The BIGS: Q&A with Dan Brady

When Take Two secured exclusive third-party publishing rights for Major League Baseball games last year, baseball fans knew it was only a matter of time before 2K Sports began expanding its hardball reach with new titles. The first of those new games is the just-announced arcade baseball title, The BIGS. Heading development of the game is Dan Brady, general manager of the development house behind the BIGS, Blue Castle Games. Brady is no stranger to baseball games, having previously served as technical director for EA Sports' MVP Baseball series. We recently spoke with Brady about just what to expect from the upcoming game, and how his experience on more-realistic baseball games has informed the making of The BIGS.

GameSpot: What is The BIGS, and how did Blue Castle Games become involved in the project?

Get ready for fast-paced, over-the-top MLB action with The BIGS.

Dan Brady: The BIGS is a brand-new take on arcade baseball. In The BIGS, you are going to see all of what makes baseball spectacular, all the time. Our goal is to make the major league players look like heroes when they make the big play, and to make you feel like a king while doing it.

How did Blue Castle become involved? There is a bit of a story there.

Blue Castle Games was formed in early 2005, with the intention of gathering together truly amazing development staff to make great games. As it turned out, the original staff was composed of a significant portion of the senior members of the MVP titles, and some of their really talented friends. We had all worked together over the years, but had been sent in all sorts of different directions as time had passed. Blue Castle represented one more chance for us to reassemble and get back to making great games again.

In the middle of 2005, Blue Castle was contacted by 2K to do something new in the baseball genre. Up until that moment, we were exclusively focused on IP prototyping. We hadn't considered working on another baseball product, but 2K really impressed us with [its] energy and passion for bringing fresh ideas to the baseball category. Over the last 16 months, we have grown quite a bit. A lot of the former MVP team has joined us, and we have really rounded that out with some extremely talented newcomers. Right now, we're really excited to be making The BIGS, and to be back in the baseball market.

GS: Your team brings a good amount of baseball game experience to the table. How does your experience on the more realistic MVP series tie in to what you're creating here?

DB: We learned a lot when we wrote the first MVP title. While it was a great starting point for the franchise, many development mistakes were made that really handcuffed us in future years. Development of The BIGS has gone much more smoothly, and we have a much higher-quality engine than we had before. MVP and The BIGS are very different games. You will feel a sense of familiarity in the design choices that we have made, but our target is something very different.

GS: What are some of the biggest lessons you've learned from previous games that can be applied to The BIGS?

DB: Keep the game to a manageable scope. Always have the game in a playable state. Tune, tune, and then tune some more. At the same time, you always need to listen to the fans, understand the requirements, and stay true to the sport.

GS: Are you starting from scratch with The BIGS, or is there any sharing of technology between your team and Visual Concepts?

DB: The BIGS was started completely from scratch. While we aren't sharing anything with Visual Concepts, we do have a fantastic dialogue with them. Visual Concepts has an incredible team, and there is a great deal that we are learning from each other.

We're really excited about the engine that we have created for The BIGS. You're going to have to take my word for it, but it is better than anything that we have had to work with before. I am really looking forward to showing off the quality of the engine over the next several months, as we move toward final. Some of the details that the team is able to put into the game are absolutely outrageous.

GS: What game modes will be included in The BIGS?

DB: The main mode in The BIGS is called the BIGS League Challenge. The challenge is completely different than a traditional season or franchise mode. You are going to play games, train your players in a number of action-oriented training minigames, earn power-ups, and ultimately struggle to win the World Series. When you play this mode, each team that you face will feel like a unique team. If that team is known for their fielding, then you are really going to feel that in the game--much more so than in other sports games.

To round out the experience, we have a new multiplayer mode, exhibition, online (up to four players), minigames galore, and the standard create-a-player. We also have some quick action-oriented modes in the game. While it is still too early to give out details, there is one that I am particularly excited about: Imagine blending pinball and baseball, and then taking it all to a completely new level.

GS: Tell us about the controls in the game. Are they similar to what we've become used to in 2K MLB games, or are you going for something different?

DB: Many of the recent baseball games have felt like they played themselves, while the user merely provided timely decision making. The BIGS really goes the opposite direction. The action is very twitch-based, and when you play the game, there is a sense of direct connection between you and the game that just hasn't been present in baseball games before.

We're also pushing hard to create a different feel between the athletes. You're going to see a lot of uniqueness in the animations, and when a big play happens, it feels huge. Similarly, when you don't make the big play, your failure is going to be equally spectacular. I really think our game stands on its own as a very different entry to the baseball category.