Feature: Interview with Wipeout Pure Designer Colin Berry
We sit down and talk about SCE's upcoming high-paced racer as well as the capabilities and potential of Sony's PSP.
With the release of the PSP a little more than a month away, companies have been pressing hard to finish games in time for its release. We recently had a chance to dialogue with Colin Berry, Designer for Wipeout Pure on the PSP.
GamePro: Why a Wipeout on PSP?
Colin Berry: Wipeout is a franchise with a great heritage, and many people still associate the franchise with the launch of the PlayStation in Europe. The PlayStation 2 version was not everyone's taste and the PSP gives us the perfect chance to start the series over, by pulling together those elements from the earlier games which worked and also adding new features to help push the series forward.
GP: How will gameplay differ given the change from a console to handheld?
CB: There are changes to the gameplay, but these are less to do with the game being on a handheld machine and more to do with the general direction we wanted to take. The pit-lanes have gone to be replaced by a system where you can restore some energy by absorbing your pick-up instead of firing it, which would have been the case no matter what system the game was released on.
We have altered the physics and dynamics to make them more like the earlier Wipeout games where the ship would bounce and float, far more than Wipeout Fusion where it was locked to the track. One element that has been introduced as a direct result of the PSP is an alternative control method. The usual method of 'dual airbrakes' is still there, however there is also a new 'single airbrake' control method which was a direct result of adjusting controls to fit the machine.
The issue with a series like Wipeout, which has a well-known history, is that you cannot change the fundamental rules of the game. You cannot suddenly produce a Wipeout puzzle game! Wipeout has been synonymous with fast paced racing action, so you have to work within those boundaries. Elements can be introduced and altered, but you cannot destroy the core. In an effort not to fragment Wipeout Pure's gameplay, we cut back the amount of weapons and focused on producing a very fast racing game that does have weapons, but the emphasis is on racing, not killing.
Again, this was not a decision brought about by the PSP, it was a conscious decision based on where we wanted to take the game. The PSP does everything we want it to do, need it to do and more, so with Wipeout Pure we have actually benefited from the extra capabilities rather than things being sacrificed or changed.
GP: How different is it to make a game on a PSP compared to PS2 from a design perspective? For example, do you implement shorter levels and smaller features to accommodate for spurts of game play which tend to happen on handhelds more?
CB: With Wipeout Pure, we have not had to adjust too much from the point of view of short bursts of gameplay. The Wipeout franchise has always been a quick racing game series that has been structured to allow fast single races as well as longer league tournaments. The same has applied for Wipeout Pure. If people want to load-up Wipeout Pure and only play for 5 or 10 minutes then there is always going to be something there for them to play, alternatively if they want to have a longer gaming session they can.
Wipeout Pure is by no means a small game, but it does allow for short sessions of playing. That has been the case throughout the series, though. It's possible some other titles in different genres might have had to cut their levels up a little to accommodate short bursts of gameplay, but it was not an issue for Wipeout Pure. Racing games are a little different from some other genres as you have the advantage that they are generally already suited to short quick gaming sessions. In essence, we have the best of both worlds as Wipeout Pure is catered for both long and short gaming sessions without having to make sacrifices to the heart of the game.
One aspect of design we had to address with the PSP was that it has a few less 'game' buttons than a PS2 controller. So, from a design perspective we had to be clever in working out what controls we wanted and how to map them to the available buttons. We haven't been prevented from putting anything into the game because of the format, we have actually benefited from the PSP and made use of its features such as Wi-Fi, which has enabled us to introduce new elements to the series like downloadable content.
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