I received an invite to attend a developer conference call for the upcoming 2K Sports title MLB 2K8. The interview was moderated by Chase, the Media Relations Director for 2K Sports' PR firm and was with Ben Brinkman (Producer, 2K Sports). The Audio quality is pretty poor due to static on the line, but when Ben is answering questions it is generally clear enough to hear without a problem.
The interview lasted just over an hour with Chase asking several pre-submitted questions from the audience regarding the upcoming release of MLB 2K8. I have transcribed and posted several of the questions from the interview including those that are relevant to the Xbox 360, but there are many questions that were not transcribed. At the bottom of this piece is a link to download the complete interview. All questions and answers are paraphrased unless direct quotes used:
MOD = Chase asking the question
BB Ben Brinkman
To get the interview started, Ben was asked to provide a brief overview of MLB 2K8.
MOD Can you give an overview of the game?
BB Thanks again for everyone calling in and having an interest in the game. This is my second year on the project and third year of doing a next-gen version of the game. This year we knew on the Xbox 360 and PS3 side we knew we had to add a lot more content, as 2k6 to 2K7 was all about getting the game where it needed to be where this year had to be about continuing to improve. We added all new AI for batter and pitcher, throwing AI, added new controls for the batting, pitching and throwing. We added 90 playable minor league teams, including A, AA and AAA. We added a new trading card feature, which is really deep and really immersive. More upgrades in how the game plays. Overall this is a big jump from 2k7 to 2k8.
MOD Comment on the new pitching interface?
BB Looked at what we done in past with pitching. Some were cool, some not so cool, so we wanted to take a look at controls and use what we had. Just felt like people needed and wanted something new. We tried to use the right stick to make it feel like you were actually throwing a ball. Different motions on the stick, quite intuitive once you figure out the motions to pitching. There is a lot more game play there. It is a lot harder to hit the corners with your #5 pitcher than say Johan Santana. I look at this innovation in pitching along the same lines as what MVP 03 did with the pitch meter.
MOD General development on the game, what is the typical start to finish production on creating a game like this ?
BB One gets out the door and the next starts back up. Also, we try to come up with new ideas and pre-production tasks, similar to the pitching while in development for the current game. In all, it takes about 11-12 months to finish a game.
MOD What are some of the aspects of the game that you think are most important to gamers?
BB It has to play a good game of baseball. Having all the features and modes (like franchise mode) is great, but if the game play isnt great or players do not want to play all 162 games (or whatever they want), then the rest is all wasted. The new trading card feature, we knew we would make a good game, but we wanted to give them a reason to do that. We wanted to give them something they can earn by playing it over and over, hour after hour.
MOD Is there going to be a demo released on Xbox Live and PSN prior to release? If so, when can gamers expect to see it?
BB Its going through submission right now, so when they are done, it will be going up. It should be very soon as we are shipping within a week and a half from now.
MOD Was any motion capture technology used to help synchronize their signature style animation?
BB We use motion capture for all our animations. We have really good actors that can channel their real actions. We did two and a half weeks of motion capture this year. We knew we needed to get a lot more fielding animation to make it more responsive.
MOD Will the game be running at 30 or 60 FPS?
BB It will run at close to 60 FPS and it will not get down near 30 ever. It will be a much more fluid experience, as there were complaints last year especially on the PS3, so we did a lot of optimization on the project.
Feel free to download (right click and save as) the entire interview HERE and listen to an additional 50+ minutes of Q&A with Ben Brinkman.
A special thanks to Chase, 2K Games and Ben for taking the time to set up this conference call and interview with the media.
The interview lasted just over an hour with Chase asking several pre-submitted questions from the audience regarding the upcoming release of MLB 2K8. I have transcribed and posted several of the questions from the interview including those that are relevant to the Xbox 360, but there are many questions that were not transcribed. At the bottom of this piece is a link to download the complete interview. All questions and answers are paraphrased unless direct quotes used:
MOD = Chase asking the question
BB Ben Brinkman
To get the interview started, Ben was asked to provide a brief overview of MLB 2K8.
MOD Can you give an overview of the game?
BB Thanks again for everyone calling in and having an interest in the game. This is my second year on the project and third year of doing a next-gen version of the game. This year we knew on the Xbox 360 and PS3 side we knew we had to add a lot more content, as 2k6 to 2K7 was all about getting the game where it needed to be where this year had to be about continuing to improve. We added all new AI for batter and pitcher, throwing AI, added new controls for the batting, pitching and throwing. We added 90 playable minor league teams, including A, AA and AAA. We added a new trading card feature, which is really deep and really immersive. More upgrades in how the game plays. Overall this is a big jump from 2k7 to 2k8.
MOD Comment on the new pitching interface?
BB Looked at what we done in past with pitching. Some were cool, some not so cool, so we wanted to take a look at controls and use what we had. Just felt like people needed and wanted something new. We tried to use the right stick to make it feel like you were actually throwing a ball. Different motions on the stick, quite intuitive once you figure out the motions to pitching. There is a lot more game play there. It is a lot harder to hit the corners with your #5 pitcher than say Johan Santana. I look at this innovation in pitching along the same lines as what MVP 03 did with the pitch meter.
MOD General development on the game, what is the typical start to finish production on creating a game like this ?
BB One gets out the door and the next starts back up. Also, we try to come up with new ideas and pre-production tasks, similar to the pitching while in development for the current game. In all, it takes about 11-12 months to finish a game.
MOD What are some of the aspects of the game that you think are most important to gamers?
BB It has to play a good game of baseball. Having all the features and modes (like franchise mode) is great, but if the game play isnt great or players do not want to play all 162 games (or whatever they want), then the rest is all wasted. The new trading card feature, we knew we would make a good game, but we wanted to give them a reason to do that. We wanted to give them something they can earn by playing it over and over, hour after hour.
MOD Is there going to be a demo released on Xbox Live and PSN prior to release? If so, when can gamers expect to see it?
BB Its going through submission right now, so when they are done, it will be going up. It should be very soon as we are shipping within a week and a half from now.
MOD Was any motion capture technology used to help synchronize their signature style animation?
BB We use motion capture for all our animations. We have really good actors that can channel their real actions. We did two and a half weeks of motion capture this year. We knew we needed to get a lot more fielding animation to make it more responsive.
MOD Will the game be running at 30 or 60 FPS?
BB It will run at close to 60 FPS and it will not get down near 30 ever. It will be a much more fluid experience, as there were complaints last year especially on the PS3, so we did a lot of optimization on the project.
Feel free to download (right click and save as) the entire interview HERE and listen to an additional 50+ minutes of Q&A with Ben Brinkman.
A special thanks to Chase, 2K Games and Ben for taking the time to set up this conference call and interview with the media.
