July 25, 2008

Running the bases with MLB Power Pros 2008 Producer Rob Nelson
By Louis Bedigian

“The game is a really nice blend of a sim baseball game that any hardcore baseball fan will appreciate. But it also has a look and design that’s very accessible to new players, is very easy to pick up and play, and we really want to hit both spectrums.”

2K Sports was once known solely for making realistic sports simulators. That changed with the release of The BIGS and Major League Baseball 2K8 Fantasy All-Stars, two rule-bending arcade-style baseball games that didn’t take the sport too seriously. MLB Power Pros 2008 takes the sport in yet another direction – one that’s quirkier and more lighthearted but wasn’t designed to be anti-hardcore.

“The game has been a success in Japan for many, many years,” said Rob Nelson, Producer of MLB Power Pros 2008, which is due this month for PS2 and Wii and will hit the DS this fall. “It’s their best-selling and best-rated baseball game. We’re really excited to have brought it over to North America for the second year and getting it out on DS for the first time.

“The game is a really nice blend of a sim baseball game that any hardcore baseball fan will appreciate. But it also has a look and design that’s very accessible to new players, is very easy to pick up and play, and we really want to hit both spectrums. We want everybody who plays the game to come away with a good experience. We don’t want casual players to feel like they can’t figure out how to play the game and we don’t want hardcore players to feel like they’ve been shortened on features or modes. I think we’ve done a good job of doing that [hitting both audiences] this year.”

Distinctively Wii

“One of the great things about the Wii version this year,” Nelson says, “is that you’re able to take your uniquely created character data, that was created in this year’s version, put it on your Wii remote and take it over to a buddy’s house and load it up on their system [with a copy of this year’s game]. You can [also] import Miis into the game.”

Instinctively DS

While most DS games fail to match their console counterparts, Nelson believes this game will break that disdainful tradition. He comments, “What’s great about the DS version of this game, I found that a lot of sports games in particular have difficult controls. Very specific uses for every button. Any change in how the analog stick moves can really hurt the experience. The great thing about Power Pros is that the controls on the DS are going to play exactly as they play on the PS2 and Wii. We wanted to make sure you get the same experience on the DS that you get on PS2 and Wii.”

Photo Surrealism

There’s no denying that MLB Power Pros 2008 is lenient in its visual presentation. But that doesn’t mean players won’t appreciate the cartoony appearance. “It’s an easy game to look at and enjoy the quirkiness of the characters,” Nelson assures us. “Anybody who watches the guy strike out and spin around and fall on the ground. Or if you don’t swing and have a strike and have the player kind of turn around and glare at the camera. That stuff is really popular with anyone we show the game to. The MLB, throughout the entire experience, has been really supportive and have shown that they’re really excited about the game.”

Arranging the Rosters

“We updated our rosters right before we put out our gold master, as late as we could,” Nelson insists, addressing one of the issues developers have in finalizing a sports game. “If there is something that happens, maybe a player has been moved or whatever, we have an Arrange Mode where you can change things however you want. You can move the players however you want. You can also edit the players if somebody has an injury. You have every opportunity to go in and adjust the rosters however you want to.”

MotionPlus or Minus

"We’ve been making [this game] for a while and we haven’t had the opportunity [to work with Wii MotionPlus]," said Nelson. "But I think it’s going to be great. I hope we can find a way to get it in a future version."

Try Me

If you’re apprehensive about giving MLB Power Pros 2008 a chance, Nelson wants everyone to know that while this game is different from other 2K Sports releases, the core baseball features are intact. “It’s an experience where, if you’re into playing the game and tracking stats and making smart baseball decisions and doing all those things you absolutely have that opportunity. However, if you’re into building a character and having a story and having interactions and creating a character that is build the way you want him to be build, and experiences a career the way you want him to experience it, [MLB Power Pros 2008 has that as well].”

You’ve Got Questions, Rob Has Answers

Power Pros is a quirkier, Japanese-style game that really differs from 2K Sports' ultra-realistic offerings. What made this an appealing game to have in your lineup -- is this 2K's way of reaching out to younger sports fans?

Rob Nelson: The quirkiness of the game is what gives it its charm. Most of the people I’ve talked to feel this game has a charm to it. And that comes from the look and the quirkiness that the characters and the story have. The RPG mode in particular, the characters that you run into have a fun quirkiness to them. It’s really about adding depth to the lineup. This is a different experience from a hardcore game. We want people who are afraid of how difficult sports games have become to have a place to kind of get into it. If they’re baseball fans but not huge gamers, they can still enjoy the genre on the consoles.

Based on the screenshots, it appears that there's going to be some kind of story/MLB life mode. Could you tell us about this, or if I'm wrong, clarify what the game contains?

RN: [There are] two RPG-style modes where you create your character and bring it through a story. The first one, Success Mode, was in the game last year but this year is being completely redone with a new story. The idea is that you create your character and he can be a hitter or pitcher, depending on how you want to play the game. You’re taking your character from AA baseball and trying to get to the major leagues. Last year you the Success Mode character, you were trying to get him from high school to the minor leagues.

You have a lot of different options with training, how you want to build your character, which I’ll get into more details later on. The idea is that you need to impress the coaches, you need to impress the scouts. You need to improve your character in a way that makes him successful so he gets more playing time and more options and more chances to improve himself to the coaches and scouts.

The brand-new mode is called MLB Life. The idea in this mode is that, again, you can either take a character and build him from scratch, or take a character from Success Mode and bring him into MLB Life. Or you can take an existing MLB character and build his career from scratch the way that you want. This encompasses everything about an MLB player. You play the game and get better at baseball and also get more money and can buy houses and cars and items.

Share | Digg This | Glink It

---