Soccer Gaming

New Star Games are an independantly run video gaming company, specialising in alternative sports titles for the PC / Mac gaming world. Along with their most recent release, Sensational World Soccer, New Star Games have been responsible for the popular New Star Soccer Series, a review of which is available here. I recently got the opportunity to ask some questions to Simon Read, the man behind the company and the developer of these titles. This is the opportunity for the SG community to take a look at how an indie game developer views the football gaming market and what game developing is actually like away from huge gaming companies

Firstly, Can You Tell The Soccer Gaming Community A Little About Yourself. Your Backgroud, Acamdemic If Applicable, Previous Gaming Jobs If Any.
 I grew up in the era of Spectrums, C64s and Amstrads and used to write football manager games in BASIC. As I got older I kind of left all that behind and went off to university to study English Literature. Years later I realised that I still loved programming and started writing games in my spare time. I’d never worked in the games industry at all but was fortunate enough to create a game called New Star Soccer which really caught people’s imaginations.
 
The New Star Soccer Series was around before Become a Legend / Be A Pro on the more mainstream titles. Where did you get the idea to build a game focusing on one player?
 Initially I wanted to make a simple text-based game which generated incidents that might occur to a professional footballer. A sort of David Beckham simulator, if you like. That turned out to be New Star Soccer 1 and the series has evolved from there. The main inspiration for it was an old Gremlin game on the Spectrum called ‘Footballer Of The Year’.
  
 NSS borrows heavily from the RPG genre, would you say this has influenced the direction of the series? If so, which games?
 There are indeed RPG elements but I couldn’t pinpoint any specific RPG games that have been a direct influence on New Star Soccer. Championship Manager and Sensible Soccer were a much bigger influence. I think the role-playing elements occur naturally when making a football career game. 

Could you see the NSS becoming a console game, perhaps on PSN or X Box Live, or do you believe PC is the best platform for Indie developers?
 So far the games have been PC and Mac only as I enjoy using the programming language BlitzMax to create the games. Currently BlitzMax doesn’t support console or handheld development, although that may change soon, so hopefully we’ll see future games on new platforms.
 
As a developer, what motivates you to keep releasing updates to the NSS series? (Money, Demand, Pefection, Experience etc.)
 I love football games and I love programming, so basically I have my dream job. Of course, making money is very important otherwise I have to go back to working for somebody else but that’s not what drives me. I’m more focused on making great games and I believe there is a market out there for something other than FIFA or Football Manager.
 
Is there a feature you would like to include in NSS that you have been unable to yet, perhaps a minigame or two lending from another genre?
 One thing that a lot of people ask for is an online multiplayer mode and it is something I’m thinking about, but combining that with a fantasy career where you can move from club to club is not easy. The next version of NSS will definitely integrate more online elements and such as leaderboards where you can compare your stats against your friends, so the series will be moving towards community gaming. I have some other unique ideas that have never been done before but I’ll keep a lid on them until the game is ready.
 
What are the limitations and restrictions enforced on an Indie games developer in the current market?
 There are so many options available when it comes to creating games (Flash, Unity3D, BlitzMax etc) that it has never been easier to get into programming. However, with more and more coders creating great games, and with so many free-to-play games out there, the biggest challenge now is getting your game noticed. If it’s good enough to get picked up by Steam or if it tops the iPhone charts then you’re up and running but the market is getting more and more competitive all the time.

Do you game in your free time? If So, what kind of games are you into?
 Oh yes. I play a lot of FIFA nowadays although I used to be a diehard PES fan. Aside from footie games though I’ll tend to pick up the latest action game if it gets enough hype. I’m enjoying Red Dead Redemption at the moment.
 
New Star Soccer and Sensational World Soccer both have aspects of mid 90’s football titles in their design and gameplay. For you personally, which is the greatest football game of all time?
 This is a very tough question and one that depends on how you look at it. The latest FIFA games are the closest representation of real football and are great fun, where as in the old days your imagination went an awful long way to filling in the void between what was on screen and what football is really like. Also, when you’re in your thirties nothing can compare to the enjoyment you had as kid so for me the most fun game I ever played was Emlyn Hughes International Soccer. Kick Off 2 and ISS64 run it close but there was something truly deep about EHIS, and for an 8-bit game it was simply amazing.
 
 
Football gaming is a huge industry already. Where do you see the market going in the next 5 years?
 Well I’m still dreaming of hologram football that you can play on a real table top, but I guess that might be more than 5 years away! I’m sure football games will become more geared towards competing online and the graphics and physics will be ever more realistic, but until you can go on a drinking binge with your mates, have a one night stand with a glamour model, then fall about all over the pitch the next day I’m pretty sure there will always be room for a little game called New Star Soccer.

More information about the New Star Soccer series and Sensational World Soccer can be found by visiting www.newstargames.com. May I also extend my thanks to Simon for taking his time to answer my questions.