Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

IGN: How is Goblet of Fire different from previous EA-published Potter games? What changes/additions have you brought to this sequel?

Justin Manning: The Goblet of Fire videogame has several new additions and many firsts for the Potter videogame franchise. First and foremost, you can play through the almost the entire game cooperatively with two other friends combining your magic to create more powerful spells. You can play as Harry, Ron, or Hermione, who are each based on their film counterparts for the first time ever in a Harry Potter videogame. We've also created an all-new spell-casting system that allows you to feel the magic for the first time. The controller will shake and react to every flick of your wand. Your spells will affect the world around you including the lighting in your surrounding environment and creating a stir of debris around you as you cast spells. You can defeat creatures in a variety of ways giving different rewards with a variety of magical jinxes. The summoning spell "Accio" is required to find and collect rewards, which prove to have a life of their own. Additionally, the game is more action-based with "play" embedded in the environment rather than the cerebral puzzles of previous games.

IGN: How is EA working with the Harry Potter movie actors for the Goblet of Fire videogame?

Justin Manning: Harry, Ron, and Hermione will appear in the Goblet of Fire videogame as their film counterparts. We have really made it an important focus for the game's development to mirror the game as closely as possible to the film. This is only made possible by our close partnership with Warner Bros.

The fans of Harry Potter identify with the characters from the film, and we hope they feel even more connected with the Goblet of Fire videogame this year with the inclusion of the film character likenesses.

IGN: What types of graphic/audio improvements have been made to the new title? How will the GameCube, PlayStation 2 and Xbox versions differ?

Justin Manning: The speech will sound closer to the movie. We employed a movie casting director to find great actors whose voices are very close in tone to the movie actors. The orchestral music will be dynamic depending on mood and situation making it less repetitive. We are trying to create more sound around the magic of the world; you will hear the spells you cast having an impact on the environment, charging the air with magical energy. Also, if you stop and listen during less busy areas in the game you will hear life going on around you. One thing I haven't mentioned yet that I'm personally excited about is all of the contrasting environments in Goblet of Fire. Your adventures will take you through several locations both outside and inside. You'll journey to the Quidditch World Cup Campsite, embark on a path through the Forbidden Forest, fly around Hogwarts, sneak under the Prefects' Bathroom, swim in the lake outside Hogwart's, explore the maze, and more!

©2005, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved