SpeedBall Arena: comunicato ufficiale
Ho appena riceuto da Ed Bartlett, Lead Game Designer di SpeedBall Arena la comunicazione stampa ufficiale riguardo l'attesissimo nuovo capitolo della serie SpeedBall di cui vi avevo già accennato qualcosa ieri. Posto integralmente quello che ho ricevuto:
"Hi All, Further to the unnofficial leaking of the Speedball Arena project we have decided to put out an official press release clarifying the situation. As you can obviously see from the placeholder web site (and I stress that it is a placeholder) we are indeed working on a next gen follow up to the Speedball series, although we were kind of hoping to keep it secret for a little while longer! We have had a skeleton team working on Speedball in the background for quite some time but have been waiting for all of the various aspects such as technology, platforms, climate, moon cycle etc. to fall into place before we were ready to announce it. Work is now fully underway on the project, with release slated tentatively for xmas 2002. The aim of Speedball Arena is to create a fully-fledged online sport, with a simple to pick up and hard to master game dynamic that, along with our innovative training and player class system will give players an almost infinite learning curve. As with any 'sport' there will be leagues and tournaments, ranking systems, spectating and even a transfer market. Imagine downloading a 'highlights' program every evening to catch up on what you have missed or swapping highlights and replays with clan members. We are also already talking with some exciting companies regarding sponsorship and advertising, so picture yourself 'shopping' on the web site for a new 'branded' skin, or new armour. You will also be able to browse your league standings, transfer market and game results on compatible mobile phones. For anyone that already knows the Speedball series, you can expect the same fast, brutal, rule free gameplay underneath a mass of subtle and not-so-subtle new additions. For anyone that doesn't, think more UT / Capture the Flag than Soccer! This is not sport as you know it. There may not be any guns but I can promise there will be as much satisfaction in mastering the ball dynamics and landing a solid punch as perfecting your railgun technique. Obviously the big factor is teamplay. Obviously the big talking points have also been which technology we are using and on what platforms. Our comment on that at the moment is, predictably, 'no comment' other than that we will be supporting the platforms that allow us to do justice to our concept. The leak will not affect our official launch strategy or announcements, so expect much more regarding confimation of technology, publishers, platforms and strategic partners in the near future, as well as more facts and teasers and a proper website. What we have announced so far merely scratches the surface of what the final product will deliver, both in terms of features and also visual quality."
