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Click Here For More Game ReviewsCan you please introduce yourself, and talk about your past history in developing video games?
My name is Ian Flatt and I am the Project Manager on World Championship Rugby - the follow up to Jonah Lomu Rugby. I have been developing sports titles for Swordfish for just under 5 years - working on titles such as UEFA Striker, Microsoft International Football 2001 and … gulp … David Beckham Soccer.
After academically studying technology & sports analysis, I was brought into the studio because of the passion I have for sports - it fitted in very well with the other guys. Our studio has been producing sports titles for over 9 years - including the likes of Jonah Lomu Rugby.
It’s been quite some time since Jonah Lomu Rugby was released, why do you think its time for another game?
To be honest, we have been itching to produce a follow up for years now, pretty much ever since we finished the first one. JLR was such a big success it seemed pretty obvious.
At the time we were known as Rage Birmingham and worked as an internal dev studio. We were unable to convince the ‘powers that be’ that we should work on a sequel and ended up concentrating on football - even though our heart was in Rugby.
As soon as Swordfish became independent, it was an obvious and immediate decision for us and we started work on a new generation game. We have always been very proud of Jonah Lomu Rugby and aware of how it is still revered by the gaming public.
When we came to look at our core technology base, everyone became excited at the prospect of going back to JLR’s roots and producing a worthy successor that would not only have the original’s playability - but would now also be matched with state-of-the-art graphics.
And at the end of the day - there still isn’t a quality rugby title out for the new generation consoles. As sport gaming fans ourselves this is something we wanted to address.
What modes can we expect in WCR? Will you have the licences for Tri-Nations, World Cup, Six Nations etc? And licences for the domestic competitions such as the Super 12?
Although I’m not in a position to divulge all of World Championship Rugby’s licenses at this stage I can guarantee that you will be able to play in all the familiar top international tournaments - as well as special single player modes and the JLR favourite ‘classic matches’. Once again, you will be able to recreate some of those special moments from the recent world cup and further back in history.
Can we expect real strips, player likeness and names? Have you motion captured any famous players for the game?
All the players from the top rugby playing nations have been individually modeled to produce the most realistic looking rugby game to date.
As for motion capture, we spent quite a lot of time in the studio with 2 fantastic guys. The great thing about Rugby is that everyone is so down to earth. They gave us loads of advice about the game and Rugby at the highest levels … on top of pulling off some great mo-cap moves.
Is there any chance of online play for the game on both PC and console?
Not in the current version I’m afraid - but watch this space for the future.
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