X06 confirmed that Sensible World of Soccer would be making its way to the Arcade at some point, and now we know when. Coming in the Summer, it will naturally feature “HD visuals”, and of course some Xbox Live play. A full interview revealing all the details is after the jump.

Taken from the Codemasters forums is an interview with Nick Pili, Director of Casual Gaming at Codemasters:

Could you briefly outline your involvement with the Sensible World of Soccer (SWOS) project?

Sure, my team and I manage Codemasters Casual Games strategy. This includes managing our series of Funsta casual game portals (check it out at http://www.funsta.com), developing new casual games for the web, PC downloadable and XBLA platforms, as well as reviewing dozens of prototype casual games we receive weekly from small dev companies and wannabe bedroom developers. The standard of casual games in the market is phenomenal.

During a series of meetings last summer with Microsoft at the 2006 Casual Games Conference in Seattle we were discussing a number of XBLA game opportunities. Microsoft were keen to have an easy to pick-up-and-play football game for the XBLA platform - a Sensi type game seemed like the obvious choice.

After presenting the business case internally for a SWOS XBLA game, supported by the overwhelming interest of the SWOS community it was a no-brainer to take this project forward.

Is this version of SWOS just an online version of last year’s Sensible Soccer?

No - the game is different from last year’s. We have listened very carefully to the Sensi communities’ comments after last year’s game and I’m pleased to confirm the following:

In this version the user will be able to play two main modes of SWOS. Mode 1 will be the original Amiga game (we haven’t touched the core game code) with enhanced graphics and enhanced game features. Mode 2 will be the actual original Amiga game from the mid 90s. Again we haven’t altered the game code in any way.

Will the gameplay differ from the Amiga/PC/SNES version I remember?

No - as stated above it will be the EXACT core gameplay that we all remember from the Amiga/PC/SNES versions.

Which version of SWOS does this game’s code use (either of the all-conquering 95/96 or 96/97 versions hopefully)?

To produce the authentic SWOS experience we’ll be using the original source code used in SWOS 96/97, so you can celebrate now! The core gameplay will be untouched, and therefore identical to that within the SWOS96/97 game.

Is there any new or changed audio (crowd chants or songs)?

Yes - in Mode 1 of the game (see question 2) we’re improving the audio and crowd chants.

Will it feature Xbox Live functionality? What online tournaments and features can we expect from this?

Yes – you’ll be able to play online and there will be high-score tables all as standard. We’ll announce more details in due course!

Can you reveal any of the achievements planned for the XBLA version?

What this space - details to be announced in due course.

Can I play the game in HD resolution?

Yes – the game will support HD resolutions as standard.

Is there going to be a PC release?

Yes - we can confirm that later in the year we will be releasing a PC version for Vista-based machines.

Is the PC release just for Vista or can people on Win2k and XP play it?

So far just Vista. We hope to provide the game for more OS in the future though!

What online tournaments and features can we expect from the PC version?

We are currently working with Microsoft to understand exactly how the new Windows Live functionality will work. Once we figure this out we will be able to confirm what online tournaments and features we can apply to the Vista version of SWOS.

When do you expect to release the game on XBLA?

Summer 2007. We’ll confirm a more accurate date in the very near future!

Since the core gamplay has not been touched, the ludicrous curling of the ball and other crazy ball mechanics will be fully functional, which is definitely a good thing. It just wouldn’t be the same otherwise. It will be interesting to see how well this is received on the 360, after titles such as FIFA 07 and PES 6 were fairly disappointing. SWOS doesn’t focus on graphics, it focuses on fun, and should easily eclipse both aforementioned titles based on that.

In other related news, some of you might be interested to know that the game will not be released on the PS3 anytime in the near future. Posted by one of the Community Administrators:

there’s no plans for a PS3 version as it’s a Microsoft exclusive over Live Arcade, in the short term at least. Sorry about that.

It will be interesting to see just how long that exclusivity lasts, but for now you can enjoy knowing that SWOS is coming in the Summer, with online play. Who needs to go out in the sunshine when you have SWOS?!

Thanks nofear360 for submitting.