Battlefield 1943 Preview

VideoGamer.com: Your hardcore fans will have heard your CEO's comments and might be concerned that DICE will leave them behind with a focus on casual games. What do you say to those concerns?

PL: I can say we currently don't have any plans for the Wii. The Wii is a very difficult platform, not just because of the performance but mainly because of the controls. There haven't been any successful shooters so far, as I see it, on Wii. So I think it's very difficult to make it. We are definitely still making PC games, we've not forgotten about that. 1943 is announced for PC. BC2 is announced for the PC, so obviously we got the engine running on PC. We just recently released Mirror's Edge on PC as well. I would say that we will continue to do what we are best at. We are not going casual, just because that is the trend. We're not good at that. It's not our core focus for the studio.

VideoGamer.com: 1943 seems to be a title that might work in terms of cross-platform play. Could that work?

PL: You mean PC and Xbox? No. It's more about fairness and balancing than anything else. The three different platforms have very different input systems. Obviously the mouse and keyboard is much more different, but even the PS3 controller and the 360 controller are different in terms of sensitivity and input and so on. So it wouldn't be fair. PC would obviously own everyone else!

VideoGamer.com: When is the game due out?

PL: This summer.

VideoGamer.com: Will it be a simultaneous release across all platforms?

EA PR GURU: Hopefully! That's the aim but things change if there are slight tweaks.

VideoGamer.com: 1943 doesn't look like a downloadable game, because it looks too good to be a downloadable game...

PL: That's actually the only concern I have. It looks too good so people compare it with full boxed products.

VideoGamer.com: Is there a danger that it will fall in this odd middle ground where it looks too good to be a downloadable game but it doesn't reach the graphical fidelity we're used to with Call of Duty or Killzone, and people won't be sure what it is?

PL: Maybe. That's a matter of communicating with consumers and the fans. Hopefully we will get the message across. This will raise the bar for how people see arcade games. There's nothing like this. If you compare this with, for example, any 2D game, there's a lot of difference.

VideoGamer.com: Would you say it's the best looking downloadable game?

PL: I would like to believe so, yes. Yes, definitely. The production value is off the chart, basically, compared with other games.

VideoGamer.com: Some people are disappointed with the number of players you can have online. Do you have any message for them?

PL: Yes! I understand their concerns. It's not 64 players like the original game. I've been following the forums all weekend. I try to convince people that the number of players doesn't make a good game. The number of players doesn't make Battlefield epic. What does matter is a number of systems and design mechanics that contribute to that. One of them being level design. If you cram a hundred people into one small room obviously it will feel very full, but if you put them out into a street a hundred people isn't a lot. It's the same thing here. The level design is custom made for this number of people. The pacing is made for that so it's perfect. Looking back at the original game, not a lot of servers had 64 players. Those that had were usually not full or had very bad performance.

VideoGamer.com: So why do people want it?

PL: It's so easy to look at a number and say, oh this is the number we should have. It's some sort of magic number, 64. Most people aren't game designers so they don't realise what actually makes a game feel epic. Even though you have 64 players on a map, usually you don't see them all at the same time anyway. You see maybe 10 people at the same time. You can still achieve that with 24 players. If you look at professional and clan players, most of the clan matches back then were eight versus eight, or 12 versus 12. At most they were maybe 16 versus 16, but usually they were eight or 12 on each team, which makes 24 players at the end. I really wouldn't worry about the game feeling empty or too slow because there are 24 players. It's designed for 24 players.

VideoGamer.com: The Battlefield franchise has a rich history and there's lots of interest. Fans are asking when you are going to make certain games. Do you keep an eye on the forums?

PL: Oh yes! I feel a little sad sometimes when people say they're lazy or they're not listening to the fans. Yes of course we keep track of what the forums are saying. I can't say anything really, but we have plans. Definitely big plans. The fans don't need to worry.

VideoGamer.com: Where does 1943 sit in terms of quality in comparison with other Battlefield games? Hardcore fans might look down their noses at it because it's download only.

PL: I think they should give this a try, really. It's definitely not a casual game. It's not easy. It's not a stupid game. The trial version is free. If you give it a try and see what you think, then you can say if you like it or not. We've done quite a few tests with non Battlefield players and also old fans. Overwhelmingly good, positive feedback on the atmosphere and the spirit of 1942. It's really in there.

Battlefield 1943 is due out this summer as a download only title on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.