All-Star Baseball 2005 ups the ante on baseball entertainment

by Louis Bedigian

Producer Tom Green steps away from the plate to chat with GameZone about the latest installment in the All-Star Baseball series.

It seems like only a year ago I was sitting on my bedroom floor, playing one of the first baseball games to grace the Nintendo 64: All-Star Baseball.  The graphics were the best console gamers had seen at the time, with crisp, high-resolution and very little pixelation.  The gameplay was a step up as well.

In truth, however, it wasn’t only a year ago, but several years ago.  A lot of changes have been made since that time, one of which being the move from one game console (Nintendo 64) to every game platform available.

What hasn’t changed is the developers’ dedication to making the All-Star Baseball games the best they possibly can.

To celebrate the release of All-Star Baseball 2005, we took a few minutes away from our day of game-playing and game-dreaming (when we’re not playing the current releases we’re dreaming about the ones we’ll get to play next!) to chat with the game’s producer, Tom Green.  Tom Green is much busier than us – he actually has to develop these things!  But he was nice enough to take the time to answer our questions. 

In the earlier days of the series, All-Star Baseball was exclusive to Nintendo 64. Recently it became a multi-platform game. Besides reaching a larger audience, what are the advantages of developing a game for more than one console? Are there any disadvantages?

Tom Green: The biggest advantage is that it gives me an excuse to own every console :)

There [are] a lot more disadvantages than advantages. You have to look at the specs of the consoles you will be on and make your game fit into the limitations of them. If you have a little time left over towards the end of the project you can try to upgrade areas, but you don't want to spend too much time on something which won't be seen across the board.

How do you put yourself inside the game to make the game? How do you get in a state of mind that screams, "That's it! This is how a baseball video game should play!"

TG: Fortunately almost every member of ASB has a different favorite team, so overall we keep a really good eye on the game. Everyone was obsessed with the playoffs last season, we watched pretty much every inning of every game. It gave us a lot of material to use for our TWIB Challenge...we definitely knew what the most important plays of the year were. Also, several team members played baseball at a high level. (One of our designers was drafted by the Cubs.) A lot of the guys are on a softball team at least every-other season as well.

You can catch it!  You can catch it!

Of the game modes introduced in the previous All-Star Baseball games, how many are returning?

TG: All game modes are back, with the Scenario mode being modified to 'TWIB Challenge'.

Are there any new game modes being introduced this time around?

TG: Online play is the new game mode for '05...we concentrated on improving the gameplay, which made all of our modes more enjoyable. (Except Trivia mode...it's the same level of enjoyment as last year’s.)

Please go over the exclusive features being planned for All-Star Baseball 2005.

TG: TWIB Challenge lets you re-live the 21 most memorable moments from the 2003 season. 'A Leaping Alou' puts gamers in control of the Cubs' left fielder as he dives into the stands to corral the foul pop which cost the Cubs Game 6 and a trip to the World Series.

We are the only game to have Expansion Mode, where you choose your city, mascot, stadium, league, and do a player draft consisting of players which would be eligible if the MLB had an expansion draft this year.

Our Franchise mode has all-new Spring Training Development. This gives the user a reason to play through Spring Training to earn attribute points.

We also have Pick-up mode, Trivia Mode, and Online play.

Do you have what it takes to be a great pitcher?

How do the online games work?

TG: Xbox is through Xbox LIVE, the PS2 is with Gamespy. Both will be head-to-head exhibition mode with downloaded rosters.

Could you describe the controls for us?

TG: While batting, the user has the option of hitting a button or by using the right analog stick (similar to Tiger Woods). When fielding using the FielderCam, you run with the left stick and rotate the camera with the right stick. The controls are very much like that of a platform game.

Who is doing the commentary?

TG: Thom Brennaman-PBP

Steve Lyons-Color

Oscar Soria- Spanish PBP

Were there any particular styles used to motion capture the players?

TG: We re-created several more unique batting stances and pitching motions to mimic the real-life counterparts.

Any pro athlete will tell you: it’s not good to squat after eating a bean burrito.

How varied are the player animations?

TG: We have 400 new unique animations in ASB05.

With so many great athletes in the MLB, how do you narrow it down to just one star for the cover box?

TG: Derek Jeter has been on our spokesperson for 5 years. The Yankees are the talk of baseball and he's their Captain. You either love them or love to hate them. Either way, you're watching.

Thank you for your time.