, you’re covered with three years of RROD warranty, which pretty much takes care of that.

Read the rest of this entry »

I had the opportunity to try my hand at the preview build of EA’s upcoming horror-thriller “Dead Space” at the EA Experience organised by EA India in Mumbai.

To sum up my impressions of the game, I will give it a new name, “Gears of Doom 3″.

The game plays itself out in an “over-the-shoulder” third person perspective, in the Gears of War mould. And that’s not the only thing the the game draws from Gears. The character movement is exactly like Gears, and I mean “exactly” right down to the tank-like movement speed, turning speed, aiming and firing system. What it doesn’t have is a cover system like Gears and the dash function is activated by a different button, but doesn’t have the same frenzied pace of running or camera angle. In fact, Isaac’s (the protagonist) running is more like a leisurely trot and on more than one occasion, I found it inadequate to escape from the quick moving enemies.

Now on to the Doom 3 side of things.
The setting for the game is a mining and research facility - Check
Some mining expedition/experiment gone wrong unleashes monsters - Check
Claustrophobic indoor environments with solid mood lighting - Check
Ghastly looking monsters that pop out of nooks and crannies - Check
Cheap scare tactics - Check

What the game does do very well is the mechanics of dealing with the monsters. Your character is equipped with a powered suit of armour (yawn) and is capable of dishing out vicious looking melee attacks, including powerful hooks and a mean curb stomp. Early on, you get your hands on a plasma cutter which fires out plasma bolts that can cut through flesh and metal alike. Enemy monsters have multiple limbs which can be individually targeted and attacked to dismember them and slow them down or finish them off. In fact your allies advise you to target the limbs in order to conserve ammo. And it is this aspect that is extremely visceral and satisfying. The blood and gore made their appearance in full force in the preview build and I hope EA carry it over to the finished game intact because this game is all about wonderfully gory ways to dispose off monsters.

The graphics are good, if a little too reflective, but the animation is excellent and the lighting is superb, setting the mood perfectly. The in game menus and HUD are sharp and well done and the inventory system looks like it could be fun later in the game. You can also presumably never get lost since a click of the right analog stick will show you the route to take thanks to a helpful path finding device that Isaac carries with him. And going by the dark and gloomy environments, I believe this to be a good decision. I couldn’t gauge the sound well enough because of the ruckus being caused by the FIFA 09 match that was underway at the adjoining booth.

I didn’t have enough time to complete the preview levels since I had to dash back to the office, but the little time I did spend with the game, plus the Dead Space back story videos available XBLM and PSN, have got me excited about the full release. A title to watch out for for action/horror junkies.

Join the discussion at the IndianVideoGamer Community forums

When I got to the show floor at Games Convention Asia for the first time, my eyes wandered around frantically trying to locate the Mirror’s Edge booth. No game on show there appealed to me as much as DICE’s fresh take on first-person action did. I forced my way past the FIFA 09 and Need For Speed Undercover kiosks and literally shoved other visitors out of the way to get to Mirror’s Edge. When I finally got there, Tom Farrer, the game’s producer, was there talking another journalist through the game. Then it was my turn. After a quick explanation of the controls, Tom restarted the level and handed over the DUALSHOCK 3 to me. From that point on, it was just Faith and I.

The level that was available in the GCA build is the same one that we’ve seen in countless screenshots, trailers and gameplay videos – the rooftop tutorial level. I myself had watched these videos countless times; I knew the route I had to take and I knew the parts where I was more likely to die. So I was feeling pretty good about myself when I watched the guy before me fail miserably and struggle to find his way across the rooftop. But nothing I had seen before had prepared me for the feeling I got when Faith took those first few steps at the top of the level. It just felt so real – the head bobbing, the weight shifting, the momentum picking up. I wasn’t quite ready for this.

After a few strides, came time for the first jump. The game uses L1 to jump and L2 to slide below objects or trigger a parachute roll after a big jump. It’s all very simple and easy to pick up. I missed the jump the first couple of times; not because I didn’t hit the jump button, but because I hit it too early. The game requires you to extensively use the right analog stick to look around. It was only once I knew exactly where the ledge ended and made sure that I only jumped from the edge, that I made the jump safely. But triggering the jump is only part of it; landing it properly is just as important. You can either just have Faith land and come to a standstill and have her health drop a bit in the process, or you could hit L2 just as she hits the ground, which triggers a parachute roll.

Read the rest of this entry »

At Games Convention Asia in Singapore, IndianVideoGamer caught up with Tom Farrer, Producer of Mirror’s Edge, one of the most eagerly-awaited titles of the year, for a leisurely chat. Probably everything you’ve ever wanted to know about Mirror’s Edge has been discussed here, including the time trial mode, multiplayer, boss fights, working with the Unreal engine, DLC, sequels, and possible ports to other platforms.

So the game’s got a time trial mode with ghosts?

Yes, the way it works is you run a stretch and as long as you beat a fixed qualifying time, your ghost will be uploaded automatically. It’s also saved locally. Each time trial area has got three star ratings, with three stars being the most difficult to beat. The maximum star rating a player can get in the game is 57 stars, I believe. None of us have actually managed to get there.

What chance do we have then?

Actually, when we made Rallisport Challenge, the guys actually set their times, took the best times they could get, and they cut a few seconds off them. Those times got beaten in about three days after the game launched. So I think we’ll be alright.

One thing that was very interesting was that I played through the level on the show floor and then someone else played it after me and took a completely different approach to it. There are so many ways you can go through this level.

That’s something I’ve been trying to emphasise when I talk to people. Even in the smaller areas, there are ways in which you can combine moves to pull of some really cool stuff. I like having that ability. Actually, the time trial on that particular level is set on the second half of the level. And just when we thought we had found all the different routes and approaches to go though the level, a few weeks ago someone found another way. It was an approach I would never have thought of.

Hit the jump for the rest of the interview

Read the rest of this entry »

And we had the opportunity to get a sneak peak at a truly impressive line-up of games from EA evenly spread out across genres and platforms. EA India held a small event at a South Mumbai hotel to showcase its holiday 2008 line-up to the media. They had held a similar event last year at the same venue, but now it has a name – EA Experience.

On show at EA Experience were FIFA 09, Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09, Crysis Warhead, Dead Space, Mercenaries 2: World in Flames, Facebreaker, My SIMS, Spore, and my pick of the lot – Mirror’s Edge. And contrary to what the images below might suggest, Need For Speed Undercover was not available for trial at the event, and its absence was all the more conspicuous thanks to NFS posters and cut-outs strewn all across the room. EA officials informed us that the game was scheduled to make an appearance at the event, but for a courier delay.

I spent most of my time at the event playing Mirror’s Edge, which, if I may say so myself, I’ve pretty much mastered by now (well, that rooftop level at least). And yes, I did take a little time out to hand Rishi an ass-whooping (3-ZERO!) in a game of FIFA 09, which incidentally was not the downloadable demo, but a more advanced build that seemed to contain the full selection of leagues and teams. Vikram stopped by the event briefly in between work and tried his hand at Dead Space. May be he can post some of his impressions of the game later.

Hit the jump for images from the event.

Read the rest of this entry »

Jayant Sharma has been in the video game business for over ten years; in terms of the Indian video game industry, that’s forever. His company, Milestone Interactive, was instrumental in helping Sony bring the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable and now the PlayStation 3 to India. But there’s a lot more to Milestone than its partnership with Sony and I had the opportunity to sit down and have a chat with Jayant about the past and present of video games in India and where he thinks the industry is headed.

Can you tell us a bit about Milestone? How you started and your current operations.

We started in 1997. At that point we were distributing EA, Eidos, Virgin Interactive, Interplay and Acclaim. Couple of those labels don’t exist anymore. Prior to 1997, I was CEO of a company called Head Multimedia, which actually launched PC gaming in India in 1995. From that background when I set up my company, a lot of publishers moved to us. The business was solely PC-centric because that was the only market. And it was a combination of games as well as edutainment and multimedia content. A large part used to be cliparts, fontmakers and other productivity software. Gaming was just 50 per cent of the business and the rest was edutainment and productivity software. In 2001, we pitched for the Sony business. By then, the PSOne had started making waves and there were ample grey units in India. Somewhere in the interim, Sega had launched the Saturn in the mid 90s and I think they kind of failed over a one-year period. So there was some console experience, but not much. Sony went through a large, in-depth analysis over who their partner would be and we had made detailed pitches and presentations. Finally they signed us on in August 2001. At that time, the strategy was that we would focus on software because we were a software company and Sony India would focus on hardware.

This went on till early 2003, at which point Sony India decided that it wasn’t a business that was exciting them, so they exited the hardware business. That was the time the PS2 was to be launched, even though it was 3 years late. That’s when we were given the option of taking over the hardware business. Finally, the PS2 we launched. Between 2003 and 2006, we were doing both hardware and software. We launched the PSP in India as well. By 2006, we had started sensing that the market was gaining traction and things were going to get bigger. And the market dynamics of he country demanded that we build a team that can service the length and breadth of the country. That’s when Sony came back into the scheme of things, with the difference being that they would only operate through their channels – consumer durables, and we continue with our channels. That’s the model we’ve continued with.

We’ve had pretty much all leading publishers with us. Ubisoft came on in 2000 till 2005. We had Activision till about 2004, Take-Two till 2005, THQ from 2001 to 2004 and we had Konami for a year, but their pricing just didn’t match the market. So as a company, we’ve worked with the entire industry in one form or the other and for various reasons these relationships come and go. We also went through a bit of a bad patch between 2005 and 2006, where the market wasn’t going anywhere. PC gaming was flat; it wasn’t growing and prices were constantly dropping. On the console side, all the efforts we were putting in weren’t really working out because pricing was all wrong and at that time, our principles weren’t really inclined to doing things in the market. So we were left to ourselves to fight the market forces, to the degree where the efforts we were putting in were benefitting the grey market because we couldn’t compete with those prices. The PS2 was the dominant format but it was all piracy. So we didn’t have a software business, and we couldn’t do much on the hardware business. That put us in a bit of a negative mode at that time, but I’m fortunate that we withstood that ground, fought that phase and bounced back. And the growth we’ve had in the last year was fantastic, and hopefully there’s no looking back now.

Read the rest of this entry »

Blackrock Studio’s surprisingly fun ATV racer Pure is still a long way away from seeing store shelves in India. Excel Interactive, who are the distributors for Disney Interactive (the game’s publishers), have said that they are yet to receive the game from their American counterparts.

Considering the time it would take for replication, packing, and other production activities, Excel has said that the game would take at least another 30 days to release in India. Also, please note that Excel will only release the PC version of the game in India. So if it’s a console version you’re looking for, Play-Asia is your best bet.

This delay surely comes as a huge disappointment to many of us who were eagerly awaiting Pure’s Indian release. Looks like we’re going to have to get a lot more mileage out of the demo until then.

Join the discussion at the IndianVideoGamer Community forums