''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 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

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 ...

and published by

THQ THQ Inc. was an American video game company based in Agoura Hills, California. It was founded in April 1990 by Jack Friedman, originally in Calabasas, and became a public company the following year through a reverse merger takeover. Initial ...

for the

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

. Released on 24 September 1999, the game stars English footballer

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...

. It is the third and final game in the ''World League Soccer'' series after ''

World League Soccer '98 ''World League Soccer '98'' is an association football video game developed by Silicon Dreams Studio. It was published in May 1998 by Eidos Interactive on the Sony PlayStation and PC, and by Sega on the Sega Saturn. Silicon Dreams developed tw ...

'' and ''Michael Owen's World League Soccer '99''. ''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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

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

Mia Hamm Mariel Margaret "Mia" Hamm (born March 17, 1972) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player, two-time Women's Football at the Summer Olympics, Olympic gold medalist and two-time FIFA Women's World Cup champion. Haile ...

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 Eidos Interactive Limited (formerly Domark Limited) was a British video game publisher based in Wimbledon, London. Among its franchises were '' Championship Manager'', '' Deus Ex'', ''Hitman'', '' Thief'' and ''Tomb Raider''. Domark was founded ...

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

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, p ...

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 production company that is a division of Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD). It is responsible for the production of live-action and animated films and television series, as well as video games, based ...

, 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 governed by the United States Soccer Federation and competes in CONCACAF (the Confederation of North, Central Ameri ...

, 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 List of women's national association football teams, women's national association football, soccer teams. It was hosted as well as ...

, and be released in time for the upcoming

Electronic Entertainment Expo E3 (short for Electronic Entertainment Expo) was an annual Trade fair, trade event for the video game industry organized and presented by the Entertainment Software Association (ESA). It was held principally in Los Angeles from 1995 to 2019, wit ...

(E3) and the

2000 Sydney Olympics The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, officially branded as Sydney 2000, and also known as the Games of the New Millennium, were an international multi-sport event held from 15 September to 1 October ...

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

motion capture Motion capture (sometimes referred as mocap or mo-cap, for short) is the process of recording high-resolution motion (physics), movement of objects or people into a computer system. It is used in Military science, military, entertainment, sports ...

. ''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 video games, including team sports, track and field, extreme sports, and combat sports. Some games emphasize playing the sport (such ...

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 ''Children & Young People Now'' is a magazine and website resource covering policy issues and best practice for all professionals working to improve the life chances of children, young people and families in the United Kingdom The United ...

'' 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 (GBC or CGB) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and to international markets that November. Compared to the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT scre ...

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 1999 video games Association football video games

Owen Owen may refer to: People and fictional characters * Owen (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname Places United States * Owen, Missouri, a ghost town * Owen, Wisconsin * Owen County, Indiana ...

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