On PlayStation 2, World Championship Snooker is the first wholly authentic video game recreation of one of the UK's most popular sports and stars 20 of the world's top snooker champions, including Stephen Hendry, Ken Doherty, Mark Williams, and Ronnie O'Sullivan. It 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 enables players to compete in a full World Championship season - travelling the globe and playing separate international tournaments. If practice is required before taking on the world's best, players can begin in a local club-based qualifying league, before improving and working towards a championship match at the Crucible itself, modelled true-to-life, playing against celebrities like Stephen Hendry and `Rocket' Ronnie O'Sullivan. 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. 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. There's also three novelty two player table top games, called Countdown, Time Bandits, and Bonus Ball. World Championship Snooker also 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. Developed by the same team responsible for the PSX and PC versions, Blade Interactive Studios, World Championship Snooker is scheduled to launch this September on PlayStation 2.
