NBA 09: The Life Interview

[Wired Cous]

IGN: NBA 09: The Life Interview
Article:
US, September 10, 2008 - For a few years now, PS2 owners have gotten a taste of the ups and downs of basketball superstardom with Sony's The Life, a mode within its NBA franchise. Covering the stories of two fictional players in the league, gamers discovered the other side of being a professional athlete both on and off the court, adding to the gameplay of the title. Of course, with the release of the PS3, it was only a matter of time before this feature made its way over to the newer system, and that's finally been included within NBA 09: The Inside.

Instead of hitting one story, this year's The Life mode covers three separate tales within basketball arenas around the country. What was the reason for the big change, and how does it affect the gameplay? For these questions, and more, we went to Brandon Akiaten, the producer and writer/director of NBA 09: The Life.

IGN: For a while, The Life was a mode that was only kept on the PS2 version of the game. Why is this the first time that The Life has been brought to the PS3?

Brandon Akiaten: Quite simply, our main obstacles were technology, time, and bandwidth. To allow the end user to see his/her created character in the story scenes, we had to create a stable pipeline to accommodate real-time cinematics. Our game engine is first and foremost a basketball engine, not a cinematic one. We wanted to bring to the table a real time story mode, with pre-rendered qualities. This meant enabling things like dynamic lighting, self shadows, post effects, depth of field, and cloth dynamics. To do this in real-time without compromising the quality of our core game was a major task. We needed to gain the experience in making this type of mode before we attempted it in the next-gen realm and the PS2 Platform was a great test bed.
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Our goal was to always bring it on to PS3, but we needed to ensure that we could bring the quality with our existing team and engine. When every aspect is amplified on the PS3 Platform with respect to graphics, performance, sound, and AI, we had to go into it prepared. So with the experience of our team and the quality of our engine, we were able to make this happen in less than eight months. When most quality story-driven games take at least two to three years to produce, I'd say our accomplishment this year was astounding.

IGN: Players accustomed to The Life story mode were introduced to the action of The Kid and Big W. This year's installment moves away from these two characters. What was the decision behind this?

Brandon Akiaten: Bringing it onto a new platform, we treated it as a clean slate. We wanted to refresh the mode and bring something to the user that he/she was not going to expect. We wanted to represent the idea that the world of basketball is made up of many stories that deserve to be told.

IGN: This year's installment is also pretty unique because it's broken up into three separate storylines. Is there a particular reason why the stories don't intersect?

Brandon Akiaten: We wanted to give you a different experience every time you chose a different position for your created character. Intersecting these stories would mean sharing the spotlight for the main character, and we didn't want to compromise or minimize that experience. If you chose to be a small forward we wanted to keep you in that world to the end.
The Life doesn't start with flashy cars or crowds, but with hard work.


IGN: Do you think that the multiple storylines in this year's The Life mode will carry on to next year, or do you think that there will be a singular plot in upcoming versions of the game?

Brandon Akiaten: It's hard to say at this moment. I could tell you that every year we try to top the last with regard to content and quality. We will certainly keep you posted with any upcoming developments.

IGN: We also noticed within our play sessions that The Life stories appear to be much shorter than the previous story. Why is that?

Brandon Akiaten: We wanted to keep the balance in our entire product. The Life is a major feature of our game, but at the end of the day it is just one piece of our entire product. We have a lot of great features that we want to ensure the end user gets the chance to experience. The idea was to deliver something fun and entertaining without overextending the end user's appetite.

IGN: One other thing that stood out were some of the requirements that were placed on each one of the stories, such as having to be a particular position or of a certain height. Can you talk about how these affect the story of each Life character?
Brandon Akiaten: The end goal was to offer the ability to choose any position for your created character. In the past we always locked you to the point guard position. We wanted to explore the world of the other four positions. In doing so we went the extra mile in customizing these stories around a core personality of the player's role on the court. Story 1 reflects the point guard's role of being the floor general, the one in control, the one who sets a certain standard. Story 2 is all about the swingman's role of making the big shots, and getting the glory. Story 3 is about the big man's role in being the dominator, and protector of the team. He does this by leading with his heart, and his ability to remain humble.

IGN: Other basketball games "focused" on the life of a basketball player, but have typically looked at the flash and the money aspect to it. What makes The Life more compelling than those stories, and what does that add to NBA 09 The Inside overall?

A baller's got to look good.

Brandon Akiaten: From day one we wanted to provide a perspective that nobody gets to see. As fans we pay for our ticket and expect a show. We get to go home after a few hours and go on with our day. These athletes have to live with the wins, the losses, the injuries, the hype, the criticisms, the business, and the drama. We need to remember that these basketball players, and any other person in the limelight, are humans and go through struggles of their own. We wanted to explore what kind of character and integrity it takes to endure that and still perform on the grand stage of the NBA. Flash and money is certainly part of that lifestyle, but stuff like that does not last the test of time. The integrity and value of a character's heart does.

IGN: Are there any elements from The Life that impact the rest of the gameplay experience? For example, if you take the same point guard through a story over and over, can you eventually gain enough points to max out his stats?

Brandon Akiaten: We kept most of that functionality within our Progression system. The idea was to stay on course with the ability to gain points within any mode in our game to progress your created players though gear, physical details, and player attributes. With that in mind we award you with the appropriate amount of points based on your level of success within the scenarios and mini games inside The Life.

IGN: What makes The Life stand out from other basketball gameplay modes, and what will engage those players that haven't tried a story based sports game before?

Brandon Akiaten: The things that stand out most are the storytelling and the unique way in which the gameplay relates to that story. The majority of our story scenes take place on a playable court, and dialogue within the scene actually applies to the game you are about to play. In the past loading screens and extra UI pages disrupted this experience. We've minimized all of that by loading the scene and game together before the scene is even played, and created dynamic game instruction overlays that appear while the scene is playing. This gives us the ability to enter the game following the story scene seamlessly without any disruptions. The most engaging thing about this experience is that you get to be the hero in games and scenarios partnered with some entertaining cinematics.

Take it back to the playground and work on your skills.

IGN: How has the Blu-Ray features or technical capabilities of the PS3 helped in producing The Life?

Brandon Akiaten: The technical capabilities of PS3 have made it possible for us to improve the cinematic quality of our story scenes dramatically. We've been able to add dynamic elements, and post effects to the scenes that were impossible on the PS2. The power of the PS3 has also made it possible to heavily cut down on our load times. With shorter load times we are able to more disruptive-free game experience. With wider boundaries in general, we've been able to create a better product with regard to quality and content.

IGN: Is there the possibility of gaining additional The Life stories thanks to the downloadable capabilities of the PS3?

Brandon Akiaten: No. One step at a time.

IGN: Thanks for your time, Brandon.