SBK'07 - Superbike World Championship Q&A

Bike racing games have never been quite as popular as their four-wheel cousins, but that hasn't prevented them from being a regular fixture on most annual release calendars. Milan, Italy-based developer Milestone has some history with the genre, having produced titles for EA a few years ago, but now it has acquired the Superbike license and is putting together a new game based on that series.

To find out more about the game and see how it's coming along, we spent some time with Simone Bechini, product manager, to ask him a few questions.

GameSpot UK: How long has SBK'07 been in development?

Simone Bechini: The development started more or less one year ago.

GSUK: Explain a little about the Superbike series.

SB: The Superbike series is a world championship featuring bike manufacturers' fastest and sexiest machines, riders ranging from young guns to really fast veterans, such as Bayliss and Corser, and a glamorous, vivacious environment. This year the series celebrates its 20th anniversary, so it's very well known by race enthusiasts, who appreciate its cutting-edge competition and entertainment.

GSUK: What made you want to make a game based on that series?

SB: As Milestone developed the original Superbike series, published for the PC by EA and featuring 1999 to 2001 seasons--games that are still played and enjoyed by a number of people around the world--the temptation to get back on the subject six years later was simply too strong to withstand.

GSUK: What is the focus of the game? Action, realism?

SB: Both of them! The goal of the game is to provide the opportunity to experience an SBK race to anybody, from casual gamers to race simulation enthusiasts. The game physics is very realistic, and you've also got the opportunity to tune your bike, as well as to manage front and rear brakes separately, the rider movements, and stuff like that. But if you're not that kind of petrol-head, there are as much as 16 riding aids to allow you to pick up the pad and simply go for it, being competitive in just a few seconds.

For action, there's plenty of it whatever your riding approach: arcade or realistic. We worked hard on the artificial intelligence of riders to provide races as interesting, challenging, and fun as real ones.

GSUK: What are the challenges involved in putting a racing game together?

SB: There are lots: balancing graphics quality with speed, the number and quality of bikes with track detail, realism and playability, and so on. I would say developing a racing game is mostly a matter of balancing, a very exciting challenge as a whole.

GSUK: Tell us about the different game modes available.

SB: There are plenty of them, ranging from quick race to race weekend (featuring all the sessions of an SBK event, including two different races); from time attack to championship; from multiplayer to a number of different challenges; focusing on riding technique, race scenarios, and stunts.

GSUK: What about multiplayer?

SB: We included the usual PlayStation 2 split-screen two-player mode, and we also support four players across a wireless local connection with two game modes on the PlayStation Portable.

GSUK: Will there be next-generation versions of the game in the future?

SB: For sure! We plan to release the Xbox 360 version later this year, together with the PC version, and we aim to support the PlayStation 3 with a 2008 release.

GSUK: The game is officially licensed. How important is that?

SB: It's so important! It's dramatically exciting both to work on licensed material--real tracks, bikes, leathers, helmets, sponsors, and so on--and to play with it all. The sense of immersion in the game given by a licensed scenario is much stronger in a racing game.

GSUK: Will there be new editions each year?

SB: For sure, and we also plan to widen the number of platforms supported. Stay tuned! Ciao!

GSUK: Thanks for your time.