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Academy of Champions Interview with Tuomas Pirinen

by Neal Ronaghan - September 10, 2009, 1:27 pm EDT

Ubisoft looks to shake up the arcade soccer genre by taking "the best of real soccer and [blending] it with over-the-top action in the vein of Shaolin Soccer."


We got to chat with Tuomas Pirinen, creative director at Ubisoft Vancouver, about Academy of Champions, which is an arcade soccer game that features a Hogwarts-like school atmosphere along with Pele, Mia Hamm, and Rabbids as playable characters.

Pirinen talks about the game's origins and influences, how they decided on what soccer stars and Ubisoft characters to include in the game, and how the game is enhanced by supporting both Wii MotionPlus and the Balance Board.

Nintendo World Report (NWR): What are the origins of Academy of Champions?

Tuomas Pirinen (TP): Almost two years ago we sat down and looked at the Wii. We noticed that simply porting games over to Wii is not the way to produce quality Wii games.

We wanted to do something sports-related, but with a twist. Many members of the team here at Ubisoft Vancouver are huge soccer fans, so it seemed natural to do a game based on the "Beautiful Game."

Then we wanted to see what kind of game would suit Wii. We wanted accessible controls, tons of unlockables, a story that everyone can follow, etc. In the end, the game concept came together surprisingly easily. Everyone at Ubisoft liked the idea, and here we are, with a brand new game ready for Wii owners.

NWR: What games have the team that's working on this game worked on before?

TP: The team has worked on a huge variety of games: FIFA, Need for Speed series, Dungeon Keeper, FIFA Street, NBA series… just to name a few!

NWR: How integral were Pele and Mia Hamm in the development of the game?

TP: We needed someone to be the Headmaster of the Academy, someone that EVERYONE would agree on –and there really is only one man, and that man is Pele. We contacted his agent, and we were lucky enough to get him to come aboard!

As for Mia, we wanted to ensure that there was something in there for soccer fans of all ages, males and females – so when it came to selecting another mentor who appears - as a student - at the Academy, again, we chose from a short list of one. Mia Hamm is highly regarded as one of the best players of all time, so we are delighted to have her so prominent in the game.

NWR: What made you decide to go with the school theme?

TP: We wanted to do something different from the standard linear tournament structure for our game. We also wanted our hero to be quite young, and we wanted the experience to be familiar even to those who don't play soccer.

Enrolling the player in the Academy was the right answer to our needs. All of us have gone to school, so we had no need to explain why you are there and what you are doing.

NWR: How do you feel about the comparisons of the school to Hogwarts?

TP: I personally find it quite amusing - our inspiration for the relationship between our hero and Pele was the student/teacher of Star Wars, we were thinking of Obi-Wan and Luke Skywalker. But after seeing the game fans came up with the Hogwarts comparison, and hey, it is not bad company to be in, though it was not our original inspiration.

NWR: Are there being any strokes being made to make the story mode more than just a bunch of soccer games?

TP: You can enjoy plenty of other activities during your stay at the Brightfield Academy.

You will practice and hone your skills in over a dozen mini-games ranging from goalkeeping to tackling, recruit dozens of players into your roster, and purchase items in the Academy shop run by a Raving Rabbid. You will even take school tests to see what you have learned thus far!

There is also a character called the "Shady Kid" that you will meet from time to time. See what he has for sale!

NWR: Was it a challenge to program a soccer game using the Wii Remote and Nunchuck?

TP: It was a challenge, but an enjoyable one. It is true that soccer games usually require quite complex controls, but then again, Wii gave us far more immersive controls, such as goalkeeper hands being directly mapped to Wii Remote and Nunchuk, and ability to launch Talent Strikes with a shake of the Wii Remote.

Our objective was to create controls the player could pick up in 30 seconds, and yet they would have enough depth to sustain the gameplay for many hours.

NWR: The game is said to use MotionPlus and the Balance Board. How are they worked into the game?

TP: Wii MotionPlus is used throughout the game to give a more intuitive layer of controls (as you can dodge and adjust the height of the passes and shots with the Wii Remote), and it also allowed us to pull off an additional move, a lob shot, to fox (trick) the goalkeeper.

For the Balance Board, we developed a specific mini-game that allows you to pull off crazy freestyle moves as if you were a football pro.

NWR: What makes this game different from the other soccer titles currently available on the Wii?

TP: First off, our game takes the best of real soccer and blends it with over-the-top action in the vein of Shaolin Soccer, while other soccer games sit firmly in one camp or the other. We also support all the latest hardware from Nintendo; I am especially happy how the Wii MotionPlus turned out.

We developed a bunch of fun mini-games to support the main gameplay experience. These range from tackling practice to goalkeeping and sprinting and we even have quick mini-games built into the core gameplay. We'd like to think that these features set us strongly apart from other soccer games.

NWR: What sets this game apart from soccer games on other systems - both past and present?

TP: Sports games normally follow a tournament structure. And while that works well for pure simulation games, we wanted to create something different, and thus the Story mode is a huge part of our game, and it really differs from the traditional and contemporary soccer game models.

NWR: With the Wii having a wide casual appeal, has the team designed the game to appeal to both casual and experienced gamers?

TP: Absolutely - since you can gain experience outside of the Story mode by playing one-off games and mini-games, no player can become completely stuck. We also have strong Adaptive AI that will allow both veterans and casual gamers to enjoy the game.

As for the experienced gamers, there are plenty of hard-to-reach unlockables and challenges in the game. See if you can beat the unlocking condition of Altair if you are a veteran player looking for a challenge! Also, see how close to the 100% complete you can get during the story mode. Unlocking everything in the game will take at least several full playthroughs.

NWR: What games influenced the development of Academy of Champions?

TP: We of course played every soccer game under the sun –several members of the team have worked on soccer games before, so they brought their experiences with them. But we also looked at a lot of story-driven action games to see how to do pacing and a special mention should go to Sega Soccer Slam!

NWR: What made you decide to put in the Ubisoft team and the Rabbids team? Are there possibilities for other hidden teams?

TP: It just seemed like too good of an opportunity to miss. When we pitched the idea, everyone at Ubisoft was very excited and we immediately started going through our favorite Ubisoft games to decide who should make it to the Ubisoft all-stars.

As for the Rabbids, we really could not even contemplate not having them! By the way, if you select a Rabbids vs. Rabbids match in Quick Play, you can play as the Black Raving Rabbids team!

We'd love to bring more classic Ubisoft characters into the game –who knows, perhaps if there is a sequel?

NWR: What's your favorite Talent Shot?

TP: My favorite Talent Shot is Altair's Eagle Strike –just bear in mind that he is a very difficult character to unlock, so you will have to work pretty hard to see it!

I also have to say I love Sam Fisher's Night Vision, too. It is great fun to sneak around the pitch unnoticed.

NWR: Any final thoughts for our readers?

TP: We made and designed Academy of Champions exclusively for Wii from the ground up. I hope you have as much fun playing the game as we had in creating it.

Big thanks to Tuomas Pirinen and the rest of Ubisoft for the interview!

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