MLB 2K8 Q&A: Ben Brinkman on 2K8's New Features

2K Sports has been making the most of its position as the sole third-party publisher of MLB-licensed games. Last year saw the release of not just the latest in its long-running MLB 2K series but a couple of additional hardball titles: The Bigs and MLB Power Pros (an MLB-styled take on a long-standing Japanese series), two very different takes on the national pastime. Now, with 2008 here, we turn to the next game in 2K Sports' MLB series, Major League Baseball 2K8. To get the first details on what looks to be a groundbreaking year for the series, we contacted MLB 2K8 producer Ben Brinkman. As he told us, it seems that the 2K Los Angeles development team has been busy overhauling practically every core aspect of the game, adding a bunch of new, fun-sounding features in the process, as well as getting set for the debut of the MLB 2K series on the Nintendo Wii.

GameSpot: Let's start with your thoughts on MLB 2K7. In hindsight, what worked for you in that game and what didn't turn out the way you'd hoped?

Ben Brinkman: With 2K7, we knew we had a long way to go from 2K6 to get to where we wanted this game to be. The late release of 2K6 also left us with a shortened development cycle for 2K7, so it was important not to get too ambitious. The main thing we wanted to accomplish was to get the gameplay headed in the right direction, and I think we did just that. 2K6 had a lot of issues with user responsiveness and just bugs, where, for instance, sometimes you could throw the ball to a base and the player would just not catch the ball for no discernable reason. We wanted to make sure the game played a good, solid game of baseball and that our customers wouldn't have to purchase new controllers after chucking their old one across the room in frustration.

It may be winter outside but, in the minds of the developers of MLB 2K8, it's always midsummer.

One part where we felt 2K7 may have come up a little bit short was the realism aspect. This is, after all, a simulation sports game, but 2K7 didn't always feel like playing a true-to-life game of baseball. Three aspects of this are really easy to point to: too many home runs, too many spectacular wall-climbing catches, and too easy to pinpoint your pitches. The goal for 2K8 was to create not just a fun game of baseball, but also a very realistic one. And we are very pleased with the results.

GS: What new features will find their way into MLB 2K8?

BB: Well, to start we added 90 minor-league teams to the game, including authentic uniforms, many authentic minor-league stadiums, and a few generic ones as well. Going hand-in-hand with that, we had to do a ton of work on the franchise mode, so you can expect a better and much more complete experience there.

We've also added many new unlockable "special" teams incorporating both current and legendary players. We've also got a pretty cool new approach to unlockables in general. We've implemented a new baseball-card system, in which you can earn players' cards by completing certain tasks. You can then sell duplicate cards for credits to buy new card packs, which consist of 10 cards and may include a stadium or special team. But by far the coolest part of the card system is the online card battles. When you have enough player cards to fulfill the requirements of a full team, you can then combine your cards to create a team and take head-to-head against other gamers' card teams online.

On the gameplay side, the big push was for realism. One area we knew we could improve from 2K7 was the hitting engine. Why am I able to hit an opposite-field home run on a pitch that jammed me off the handle of the bat? This shouldn't be. So first off, we completely gutted and rewrote the hitting engine, and the results are outstanding. Along with this, we tweaked the swing stick from 2K7 to increase your control and give it a better feel overall. This is dubbed "Swing Stick 2.0." The idea was to give batting more "oomph" when you swing. Baseball swings consist of two motions: back and forward. Basically we took the power swings from the swing stick and made them the default way to swing, minus the loft and power boost. We think it makes swings far more responsive, rewarding. and natural. Everything from going the other way with an outside pitch to checking your swing feels natural. My favorite is ripping that pitch in down the line. There is just something extremely satisfying about that!

We've also designed an entirely new and unique pitching interface which is unlike anything that's been done before. The main input comes from the right analog stick. The execution involves matching a gesture to throw the desired pitch. This enables a lot more granularity from the input than a digital face-button approach. We'll reveal more on this later. I know this might be met with mixed opinions on the message boards, but do us a favor and wait for the demo before you rush to judgment. We've spent a lot of time and iterations on this and, frankly, I will never pitch using buttons again. I really love it.

Finally, there is also a new right-stick throwing interface in the field. While you may have seen similar mechanics in the past, we've put a new spin on it which we believe is pretty innovative in its own right. The biggest goal was to give more control to the user and have the results be intuitive and realistic, and we're really happy with it.

Having said all that, we will still provide the option to choose between the pitching, batting, and throwing interfaces from previous years, but we believe once you've used the new ones, you won't want to go back.

GS: Of the features you just mentioned, which one was the top priority and why?

BB: The hitting engine and the pitching interface were the top priorities. The hitting engine was important because the interaction between batter and pitcher is so integral and crucial to the game of baseball. If that doesn't feel right, then that's a pretty big blow to the realism. We got on it early (as soon as 2K7 shipped, in fact), because after ripping out and rewriting so much code, we wanted to make sure we'd have ample time to tune it and make it feel right. We've been very happy with its status for a while now. I think our batting just feels right-on this time.

The new pitching interface was another top priority because it's a crucial part of the game and the new design was such a big change. Once again, we got on it early, with the idea that it would need several iterations to make it feel good. This worked out, as we were able to get something in early and then just keep getting feedback and keep making adjustments, until we finally have something now that we are really happy with and really excited for you guys to get a chance to play with.

GS: How often do you and/or the development team refer back to MLB 2K7 (or other previous games in the series) when creating the most current game in the series? Is there any feature or aspect of a prior game that inspired something in 2K8?

BB: Not really. We try to take what we learn from previous games and carry them forward (both what we did right and what we did wrong). But as for the game itself, we like to keep moving ahead and focusing on new ideas to build bigger and better games.

Of all the new features in 2K8, the hitting engine and the pitching interface were the top priorities.

GS: One of the focal points for the MLB 2K series has been the pitching and batting interfaces; almost as if the series has been searching for an "ideal interface" that hasn't been arrived at yet. How has pitching and batting evolved for 2K8, particularly from a control/interface standpoint? How close to "ideal" is this system in your opinion?

BB: As with anything, a lot of it is subjective, so it's tough to say that any one interface is ideal. Everyone has a different opinion of what they want. But we feel that 2K8's interfaces produce a very fun and realistic version of baseball. For me, this year I have as much fun with pitching and batting as I did with MVP Baseball 2003. MVP's controls captured the pitching and batting interface on PS2 and Xbox. I believe our controls in Major League Baseball 2K8 have done the same on the PS3 and Xbox 360. That's a lot to say, but like I said earlier, play the demo and try them for yourselves and you'll see what I'm talking about.

We had a simple tenet we frequently visited throughout production of our new interfaces: "When you give up a HR in the bottom of the ninth, you will be swearing at yourself, rather than at some behind-the-scenes calculation that you feel is giving you a raw deal." The opposite applies for hitting. Let me tell you something: when you throw a perfect pitch and the batter is fooled, or when you are looking dead red and you get it and rip a liner to win the game, it's pretty d*** satisfying.

GS: Signature styles have been another recurring theme in 2K sports titles of late. We saw some of that in MLB 2K7, with accurate pitcher deliveries and prebatting rituals for hitters. How have things improved on this front for the 2K8 entry?

BB: It's just blown out. You will be hard-pressed to find a starter without a dead-on signature animation. If a player has a unique stance or delivery, we tried to get it captured and into Major League Baseball 2K8. I think you'll be very impressed.