Kushs Ben Brinkman chats about the next iteration of Major League Baseball 2K7

Kush’s Ben Brinkman chats about the next iteration of Major League Baseball
2K7
By
Michael Lafferty

Kush Games went “back to basics to produce a really good game of baseball.”

You can smell
it in the air. Even the groundhog proclaimed winter almost over and spring on
the way. And for those who are fans, spring means one thing – baseball!

2K and Kush
Games have shipped the latest edition of 2K Sports’ Major League Baseball 2K7,
and kicked off the release with a conference call with producer Ben Brinkman.
Journalists dialed in and GameZone was on hand for the event.

Brinkman
started the conference by stating that there is “quite a bit of excitement
surrounding the game, which ships today.”

Kush Games went
“back to basics to produce a really good game of baseball.” To that end they
have addressed a lot of the issues that plagued the title in the past. The game
sports 2,600 new animations while adding the element of the signature style. The
interface has also been tweaked as well, making it simpler to navigate. Every
throw is new and the AI has been tweaked to provide a smarter baseball
experience.

“We also went
back through and did some stuff with the visuals – probably a bit of an
understatement,” Brinkman said. “We were able to utilize a lot of the power. We
were able to produce a beautiful looking game.”

And that’s not
all, Kush and 2K have stepped up to the plate and  the game is not lacking any
game modes this year. “We are creating a more fun and immersive experience.”

Were there
any technological or gameplay enhancements that you were able to squeeze into
the game?

Ben:
We were able to get a better grasp of the power of the 360 and we barely touched
the surface of the PS3, because it released this year. The systems have more
memory so we were able to do less compression, so the animations look more
realistic.”

Q: How is
the motion sensitivity of the SIXAXIS controller factored into the game?

Ben:
Batting lends itself very well to the SIXAXIS control. All the control you have
on the swing stick you will have access to on the SIXAXIS wireless controller.

The look of the
game from last year to this is night and day, according to Brinkman. “Last
year’s game was not up to par. That was something we focused on this year. We
wanted to make these guys look as close to their real-life counterparts as
possible.”

How will the
360 and PS3 versions differ?

Ben:
They both have their own pluses and minuses and their own challenges. We’ve got
a year or two under our belts for the 360 … so I can’t really say what is easier
to develop for and what is harder to develop for.

How are you
making it a more authentic baseball experience

Ben:
On gameplay  – in general baseball is a very nuance sport. It is a lot more
strategy. People who like baseball appreciate the strategy. There is so much
that goes into a real baseball game. It is hard to capture all the details, but
the closer you can do it the better the experience. When we were capturing
animations, we tried to capture more infield and outfield animations. We added
drag bunts … across the board we tried to add much more detail as possible.

What areas
needed the most work?

Ben:
Every few years you go back to the drawing board. This year our focus was going
back and stripping out extraneous elements. We spent a lot more time on AI
decision and different outcomes for hits – the basics of a baseball game. That
was what we were talking about in getting back to the basics.

What is the
hardest element to replicate in a baseball game?

Ben:
Fans of the game notice the littlest things – you need to take into account
everything. Baseball is the hardest game to develop for.

What was the
primary focus in developing the game?

Ben:
We wanted to make a high-def game. We wanted to create more close ups and more
details.

What was the
primary focus for the audio?

Ben:
We added a lot more things that created an ambience to the game. We have a lot
more player-specific stuff. A lot more chatter from the crowd.

How does fan
input affect the development of the game?

Ben:
Every decision we make is part us, part review and part message board material.
Nobody plays these games more than the fan community there is definitely a
powerful voice in the fan community. We value their opinion.


Q: Baseball is a game that, while statistically founded, also can turn on random
chance. When you create a baseball game, in which statistical probability plays
a prominent role, how do you manage to configure in the impact of random chance?


Ben:

That’s an excellent question. We have a very simple statistical model we use.
But there is definitely there is a built-in random chance. We built in random
chance. You can’t just plug in a bunch of numbers and hope it works.


Q: How many hours of motion-capture do you do in order to get the player
movement to mirror the real game?


Ben:

It’s hard to break down the hours. We have 2600 new animations. It’s a lot of
watching videotape and watching movement. There is a lot of work that goes into
mo-cap and a lot of hours. Then when you capture them you have to put them on
the skeleton and make sure they work in the game?


Q: How many hours of voice work are recorded in order to ensure that all game
action has a corresponding dialogue?

Ben:
Hours and hours and hours. After the first year you just do sequential chunks.
We have a lot of dialogue in the game already and this year we spent two weeks
with John (Miller) and Joe (Morgan).

Is the game
for the novice or hardcore player?

Ben:
Both. Right out of the box I think it will appeal to the casual and the hardcore
guys.

Brinkman
expounded on the online play and the modes available.

Ben:
We’ve got the head-to-head matchups. We’ve got the tournaments and leagues that
people can play in. It’s exactly the same game online as it is offline.

According to
Brinkman, Kush Games wanted to capture the details that make baseball baseball.
“We hope that people that are casual gamers will pick up the game and want to
learn more about baseball and become engrossed with the sport itself.”

And the work is
continuing. There is still video animation going on to totally capture the
movement of the players in the game. And there will be roster updates offered
throughout the year to allow gamers to keep their game rosters current. In
addition, there will be online leagues for the PS3, “the typical 2k online
package,” according to Brinkman.

“I think we’ve
produced a game that is leaps and bounds ahead of last year’s,” he said. “We’ve
done a lot of work to take what we have and make the game play more
realistically.”