Soccer Slam Q&A

Sega's upcoming arcade-style soccer game for the GameCube, Soccer Slam, is a departure from the company's previous sports games. An engaging mix of over-the-top character design and solid gameplay, the game is shaping up to be a fresh entry in Sega's software catalog. We talked with Lorne Asuncion, the project manager for Soccer Slam at Visual Concepts, to find out more about the game.

Don't expect to see any staid allstars in Soccer Slam.

GameSpot: Where did the idea for Soccer Slam come from?

Lorne Asuncion: Here at Visual Concepts, all our sports games have been simulation-related. We wanted to move in a different direction and looked into creating an arcade-style, extreme game, and we came up with Sega Soccer Slam. We saw that there are a lot of extreme football, basketball, and hockey games on the market, and we wanted to do something that no other company had done. With plenty of work and time on the design, we finally went with a three-on-three soccer game. At first, we were toying with a five-on-five or four-on-four game, but we found that a three-on-three game is more competitive, a lot faster, and more exciting. As we went on, more ideas came along, like having different personalities for the characters representing the different countries that we implemented. The further and further we moved into this project, the more we knew that we had a special game on our hands.

This is as "full-contact" as it gets.

GS: How long has the game been in development, and how has working on the GameCube hardware been?

LA: Design and all, this game has been in development for less than a year and a half. Working on the GameCube is pretty much straightforward. Nintendo was extremely helpful when we had any technical questions on the hardware, which made development very smooth. Overall, we really enjoy developing on the GameCube and believe the platform to be much more powerful than people think it is.

GS: How large is the development team?

LA: From the programmers, to the artists, all the way to the testers and the motion-capture talent, we had about 85 to 90 people working on it. However, the core team was obviously much smaller than that.

GS: Will the game engine be used in other GameCube games?

LA: Because all our other sports games at Visual Concepts, like the NFL 2K and NBA 2K series, have their own engines to work with, it's hard to determine if this engine will be used in other GameCube games. If everything worked out, where we had the perfect concept and perfect design to use this engine for another game, then we would definitely look into it. We believe the engine is extremely powerful and flexible, so we will most likely continue to use it.

GS: Does the game support progressive scan?

LA: Yes, this game does support progressive scan, and it looks fantastic with it. Those who have it on their television will not be disappointed.

GS: Why soccer instead of another sport?

LA: We wanted to find a sport that we could toy with and succeed in. Soccer was perfect because it's a sport that we have not focused on and it's the most popular sport in the world. Plus, there is not a big market in arcade-style soccer games, so we figured, "Why not start one?"