Something green in the works...

Heya friends, I forgot to write something for today. However I am working on something for later this week. It does have something to do with comic books. I wonder if you can guess what it is…

Have you been reading any comic books these days? I’d like to find out about them in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

Why I Shouldn't Blog E3 For 1UP! - A 1UP classic from April 07, 2005

There are a lot of qualified people going for the coveted spot of 1UP E3 blogger, but there are several reasons why I feel I'm the most qualified for the spot. I define myself as a gamer. Hardcore, true-blue, never give up, that all applies to me. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep all I think about is breaking into the game industry. For the past few years this is all that I obsess about. The only thing that keeps me going after many letters of rejection are those 3 days in May.

You can ask my family and you can ask my friends. I live and breath for only three days of the year. My birthday, Christmas, New Years and Superbowl combined don't mean as much to me as the E3. Sounds crazy? I can only say that after having touched the face-of-God known as the E3. Nothing else compares. But let me take you back a few years, way back to 1999.

Well even before 99 really. Back when my brothers and friends first found out about the E3 we were in high school. The E3 had moved from LA to Atlanta following on the heels of the new ATL Convention Center and the Olympics. My friend Robert and I were trying to convince our parents to let us fly out to Altlanta, stay at his sister's house and forge passes to get into the expo. Our parents thought we had completely lost our minds. Just how much did videogames really mean to us? People talk the talk but my friend and I walk the walk. We had budgeted ourselves for the expo and had even talked to a travel agent about tickets. We would do and try anything to get into the expo even if it meant running away... but our parents kept us on lock-down until we finished high school.

A few years later my friend Robert and I were newly-enrolled college students. The E3 was returning to Los Angeles. Being a lifer since the pinball machine was replaced with Asteroids (I can actually remember a time when pinball machines still took about 60% of the arcades). I knew that we had no excuse to miss out on the E3 happening in our back yard.

We concocted a plan, an impossible dream that you can't get away with today. We were going to get into the E3 with false credentials... We got hold of some applications, went to the local Kinkos and made up some phony business cards.

Since the E3 is supposed to be "industry only" we figured to put on our best suits and look the part. Although we later found out that it's casual, people treat you a lot better when you look like a professional.

This part may come as a shocker but in 1999, the tickets for the E3 (exhibits only) were $50. Moreover you got one guest pass for every ticket purchased. My two brothers bought tickets so they joined Robert and I and we invited four more friends. In 2000 ticket prices went up to $150 and no guest passes were given out to ticket purchases. Prices for E3 tix has steadily increased and security has become more stringent in the past few years.

We set out to the LA Convention Center with our friends, cameras and skateboards in tow. You'll find out about the skateboards later. We parked a few blocks away, walked to the CC, waited in the registration line and picked up our badges. On the way we ran into some publicity seekers.

The next few hours and days were filled with many sights and sounds, and easily could be more than enough to overwhelm even the most jaded gamer or industry veteran. Just typing about the E3 in 1999 makes my heart pound.

The first thing you notice is the deafening sound coming from all of the booths. The sound levels have been cut back but Electronic Arts always seems to ignore that policy. The displays themselves are glorious. I mean, Walt Disney would even take a step back in amazment at the sheer scale of some of the bigger booths. Giant robots, military vehicles, skateboard halfpipes... you simply cannot brace yourself for what you can expect to see.

We split into groups and all went our separate ways. Robert and I were checking out the skateboarding games, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater was being debuted and almost the entire Neversoft staff and Tony Hawk himself was out there promoting the game. Now you know why I brought skateboards.

The sad part was that most of the attendees (even Robert) had no idea who Tony was or what the game was about. So many people passed on the title... Little did they know that a few months later Tony would land his first 900 at the X-Games and the momentum would carry over to the game where it would become an instant hit and bring skateboarding to the mainstream...

Fortunately for me I was a skateboarder, knew them by sight and could approach them at the expo and seek autographs. The first person I saw after Tony was Colin McKay, I was turning a corner when I saw him sitting down behind a ramp and just chilling before a demo. I asked "You're Colin McKay?" And he turned, nodded and looked at me funny.

I was wearing a tux after all and looked like just another businessman at the expo. I looked over his shoulder "And you're Bucky Lasek, and you're Rune Glifburg, and you're Bob Burnquist! Holy shi... can I have some autographs?!?!?!?!"

The skaters were more than happy to oblige as I was the only person in a sea of suits that knew who they were and was down with skateboarding. Many an attendee just stared as I pulled out skateboard after skateboard and poster after poster from my backpack. Not a one knew why I was getting autographs or even who the riders were. (Today you can't go to the expo without seeing one or two skateboards being carried by autograph hounds)

When the demo started the arm candy on many power players would whistle and yell "go higher!" as if the skaters were trick ponies sent to amuse them. I walked away wondering if any of the people would ever remember who they saw that day.

 
We went on to convention hall after convention hall picking up swag and playing games. Sony had impressed us with the scale of their display, they were put between Sega and Nintendo in the North Hall. Promoting Gran Turismo 2 Sony put real race cars on the walls of their booth.

Not to be outdone, Nintendo featured the full-scale Anakin Skywalker racing pod from Star Wars Episode I just above their name. It was so low overhead that you could look inside the pod and touch it... Now that's money!

We walked and walked and walked until we were exhausted. Our legs gave out shortly before the expo had ended and very few of us had the strength to return the following days. Having carried around 30lbs. of skateboards had left me the most drained but also the most determined to return the following two days. My legs cramped so bad that night that I awoke vomiting from the pain. But the following day I put on my suit and went back to war.

The expo meant so much to me that I had to share my experiences with my friends and family that couldn't make it. So I gave up all my swag and carefully documented the experience in pictures and video for them so they wouldn't feel left out. To this day I still give away all of my swag and make videos and now DVD's for my family and friends. I know that I could cover the magic of the expo better than any blogger or journalist only because I have been there and each and every day I think about videogames even more than food or sex!

In 2000 I offered the webmaster of the Tony Hawk's Pro Skater Online FAQ (later renamed PlanetTonyHawk.com) full coverage of the THPS2 title. He accepted and I began writing for the site on that day. Given our dedication to the series we've dropped more exclusives online thanks to the E3 and all of the skateboarders I had first contacted in 99.

I was also the webmaster of the Hydro Thunder Fanpage and had scored an exclusive interview with Team Hydro regarding the arcade sequel.

The industry knew the arcade scene was coming to an end, at least in the US, so Hydro Thunder 2 never came to fruition and the team left Midway to found Swinging Ape Studios and release the critically acclaimed Metal Arms - Glitch in the System.

 
Although Midway seemed to have the budget to finish the lackluster Mortal Kombat 4, Off Road Thunder and Arctic Thunder (which G4TV claims as the most interactive arcade game) they spurned the arcade community by not following through on HT2. I still have the only two screenshots know to exist on the remade HT2 boats straight from Team Hydro.

2000 was also a turning point in the industry. Booths weren't as lavish as the industry entered a slight recession that followed through to the E3 for the next few years. I still have yet to see displays grander and more over the top than in 1999. Ticket prices to the expo had gone up and this time only Robert and myself went. We made the most of it and still look back with fond memories.

In 2001 Robert and I no longer qualified as members of the industry since we were full-time college students. But after having seen so much I would not let myself be denied. A friend at Crave scored me a guest pass and then let onto something that would turn out to be very true these past two years.

Although the E3 is an industry only event, guest passed used to be given out to developers by the box load. Many a kid under-18 managed to get in and more than a few guest passes ended up on eBay. So from 2001 on guest passes would be restricted. My contact at Crave had to sign off for me and I had to vow now to share the pass with anybody. He did this favor for me again in 2002.

In 2003 Crave had cut backs and my friend was laid-off. I was still determined to go to the expo and I asked Neversoft if they could do me a huge favor. Since I had now been covering the expo for PlanetTonyHawk.com for the past few years, plus had submitted volumes of ideas for the series (many of which made their way into the games), if they could score me a guest pass. They obliged and made it into the expo by the skin of my teeth.

The webmaster of PTH Trevor "Slateman" Esposito flew in from New York on his own dime and was given a guest pass from GameSpy. GameSpy offers one pass for each hosted site but does not offer to pick up the tab for flying or rooming during the convention. From that day on Slate and I have covered the expo as a team. I even made tee shirts to celebrate the expo given to Slate, myself, some of the people at Neversoft and Tony Hawk himself.

Where else but at the expo can you get the chance to meet and talk with the president of a small publisher and then share that information with a fan site dedicated to the game rather than some big magazine site? For example I got a chance to talk to the president of Torus games about Carmageddon 3 since Torus had aquired the rights from Stainless. There were many fans around the world wondering what the quality of the game would be like coming from a different publisher. This small news and many others would be overlooked by many magazines going to the convention only to cover the biggest game releases.

Last year was the straw that broke the camels back. Organizers of the Expo had taken so much criticism for allowing non-industry types in that guest passes were only given out by royal decree. Even Neversoft was not given any passes last year.

Having exhausted all of my contacts I called in the favor of all favors. I asked Tony Hawk if he could ask Activision for a guest pass on my behalf. They looked and looked and when they got back to Tony even they were flabbergasted, there is one guest pass among one of the biggest publishers in the world and they passed it on to me. Has the security policy become so bold as to deny anyone that even inquires about guest passes let they be a multi-billion dollar publisher or a small developer?

Since that time Tony has "lost" my e-mail address and Neversoft is under a strict no outside contact policy. I asked well in advance this year to see if there was any possible way I could get into the expo. The prognosis was grim. Neversoft had been denied guest passes again and even Activision was not an option. The word is that guest passes were requested from an Activision-sponsored talent for the family of a boy battling leukemia... that selfless request sparked friction from the industry and E3 organizers. It is still not determined if the boy can go. Can you believe that? It is one thing to do the right thing, but given that the industry is money-driven let's put it another way, "You can't buy that kind of PR for granting the wish of a kid that's had to battle uphill just for the right to live"...argh!!!

So it looks that for the first time in my miracle six-year run I too will be denied the glory. I had requested the time off from work already. I had even ordered new tee's for Slateman, Tony and the guys at Neversoft. I was budgeting myself for MiniDV film and a pair of comfortable shoes for the expo. I was looking forward to producing another video for my brothers and my cousins and my friends, but the closer we get to the E3 the more I realize it may not happen. On the second week of May I may be forced to settle for sitting in front of the TV playing games knowing full-well that not more than 15 minutes away my Christmas/ Birthday/ SuperBowl/ NewYears has been taken from me.

I am reduced to begging for passes from 1UP, whose editors I may have already spurned. I am reduced to competing against far more talented wordsmiths. I am forced to admit that a person that has never been should get the chance to go more than a fat skater that's been so many times.
Damned if I didn't want to give it one more go around.

Or maybe I want to go to the E3 so I can see her again. The super-cute British Activision employee that made a pass at me in 2000, and in my ignorance did not notice so I have been kicking myself every day since.

As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Disney Sports Network, final part - A 1UP classic from July 9, 2010

What was the ultimate failure of the Disney Sports Network and who was to blame? What lessons, if any, did the industry learn from these games? There were four Gamecube and two Gameboy Advance titles in the DSN series. Was this brand exclusivity because the powers that be at Konami thought that Nintendo was the only platform where the titles would work? Did Konami think that Nintendo had the same family friendly reputation synonymous with Disney? What about the cast of friendly characters, were they inviting or insulting sport fans or casual game fans? Was the game too simplistic in concept and too complex in execution? Was the DSN series a case of greed, where one company licensed a popular name but placed it over as many games as they could with mediocre gameplay? If these things were true then the failure of the DSN series would fall squarely with Konami.

The new Disney President, Bob Iger, thinks the company should put more Disney games on Nintendo platforms and for that matter Marvel titles on more powerful consoles. Was this logic valid given the cold reception to Disney games on systems like the Xbox 360 and PS3 over the past decade? Or did Disney have a bad reputation among the community because their games were lackluster and the company tended to flood the market with title after title for the consoles, handheld and PC? When the titles did move off shelves was it the Disney name that sold them rather than reviews or word of mouth? Titles from Disney Interactive have not developed much of a reputation. When working in conjunction with large publishers like Konami or UbiSoft, very few of their collaborations have ever met with great success. If Disney was bad at making games and even worse at making game decisions then the failure of the DSN series would fall squarely on Disney.

Both Disney and Konami were partially responsible for the success and failure of the series. Konami made a serious attempt at creating a legitimate, well-researched and fun sports series for the Nintendo consoles. They had all of the elements to go head-to-head with EA or any other sports publisher, including Sega and Activision without actually making any sim titles. By limiting the gameplay elements to sports they could focus on getting the Disney characters "right." Any other developer / publisher would either make a half-hearted movie tie-in game or struggle to invent a plot and story to wrap around the characters. After fighting with the mechanics and gameplay the lesser studios would forget the most important thing; the amount of work it took to bring the characters to life. Konami was an exception to this because the characters took the highest priority in their games. Disney legends lent their voices to the projects and Disney family members their insight. These things were reflected in every detail both big and small. The art, the cameos, the grudges and the rivalries all seemed fresh yet familiar. Both publishers tried their best at marketing and promoting the games but few were willing to listen.

Konami of Japan shaped the canon and history of the Disney icons in sports. Not since the art of / how to videos featuring Goofy made their debut in 1941 have we seen a focused attempt at making the Disney characters relevant in sports culture. The six DSN titles released between 2002-2003 were a footnote in game history but their influence did not disappear. The Japanese take of the designs featured in the DSN series would be emulated again and again in graphic as well as figure art. The titles may have disappeared from the gamer consciousness but not entirely from the collective unconsciousness. The Japanese, more than any western developer had an understanding as to the importance of remaining true to the characters. This held especially true for modern game designers.

 

Fans of the Kingdom Hearts series could tell you how true Tetsuya Nomura and Square-Enix were to the source material and more important, how respectful they were of the legacy. That RPG series took many artistic liberties with the character designs of Mickey, Donald, Goofy, Minnie, Pete... well, almost all the icons that were also featured in Disney Sports Network. These stylistic changes were made because the plot demanded it. Square-Enix was able to reinvent the characters while respecting their origins and importance in the universe. They began the series in 2002, the same year that Konami was trying to make the characters into sporting icons. While the latter did not take off, the former developed a massive following, the first Kingdom Hearts game sold almost 9 million copies worldwide. Disney must thank Kingdom Hearts for giving them a good reputation among core gamers. The approach that the Japanese had with the characters settled very well with gamers. They did not simply stick the Disney characters into a typical genre and follow the trends, nor did they try to create a dumbed-down game experience and slap a character on the box. They presented the characters in roles as heroes and villains and allowed them a wide range of emotions and expressions. They were free to be brave and fierce, empathetic and angry through the series. They gave audiences a dramatic plot which was far more complex than those of typical mascot games as well as gameplay dynamics missing from most Western developed Disney titles. These things intrigued gamers, both Disney fans and not. They made the mascots more identifiable than anything Disney had done, animation-wise, in over a decade.

Those at Square-Enix and Konami created worlds that perfectly complimented the characters. They were placed in scenarios unique to either Western or Eastern audiences or in sports leagues more fantastic than any existing ones. Kingdom Hearts and the Disney Sports Network were titles set outside of canon, yet ended up influencing all the universes involved. These things were accomplished thanks to the insight and support of the Disney family, legends and Interactive group. The Disney purist might not approve of me saying so but Mickey Mouse became relevant to young audiences because of the Japanese and their videogames, not because of Walt and his cartoons. Disney should recognize this and see how they could capitalize on this bold approach to their own characters for future games. There are many classic characters waiting for their moment to shine, for the right game to come along. Junction Point was given the creative freedom to do this, to explore the mascots in new and nostalgic ways because the road was paved by Square-Enix and Konami. Epic Mickey will attempt to make the characters relevant as both heroes and icons to the world once more. Mickey Mouse will be given the lead role in a game not designed or marketed towards young children. The decision to let the character sell the game rather than let the name sell the game will be a giant step towards making audiences embrace the name once more.

Provided that Konami and Disney Interactive had learned from their mistakes, and there are many signs that they have, then it would be great to see the Disney Sports Network return. Undoubtedly the series would be much closer to the original vision of bringing not only the Disney characters but the theme parks to life. Both studios have grown and evolved greatly since then and I foresee a time when the characters will become recognizable sports figures as much as cartoon and videogame icons.

I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!

The Disney Sports Network, part 5 - A 1UP classic from July 8, 2010

Konami and Disney Interactive did not create the arcade sport experience. Nor were they the first to bring it to consoles. They did however set a standard that gamers looked for in every non-sim sport title. The best of the lot and the one most closely emulated was Disney Sports Soccer. It made it's debut in 2002 and has held up well over the years. The combination of fantastic playing fields, magical powers and appropriate redesigns of iconic characters was seen more recently in another Nintendo game.

The Super Mario Strikers series, developed by Next Level games, was first published by Nintendo in 2005. It incorporated many of the elements seen in Disney Sports Soccer and developed a few of its own. The game had a more aggressive feel than the Disney title as the field was bordered by an electric fence, which players could shove opponents into, as well as elements from the Mario series like the Chain Chomp and Thwomps which could litter the field and become obstacles. For many gamers the best thing that Next Level did with the series were the character redesigns.

Most of the Mario cast returned in this game with a visual overhaul. The colors assigned to the characters were familiar, however it was the cut of the uniforms and associated designs which showed much more attitude than gamers were used to seeing. This was especially true for the family-friendly cast. In 2007 the concept art for the Strikers sequel showed even more attitude than any Mario game to date. The once soft and round characters were now drawn with sharp angles and angry expressions. Was it pretentious to have Western developers (Next Level was a Canadian studio) redesign the popular Japanese characters or was it refreshing? That depended on many variables. The redesigns were good but ultimately dated by their design choices. They seemed too pop, owing more to the tastes and trends of contemporary character designs. Whereas the Disney titles featured uniforms, patterns and color combinations that were closer to traditional cuts but could not be dated to any particular era or design trend.

There was a fine line between updated designs that were appropriate for a character and those that were absurd. The ones that made the most sense were applied to a particular genre. In the sports world it was logical that Mario and company wore uniforms that fit on the soccer field. Running around in tight overalls and clumsy boots would not have been silly. These characters also had to be presented with stern faces and serious expressions. Sports may be fun but competition can also be highly intense. It was only appropriate that Mario and his friends be set with a hint more attitude and aggressiveness than gamers are used to seeing. This helped add a new dimension to the character, while complimenting the things that were universally understood about the character, including his bravery and selflessness. The concept art provided for the Disney sport games did much of the same thing. They presented the icons with more expressions of attitude than gamers were used to seeing. My coworker commented that Mickey Mouse should never be scowling, he was supposed to be a perpetually cheerful and friendly character. I reminded her, as Epic Mickey will remind audiences, that the Disney characters were once capable of showing a broad range of emotion, including anger, fear and resentment. These things did not detract from the characters but instead made them appear more alive and personable. Especially more than any grinning mascot on a tee shirt ever could.

Emotive qualities added a dynamic to the cast that also reflected their personality. It was something too easily missed by most designers trying to recreate or re-imagine the icons. Attitude became a replacement for substance. Iconic characters that were made famous in the 1930's soon found it hard to remain relevant, at least under modern producers. In 2004, between the Disney and Mario redesigns, the classic Looney Tunes characters were recast by Warner Bros. as superheroes with plenty of 'tude. Loonatics Unleashed failed to make a significant impact with audiences and was in fact petitioned against for having character designs that were too edgy and stylized. The series was cancelled after two seasons. Critics pointed out that the characters lacked the personality and dimension of the icons they were trying to emulate. They feared that the show was pandering to the "extreme" generation without taking into account all of the elements that made the original characters like Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and the Tazmanian Devil work.

The problem of giving classic cartoon characters special powers was not limited to the WB. Disney brought back an old Donald Duck comic book alter ego known as the Paperinik / the Duck Avenger / Phantom Duck. The various nicknames were shortened to PK Duck and a videogame bearing his likeness was released. Despite having an actual legacy to fall back on, the reception to the character and game was chilly, scoring less than average in most reviews. Players had expected that a Disney game with Donald Duck as the protagonist would end up being more like the better received Goin' Quackers. Both games were actually developed by UbiSoft, demonstrating that some redesigns did not work well even from the same publisher of a previous solid game.

The use of attitude and contemporary design choices have not always worked well for characters. Too much reliance on visual appeal, rather than reflecting personality type, or staying true to the character's origin have sunk many cartoon as well as videogame characters over the past 15 years. When done correctly even the biggest of the names, like Mickey Mouse could be given an extreme makeover while still retaining the classic charm. Audience saw how Pete (as the enormous Julius) and Mickey swapped places in the animated short Runaway Brain. It was a clear example of how even the most extreme changes to an icon could work under the right circumstances. It demonstrated how design and purpose are meant to work together and not one taking precedence over the other.

But I digress... I was speaking more on how Konami was able to create a legacy that would be emulated around the industry.

Nintendo was not the only studio that created an arcade soccer experience. Sega had released a 3-on-3 soccer game in 2002, the same year as Disney Sports Soccer. Sega's Soccer Slam had a familiar, frenetic gameplay with over-the-top character designs, tight but memorable stadiums and special attacks. It was a very fluid game that relied on quick reflexes and expert timing to be enjoyed and was one of the few arcade soccer titles that was rated higher than Disney Sports Soccer. The use of passes, attacks and combos in dribbling was akin to the "Street" series of games that EA was producing.

EA was not asleep during the early 2000's. They had become keenly aware as to what Konami, Disney, Sega and Nintendo were producing but did not have an answer right away.

Electronic Arts was responsible for relaunching the arcade-style sports game for consoles with the debut of NBA Street in 2001, which also happened to be one of my favorite games of all-time. Considered by many to be the spiritual successor to Midway's NBA Jam series, EA was able to incorporate the MixTape style of playground basketball with high profile athletes. EA took the superstar athletes out of the stadiums, dressed them down and used actual courts from around the country. This endeared the franchise to the gamers that felt EA was spending too much time creating sim experiences and ignoring the elements that made many fall in love with the sport to begin with.

The success of NBA Street caused EA to launch an entire franchise of games, covering many of the same bases as the Disney Sports titles over the next eight years. A sequel to NBA Street in (2003) and even and the first entry of NFL Street (2004) were released before they created a soccer entry for their catalogue. There were some great elements in FIFA Street. Lessons that they learned from the other entries in the series. Not the least of which were the high-profile names to attach to the project or the dazzling locations found outside of the stadiums.

Unfortunately, like Disney Sports Soccer, EA found that it set a high mark with it's first game but was unable to recreate the magic in other genres. The NBA Street series managed to maintain consistently high scores yet NFL Street rated slightly higher than average and FIFA Street barely average scores after debuting. It was the last version, FIFA Street 3 released in 2008 which had the most dramatic overhaul to the visuals and controls. The game incorporated nuances from the NFL title, in which characters could run along walls for short bursts to get around opponents, as well as build a combo meter to unleash a powerful strike. Despite these things the game failed to break into the scores seen for the NFL and NBA games. The perfect arcade soccer formula had managed to elude EA, in this regard Konami and Disney had upset the behemoth. What EA did manage to accomplish was become one of the first western developers to clue into the use of exaggerated proportions for sport titles.

EA had been using exaggerated proportions early on in the franchise. Characters in their respective sports looked like distorted versions of actual athletes. American Football players were thicker and more muscular, NBA players taller and lankier and soccer players very diverse in their proportions. To get a sense as to how far EA has stretched the proportions over the years compare the realistic style of the characters in Madden 11 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 to the cartoonish athletes for the Nintendo Wii. The use of simpler models for the Wii might be due to the limited processing power of the console, however the character designs had become very popular in gaming regardless of system. The last of their Street titles, which happened to be the FIFA game, highlighted this transition from realistic to cartoonish proportions.

Other studios in the west were keen on this style of art and presentation and began incorporating it into their own games. When Academy of Champions Soccer was announced I was intrigued with how UbiSoft was going to approach the arcade soccer style. Would it have the same charm of Disney Sports Soccer? The fast paced matches of Sega Soccer Slam? The polish or Mario Strikers? Or would it fail to make a significant impact among gamers? One thing was certain, the 2009 title had a very bold artistic style. It was something that I covered in a blog titled How sports changed the 3D aesthetic. The game itself had an arcade feel and introduced adventure-style quick time events to shake defenders from steaking the ball. This element slowed down the pace of the game and possibly did not work well for a sport title, but the other elements seemed to work very well together. The artistic direction was unique, the level designs meant to conjure up images of magic and super powers for the young football stars, and cameos from the UbiSoft library appeared as playable characters.

The control had incorporated a very progressive gameplay tool. Players could mark where on the net they planned to strike via a red bullseye and could concentrate on passing the ball and setting up the shot instead. Players could freely move this target as they progressed up the field. It was something that I do not think had ever been done before in any soccer game and a minor gameplay element which made the game special. UbiSoft managed to rate higher than all of the FIFA Street games, according to Metacritic, but failed to approach the reactions set by Sega Soccer Slam or Disney Sports Soccer. The question for the industry was what else they learned from the attempt to get the Disney Sports Network off the ground? I shall go over this in my next and final blog on this series.

Did you play any game in the DSN series? Were you a fan of any of the arcade style sports games? I’d like to hear about it in the comments section. As always if you would like to sponsor me please visit my Patreon page and consider donating each month, even as little as $1 would help make better blogs and even podcasts!