The BIGS: The zero-to-hero journey and other tidbits

It was back in October 2006 when 2K Sports first took the lid off their baseball game title, The BIGS (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP). Fast forward to today, the game now has a cover athlete and some of its features have also been divulged, now may be the best time to report an interview.

Over at Gamespot, they had a short chit-chat with Blue Castle Games’ Jason Leigh. He talked about the game’s development (which is going really well or so he says) and how they are creating an over-the-top arcade baseball game while still being true to a sport that is rich with tradition thanks to Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth among many others. To that, Jason said that:

Baseball is already an exciting game, so our focus was how to make the coolest stuff happen all the time. The BIGS is very much a solid representation of baseball, but taken to an entirely new level. The first thing that you’ll notice with The BIGS is that it has a really cool arcade pace. There is minimal downtime, and everything feels faster and snappier. We put a lot of effort into our animation system to make sure that there is a lot of style and athleticism with the catches and throws. The players really do feel more heroic, even when pulling off routine plays. When they start to pull off the big moves–diving catches, double plays, wall catches, etc.–we really made sure to pay that off with bigger animations, audio, and presentation.

He also discussed the game’s league challenge mode (which has now been renamed as “rookie challenge”). Basically, this mode will let you in on the usual “zero-to-hero journey” – you’re in charge of harnessing a rookie player’s talents, from spring training to being the World Series MVP. Spring training would include building your player’s skills by using minigames as their training ground.

Once you’ve proven your mettle, you’ll earn your playoff spot and all of a sudden your rookie would be carrying his team on and to the World Series. It’s a long way to the top, so it’s nice to note that there are some unlockable rewards – sunglasses, batter ditties, bat graphics, tattoos, and you can choose your rookie’s nickname or moniker.

The BIGS on the Wii would use both the Wiimote and Nunchuk – and of course, you get to swing it like a bat and throw it like you would a baseball. Leigh also said that they are already in the final stages of refining the control scheme. Xbox Live Achievements like “get X strikeouts, get X home runs in a game…and pitch a perfect game” would also be put in place. Unfortunately, The BIGS won’t be in the PS3 Home online service…well, “not this year” says Jason.

You can check out the full interview by clicking on our read link below.

It was back in October 2006 when 2K Sports first took the lid off their baseball game title, The BIGS (Wii, Xbox 360, PS3, PSP). Fast forward to today, the game now has a cover athlete and some of its features have also been divulged, now may be the best time to report an interview.

Over at Gamespot, they had a short chit-chat with Blue Castle Games’ Jason Leigh. He talked about the game’s development (which is going really well or so he says) and how they are creating an over-the-top arcade baseball game while still being true to a sport that is rich with tradition thanks to Lou Gehrig and Babe Ruth among many others. To that, Jason said that:

Baseball is already an exciting game, so our focus was how to make the coolest stuff happen all the time. The BIGS is very much a solid representation of baseball, but taken to an entirely new level. The first thing that you’ll notice with The BIGS is that it has a really cool arcade pace. There is minimal downtime, and everything feels faster and snappier. We put a lot of effort into our animation system to make sure that there is a lot of style and athleticism with the catches and throws. The players really do feel more heroic, even when pulling off routine plays. When they start to pull off the big moves–diving catches, double plays, wall catches, etc.–we really made sure to pay that off with bigger animations, audio, and presentation.

He also discussed the game’s league challenge mode (which has now been renamed as “rookie challenge”). Basically, this mode will let you in on the usual “zero-to-hero journey” – you’re in charge of harnessing a rookie player’s talents, from spring training to being the World Series MVP. Spring training would include building your player’s skills by using minigames as their training ground.

Once you’ve proven your mettle, you’ll earn your playoff spot and all of a sudden your rookie would be carrying his team on and to the World Series. It’s a long way to the top, so it’s nice to note that there are some unlockable rewards – sunglasses, batter ditties, bat graphics, tattoos, and you can choose your rookie’s nickname or moniker.

The BIGS on the Wii would use both the Wiimote and Nunchuk – and of course, you get to swing it like a bat and throw it like you would a baseball. Leigh also said that they are already in the final stages of refining the control scheme. Xbox Live Achievements like “get X strikeouts, get X home runs in a game…and pitch a perfect game” would also be put in place. Unfortunately, The BIGS won’t be in the PS3 Home online service…well, “not this year” says Jason.

You can check out the full interview by clicking on our read link below.