World Championship Snooker, the first realistic snooker game comes to PC CD-ROM.
Real players, real venues, real shots and the whole atmosphere: Codemasters' best-selling PlayStation title World Championship Snooker will be launched on PC this winter as the first authentic video game recreation of one of the UK's most popular sports.
The PlayStation version launch in June and went straight to the top of the charts with only Codemasters' own Colin McRae Rally 2.0 outselling it.
World Championship Snooker stars 20 of the world's top snooker champions, including Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Mark Williams, Ronnie O'Sullivan, and Dennis Taylor, carries the endorsement of the World Snooker Association and enables players to take to the table in the Crucible, the world's most recognised snooker venue.
Boasting a unique aiming system assisting players to build up high scoring breaks in a very realistic manner, World Championship Snooker is designed to be an engaging and intuitively playable game for the far-reaching audience the sport attracts.
World Championship Snooker takes the player through a local club based qualifying league, playing against the younger and lesser-known players, progressing to the Crucible itself, modelled true-to-life, to compete in the World Championship against celebrities like Stephen Hendry and 'Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan.
Quick games can be played in the one-on-one match mode and multi-player competitions are catered for with a Tournament option with up to 16 players.
An advanced AI system mimics the characteristics of the real professional players, simulating 'pressure' shots, tactical play and positional skills. The game features motion captured players, a referee who speaks and repositions balls, and commentary by well-known snooker celebrity, Dennis Taylor. The crowd also reacts to the progress of the game, so you can feel the tension build up when the match gets close.
World Championship Snooker benefits from using an incredibly advanced physics system offering extreme accuracy in simulating a true 3D table; players can even bounce a ball off the table, or jump one ball over another. The system simulates all kinds of spin, and the gameplay is so realistic that it should help improve player's real-life snooker skills.
Presentation is TV realistic, ensuring that the whole playing experience is incredibly immersive and builds atmosphere. World Championship Snooker, currently available on PlayStation, launches on PC CD-ROM this winter.
ENDS
CODEMASTERS WEB SITE
* www.codemasters.com
World Championship Snooker Notes to editors:
Major snooker players featured in-game:
* Stephen Hendry
* Ken Doherty
* Marco Fu
* Mark Williams
* Nigel Bond
* James Burnett
* Alian Robidoux
* Anthony Hamilton
* Ronnie O'Sullivan
* Darren Morgan
* Stephen Lee
* Alan Burnett
* Gary Wilkinson
* Billy Snaddon
* Stephen Maguire
* Fergal O'Brien
* Martin Clark
* Drew Hendry
* Dennis Taylor
* David Gray
Game modes:
* Championship - Play in the full world championship
* Single Match - Play against a friend or AI opponent
* Tournament - Set up your own tournament
* Masterclass - run through lessons on play skills from basic to advanced
Physics engine
* Developed under the guidance of a professional player
* Multiple simultaneous collisions (ball-on-ball and all-cushion)
* Miss cueing and masse shots can cause balls to leave table
* Fully controllable top / back spin and side spin for swerve direction
* Fully controllable angle butt for maximum swerve and masse shots
* Accurate table and cushion friction model for swerve, side, spin effects
Snooker: the sport
* Snooker is an extremely popular sport in the UK, also widely known in Canada, the Far East and parts of Europe.
* It is a game of skill and pressure, played between two players in a series of different leagues and championships.
* The largest and most important event is the World Snooker Championship, where professional players from around the world (but mainly the UK) compete in the Crucible (a well known indoor venue).
* The World Snooker Championship is watched by millions on BBC television and generates a large amount of coverage in the media.
* A recent report said that 73% of the adult population in the UK have watched snooker on television, and 75% have an interest in the sport.
| Notes to Editors:
Established in 1986, Codemasters is a leading developer and publisher of best-selling interactive entertainment products for a global audience on current and future gaming platforms and channels. This has been quite a year for Codemasters. The company is the winner of Queen's Award For Enterprise in the Innovation category and was featured in the Sunday Times' Fast Track taking the number two position for the highest annual profit growth at 118.97%. Furthermore, the Central Region's Entrepreneur of The Year 2000 awards saw David Darling, Founder and Chief Executive of Codemasters, scoop both the "Overall Entrepreneur of the Year" and "Young Entrepreneur Of The Year" awards. Codemasters' genre-leading brands include Colin McRae Rally, Touring Cars, Micro Machines/Maniacs, and LMA Manager. With an annual turnover in excess of $100 million, the company is headquartered in Southam, Warwickshire, UK where it employs over 400 staff, and maintains European operations in Germany, France, Spain, Benelux and plans to set up operations in Scandinavia. The company entered the US publishing market in 1999 and has an online gaming US-based development facility in Oakhurst, CA. More information about the company and its products is available online at www.codemasters.com.
