Feature: Interview with Wipeout Pure Designer Colin Berry --Page 2
GP: How does the battery life/software complexity trade-off play out in designing Wipeout? It has been said that Sony has set up guidelines for games to not have a shorter life than 2-3 hours.
CB: The battery life is determined by which systems inside the PSP you are using. If you are streaming music from the UMD this incurs a penalty of X; if you are using the Wi-Fi this incurs a penalty of Y. Therefore, there is a definite trade-off between battery life and design. In Wipeout Pure, there's no part of the machine we're not using at some point so the only option we had was to make sure systems are turned off when not in use.
GP: Do you inevitably have to make compromises to graphics to extend battery life?
CB: The number of polygons you're pushing doesn't directly affect the battery life. The battery life is affected by the clock frequency of the CPU and GPU, however reducing these wasn't really an option, as it would slow the framerate down.
GP: How difficult is it to develop on the PSP compared to the PS2? The PS2 is said to have high capabilities that are difficult to tap into.
CB: A lot easier. The PS2 is a challenge and returns dividends when used correctly, but it does take a while to master. The PSP is far easier and comes with excellent libraries to help developers get the most out of it.
GP: Is the development time and resources required to make a full PSP game less than or equal to PS2?
CB: Initially, for Wipeout Pure we thought we would have a smaller team than we did for Wipeout Fusion, but in the end the team size for Pure has grown to about the same as it was for Fusion, although its only been in the second half of the project that the size of the team has doubled to end up just over 20. A smaller machine doesn't mean a smaller game, so all the content still needs to be created.
I guess if people are simply porting an old PS2 game over then they may well have a smaller team size than they would for a PS2 game. However, we are not doing a port, the whole game is new, even the 4 classic tracks had to be built from scratch, so you need the resources. Time wise Wipeout Pure has taken a little over a year, while some PS2 games take three years or more and others are done in 9 months. So, I don't think there is really a 'usual' time for development anyway. It all depends upon the game.
GP: Will Wipeout focus more on single player or online?
CB: Both. The single player element cannot be ignored, as it is the bread and butter it has to satisfy people. The online aspect is very important though both for multiplayer gaming and downloadable content. No previous version of Wipeout has allowed eight players to play the same race together, so that is something we are proud of. We also are pioneering the downloading of content to a handheld machine, which is something that is very important. Allowing people once they have bought the game to download new tracks, ships, front-end skins and music is prolongs the game both in single-player and multiplayer.
GP: What are some of the inspirations behind Wipeout on PSP?
CB: For the most part the inspiration came from the previous versions of Wipeout and the reactions both positive and negative to various iterations, and the desire to produce the best version of the series to date. A little inspiration was taken from F-Zero on the GameCube, the original Mario Kart on the Super NES and probably on a subconscious level several other racing titles. However the main inspiration has always been the previous Wipeout games and Wipeout 2097 in particular.
GP: Metal Gear Acid being a card game--was that a let down when you first about heard it?
I'm probably in a minority here, but it was not a let down at all. They are trying something different and that has to be admired. In fact when I first heard, I was pleasantly surprised. It will be interesting to see how it actually plays. They have attempted something new possibly for time reasons, or maybe to tap into the 'card' culture that exists in handheld gaming already or possibly just for a change of direction. Whatever the reason, it is something which cannot be knocked at this point. Whether or not the hardcore Metal Gear fans buy into it remains to be seen, if they do then it could open the way for similar surprises in the future.
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