Sony's new "football" game

[Raven]

hxxp://ps2.ign.com/articles/607/607020p1.html


First Look: Road to Sunday
It's football. It's fighting. It's football/fighting?
by Jeremy Dunham

April 22, 2005 - Hot on the heels of its promising NBA '06 unveiling at the 2005 Sony San Diego Sports event, Sony Computer Entertainment also revealed a brand new football title scheduled for release later this year. Known as Road to Sunday the bizarre new gridiron entry from Red Zone Interactive is one of the strangest announcements I've seen in quite some time -- as not only is it a football title, but it's also a story-driven fighting game.

Yes, you heard that right. Road to Sunday is a football/fighting hybrid that takes the established sports knowledge of the internal Sony development studio and melds it with a one-on-one combat engine. This kind of genre-melding is another result of SCEA's commitment to producing plot-oriented sports titles from this point on, which representatives feel will open up additional gameplay options not thought feasible before.

"We're excited about creating a new gaming experience for both sports and entertainment videogame fans," said Mark Meyers, co-director, sports product development, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Road To Sunday creates a completely new genre that presents a unique action and story-driven gaming experience, while remaining true to our core of sports."

As for the storyline in question, it follows the exploits of a spoiled team owner named Blake Doogan. As the inheritor of a NAFA football team known as the Los Angeles Show, Doogan is quickly thrown into quite a predicament when his father dies in a mysterious yacht explosion at sea. As it turns out, Blake's dad was in major debt to a Jamaican crime lord known as Nestor Farrington -- a notorious gambler, pimp, and drug trafficker -- and now his pop's debt has become his debt. In order to pay off the kingpin and save his own hide, Blake is forced to enter his team of football players into an underground fighting organization to help earn the money. And from there, we're told, things start to get really interesting...

Though told from Blake's perspective, Road to Sunday will follow seven main characters of varying positions from the National American Football Association's unluckiest squad. Each character (be they quarterback, running back, wide receiver, linebacker, defensive lineman, defensive back, or kicker), will have their own unique abilities and maneuvers that will be imperative to the player's winning strategy. What's more, is that since your football team is battling other football teams in-between their actual games, the results of those fights will be reflected in a gridiron contest. So if you take one of the Miami Mako's primary players out in hand-to-hand combat, his team will be that much weaker on game day. But the same rings true for your guys too -- because if you hurt on of your own, you're going to be in trouble on Sunday afternoon.


This time, football isn't the only battle you'll have to win.
To make the game even more interesting, Road to Sunday also features a full-fledged gambling simulation that enables players with the ability to play poker, blackjack, and bet their earnings in various other fields through a couple of shady bookies. You can travel through the city of Los Angeles via a map system too, and go work out at the gym to build up player attributes or partake in other sidequests to move the story along. Weird!

Sony's big selling point with Road to Sunday is what Red Zone is calling PSG or Position Specific Gameplay. Through this system, users will be able to play a game of simulation football similar to what the GameDay series used to offer, but with a few key changes. Once a play has been selected from your playbook, for example, you'll then have the option to take direct control of one of your seven key characters so that they can make something special happen. Selecting the wide receiver means that you'll have a better chance of tethering and striking oncoming tackles via special moves, while playing as the defensive end will allow you to bull rush quarterbacks with greater authority and anticipate the snap better. Little details like this are what Sony hopes will set Road to Sunday apart from EA's upcoming NFL-exclusive Madden franchise.

Unfortunately the Road to Sunday presentation was kept pretty short, so there's still a lot to be learned regarding how everything works, and how all the various gameplay elements blend together. Sony did mention, however, that the game is chalk-full of RPG elements related to player development and their characterization throughout the 16-week season. There's a new passing and defensive control system too, but just how deep these go, we have yet to find out.

Of course, we'll be back with even more on Road to Sunday in a couple of weeks as we report from the 2005 Electronic Entertainment Expo. Check out the first batch of concept art and screenshots on our media page below while you wait.

[Passacaglia]

This sounds so awesome. Of course, it won't be on PC, I assume.

[Desnudo]

I can't believe they left out having your secondary go on tactical counter-terrorism missions during the off-season.

[rkmsuf]

sounds terrible. there's so much there that either it all sucks or one part is good the rest not.

[rjolley]

What's the NBA game they mentioned in the first sentence?

[Raven]

The NBA Game



Sony Unveils NBA 2006
Ed Lewis

Thu Apr 21, 8:00 PM

Sony Computer Entertainment America has announced that it will be releasing NBA 2006 in October of this year for the PS2. The ShootOut series is officially over and development team Sony San Diego will be in charge of this new hoops title. The game will be a year-in-the-life game that follows a rookie player all the up from nothing to a championship game. More than just a basketball game, this new title will incorporate story and RPG elements into one man's quest to be in the big leagues.

Players will make the main character from scratch and will be able to make them look exactly like themselves if they want to. Using the same EyeToy technology as both World Tour Soccer 2006 and MLB 2006, NBA 2006 lets players take a picture of themselves and map it onto the in-game character. After the pretty face has been attached there's a long path ahead to get to the top.

As a rookie, the main character needs to develop some skills. He can do a pre-draft workout to earn higher attributes that will get him some attention. He can also earn things such as guaranteed contracts, endorsements, and commercials. But to get going on the path it's important to choose a team to try and get into and it's easier if he has an agent to help him out.

Once the player has chosen a team, he will go to the draft night in New York City. If he's drafted there, he'll go on to play in the summer pro league. Do well enough in the summer league and he'll be invited to the team's training camp where he'll compete to win the position he's after.

Along the way, the game will play out like a regular basketball game with five-on-five gameplay with several games to play in. NBA 2006 won't be skimping on the regular games, but it will also include some scenarios and mini-games along the way where the character can grow and develop his skills even further. This will give the game some RPG and adventure aspects to it.

Off of the court there will be plenty of drama. There will be over 200 cutscenes with voices that are being done by 25 different actors. Players can also develop relationships with their teammates, coaches, and agents. They can even develop arch-rivals

On the technical side, NBA 2006 will be sporting some new animations as well as some more realistic physics. There will be a huge adventure and the story, but the core of the game will still be about the actual playing of the basketball.

Be sure to check back later this evening for more information and impressions from Jeremy Dunham as well as some screens and direct-feed footage.

[rjolley]

Thanks for that info.

Both sound interesting. Hopefully they can pull off a game as interesting as the writeup.

[Surtt]

I think we can thank EA Sports for this.

[Calis]

The basketball game sounds pretty nifty. I always thought that the console "arcade" sports games where just dry. I have a blast playing them with a couple friends, but almost never play them single player. Think with something like this added, it would go a long way towards changing that.

The football game however, sounds like....uhh, I don't even know. Odd.

[FBPro]

Neither is on my "gotta have" list. Hoops sux and the "football" game...well ugh is about all I can say.

[TazFTW]

Originally Posted by Surtt

I think we can thank EA Sports for this.

No, you can thank the NFL. They were the ones that were offering an exclusive licensing deal, why would EA not want to pay for that? If EA didn't pay up someone else would have.

[Ksyrup]

This game is so "true to the sport," Mike Tice gets fined for entering his players in the fighting contest, only after denying it twice, then revising his story to admit he played rock'em sock'em robots with Corey Chavous. As an assistant coach.

[CraigSca]

From the article: "is chalk-full of RPG elements "

What's that?

[hoosierdude]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

From the article: "is chalk-full of RPG elements "

What's that?

From what I have heard, think "Vice City" with Football thrown in (loosely based, but a strong influence I understand.)

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Hope O get to decapitate the other teams stud QB and be rid of him.

[jaygr]

If the used the concept in of the NBA game with football instead, I'd have my dream game of the last few years. A football/rpg hybrid would be great. NCAA 2006 sounds like it will be getting close to this, and then there is this NBA game, so I hope a football one isn't too far off.

[Vince]

Does anyone else think this game (the NFL one) is the most retarded idea ever imagined? I couldn't stop laughing while reading the article.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by TazFTW

No, you can thank the NFL. They were the ones that were offering an exclusive licensing deal, why would EA not want to pay for that? If EA didn't pay up someone else would have.

Yeah and the NFL will be bitching in 6 months, just like they did with PlayMakers.

[Desnudo]

Originally Posted by Vince

Does anyone else think this game (the NFL one) is the most retarded idea ever imagined? I couldn't stop laughing while reading the article.

It sounds pretty dumb. I'm not saying you need a perfectly explainable plotline for a good game, but this one is just senseless. I'd prefer they update that old football game for Genesis where you could pick different monster teams and blow the other players up.

[General Mike]

Originally Posted by Desnudo

It sounds pretty dumb. I'm not saying you need a perfectly explainable plotline for a good game, but this one is just senseless. I'd prefer they update that old football game for Genesis where you could pick different monster teams and blow the other players up.

The Mutant League games were made by EA

[KWhit]

Wow. That football game is gonna suck.

[kcchief19]

I wonder if one of the key features of both games will be going to a bar after the game and getting drunk while hitting on chicks or getting into a bar fight with Steve Kuffrey.

[Sidhe]

That is the worst game I have ever heard of. That is worse than Sierra Sports Bullriding.

[ISiddiqui]

Man, that football game was funny. All they need is rampant drug use just for a big fuck you to the NFL .

[CHEMICAL SOLDIER]

Originally Posted by ISiddiqui

Man, that football game was funny. All they need is rampant drug use just for a big fuck you to the NFL .

That would be so cool.

[LionsFan10]

This game sounds absolutely terrible.

[ISiddiqui]

Originally Posted by CHEMICAL SOLDIER

That would be so cool.

Do you get the feeling that this game is just to piss the NFL off?

[stevew]

Someone needs to remake CyberBall.

[sterlingice]

Originally Posted by stevew

Someone needs to remake CyberBall.

Was that the one on the Genesis which was kindof football but not really- it was more robot combat? Like base wars, but for football.

SI

[jackyl]

Cyberball is still played via MAME and Kaillera. Check this out: http://cyberball.infotecturesolutions.com/ .

[Ragone]

Is this game gonna be like playmakers i guess... Golly jee i hope i get to run for 150 yards.. then after the game go home and beat my girlfriend.. then head out and get drunk at a bar.. have my entourage stab some guy trying to get an autograph.. and get wisked away to the apartment i pay for that my mistress stays in

[Passacaglia]

Geez, lighten up, people! This game sounds HILARIOUS!