2K Sports aiming for next-gen success
In an interview with GameDaily, 2K Sports VP of Marketing Erik Whiteford reveals a bit about their strategy when it comes to locking horns with EA Sports, and making it big on next-gen consoles.
EA, the PS3, and dev kits
Of course, the most pertinent bit to talk about is EA’s cancellation of NBA Live 07 for the PS3. When asked what this means to 2K Sports, Whiteford says that the next-gen platforms are 2K’s opportunity to prove to everyone that they’re the leader when it comes to making NBA basketball games. He cites that currently, sales of their basketball game on the 360 are outpacing EA. He also adds that since they’ve managed to get a launch title for the PS3 console, this is a good opportunity for them to win over PS3 early adopters and prove to them that their alternative to an EA Sports experience is a better one.
In his words:
We were in good position before EA decided to pull out on PS3, but now I think we’re in a much better position because the market is a little bit more wide open and we feel very confident that our title is going to be one of those PS3 “killer apps.”
When asked if the late release of the final PS3 dev kits affected them in any way, he says that he doesn’t think it was an issue. When asked if he thinks that the late release of the PS3 dev kits affected EA’s decision he had this to say: “I’ll pretty much guarantee you that EA got their final dev kits before a lot of the other publishers.”
His perspective on games getting pushed back because of the rumors that the PS3 tools are hard to work with? Well, he had pretty tough words to say:
It’s certainly a challenge, no question. Final dev kits come out just a few months before the software has to go final. But it’s not an impossible challenge, and in some ways it separates the men from the boys.
When asked if it was really that important for them to get a launch title out on the PS3 given the initial small launch-user-base, he says that it was important for 2K to get the leadership position.
More on PS3 vs 360, and the Wii and its ‘mote after the Jump!
In an interview with GameDaily, 2K Sports VP of Marketing Erik Whiteford reveals a bit about their strategy when it comes to locking horns with EA Sports, and making it big on next-gen consoles.
EA, the PS3, and dev kits
Of course, the most pertinent bit to talk about is EA’s cancellation of NBA Live 07 for the PS3. When asked what this means to 2K Sports, Whiteford says that the next-gen platforms are 2K’s opportunity to prove to everyone that they’re the leader when it comes to making NBA basketball games. He cites that currently, sales of their basketball game on the 360 are outpacing EA. He also adds that since they’ve managed to get a launch title for the PS3 console, this is a good opportunity for them to win over PS3 early adopters and prove to them that their alternative to an EA Sports experience is a better one.
In his words:
We were in good position before EA decided to pull out on PS3, but now I think we’re in a much better position because the market is a little bit more wide open and we feel very confident that our title is going to be one of those PS3 “killer apps.”
When asked if the late release of the final PS3 dev kits affected them in any way, he says that he doesn’t think it was an issue. When asked if he thinks that the late release of the PS3 dev kits affected EA’s decision he had this to say: “I’ll pretty much guarantee you that EA got their final dev kits before a lot of the other publishers.”
His perspective on games getting pushed back because of the rumors that the PS3 tools are hard to work with? Well, he had pretty tough words to say:
It’s certainly a challenge, no question. Final dev kits come out just a few months before the software has to go final. But it’s not an impossible challenge, and in some ways it separates the men from the boys.
When asked if it was really that important for them to get a launch title out on the PS3 given the initial small launch-user-base, he says that it was important for 2K to get the leadership position.
His take on PS3 vs 360?
Well he says that they’re not really competing PS3 vs 360. For them it’s them versus other games and other genres. He says that their goal is to figure each system out and take advantages of the strengths of each.
He says that since both consoles has fairly equal graphical power, they won’t put in that much resources into making the PS3 version look better than the 360 version. He says that they do make an effort to make each version different, but in more meaningful ways. In his words:
My viewpoint is that the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions do look fairly similar, which I think is a good thing; it’s good to see that there isn’t any noticeable trailing visual component to either one. And I think there’s some interesting things going on with the PS3 controller… for example, you can shoot free throws and you can actually shoot using the tilt controller. We’re going to continue to look for ways to create meaningful differences where it makes sense.
What about the Wii?
Well, he says that they’re still evaluating the platform, but it’s definitely another opportunity for them to go out there and get involved. He says that he’d love to see a Nintendo platform turn out to be a really strong sports player because that means that they’ll have a whole new market to sell their product to.
His take if the Wiimote is a gimmick or an innovation? According to him he thinks that it “comes down to the creativity of the game designer or the developer to figure out how to leverage it.”
We wonder how a 2k Sports baseball game would feel like on the Wii? Hmmmm?
Via GameDaily