''Michael Owen's WLS 2000'' is an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This feedba ...

developed by

Silicon Dreams Studio Silicon Dreams Studio Limited was a British video game developer based in Adderbury, England. History Silicon Dreams Studio was founded by Geoff Brown in March 1994 as the in-house development team for video game publisher U.S. Gold, also fo ...

and published by THQ for the

Nintendo 64 The (N64) is a home video game console developed by Nintendo. The successor to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, it was released on June 23, 1996, in Japan, on September 29, 1996, in North America, and on March 1, 1997, in Europe and ...

. Released on 10 November 2000, the game stars English footballer

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker for Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City, as well as for the England national team. Since r ...

. ''Michael Owen's WLS 2000'' has received reskinned versions for releases outside the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, primarily ''Mia Hamm Soccer 64'', which stars

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret Hamm-Garciaparra (; born March 17, 1972) is an American retired professional soccer player, two-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Hailed as a soccer icon, she played as a forward for the ...

and was released in North America by

SouthPeak Interactive SouthPeak Interactive Corporation, doing business as SouthPeak Games, was an American video game publisher based in Midlothian, Virginia. Founded on March 1, 1996, as a subsidiary of SAS Institute in Cary, North Carolina, it was sold and moved t ...

Development

''Michael Owen's WLS 2000'' was originally announced by

Eidos Interactive Square Enix Limited (formerly Domark Limited and Eidos Interactive Limited) is a British subsidiary of the Japanese video game company Square Enix, acting as their European publishing arm. The company formerly owned '' Tomb Raider'', which was ...

in September 1998, as a

conversion of Silicon Dreams Studio's previous ''World League Soccer'' game, ''Michael Owen's World League Soccer '99''. However, it was put on hold as Eidos Interactive did not find itself suitable for the Nintendo 64 market, until it was announced, in August 1999, that THQ had picked up the game for further production. It was reported that Owen received £300,000 to perform motion-capture and lend his image for the title.

''Mia Hamm Soccer 64''

The North American release of ''Michael Owen's WLS 2000'' was reskinned to feature

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

soccer star

, and published by

as ''Mia Hamm Soccer 64'', on 9 November 2000. This version was developed within twelve weeks by

DC Studios DC Studios is an American film and television studio that is a division of Warner Bros., which is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. It is dedicated to the production of films, series, and animations based on characters from DC Comics, ...

, to take advantage of the high profile of Hamm and the

United States women's national soccer team The United States women's national soccer team (USWNT) represents the United States in international women's soccer. The team is the most successful in international women's soccer, winning four Women's World Cup titles ( 1991, 1999, 2015, an ...

, who had just won the

1999 FIFA Women's World Cup The 1999 FIFA Women's World Cup was the third edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the world championship for women's national soccer teams. It was hosted as well as won by the United States and took place from June 19 to July 10, 1999, at ...

, and be released in time for the upcoming

Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo or Electronic Entertainment Experience in 2021) is a trade event for the video game industry. The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) organizes and presents E3, which many developers, publishe ...

(E3) and the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from ...

. The athletes in the Hamm version were hand-animated, while Michael Owen's WLS 2000 used

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mo-cap or mocap, for short) is the process of recording the movement of objects or people. It is used in military, entertainment, sports, medical applications, and for validation of computer vision and robo ...

. ''Mia Hamm Soccer 64'' was one of the first

sports game A sports video game is a video game that simulates the practice of sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the spor ...

s to star female athletes, with

Wendy Gebauer Wendy Gebauer Palladino (born Wendy Sue Gebauer; December 25, 1966) is an American retired soccer forward and former member of the United States women's national soccer team. Considered a pioneer of women's soccer in the United States, Gebauer p ...

serving as commentator. In a December 2000 interview, Patti Miller of '' Children Now'' stated that the game was one of the "positive examples of games for girls". In a 2012 interview, psychologist Fernanda Schabarum retrospectively noted that the game was a "good example of the wrong timing and the wrong approach" in the matter of women in sports-oriented video games, and David Rutter, producer for the game, stated that the game being a reskin "made it appear more of cynical marketing tactic than a game really interested in women's sports". In the United States, ''Mia Hamm Soccer 64'' sold a "relatively high" 42,886 copies. Gameplay features 18 football teams in the hypothetical U.S. Women's League, 32 national teams, and Mia Hamm's All-Star Team. Different gamemodes, such as Practice and World Cup, where the player can play on a team, with or against Hamm, in a World Cup tournament, were also included.

Game Boy Color tie-in

Like the Nintendo 64 game, the North American release of the

Game Boy Color The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...

tie-in had a Mia Hamm reskin developed; titled ''Mia Hamm Soccer Shootout'', it was released by SouthPeak Interactive on 27 October 2000.

References

{{Women's association football 2000 video games Association football video games

Owen Owen may refer to: Origin: The name Owen is of Irish and Welsh origin. Its meanings range from noble, youthful, and well-born. Gender: Owen is historically the masculine form of the name. Popular feminine variations include Eowyn and Owena. ...

Multiplayer and single-player video games Nintendo 64 games Nintendo 64-only games Silicon Dreams Studio games SouthPeak Games THQ games Video games based on real people Video games developed in the United Kingdom Women's association football video games