• Erick Boenisch, producer
• Mike Wang, senior gameplay designer

Link: http://xbox360digest.com/audio/NBA2K12_Conference_Call.mp3 (Apologies for the late cut-in)
Look for a full review of NBA 2K12 shortly after the retail release.

All past interviews and conference calls are available at Xbox360Digest.com/Interviews or by clicking the interviews tab on the main site.

• Michael Kelly, associate producer
• François Giuntini, executive producer at 2K Czech
• Travis, Moderator, Access Communications

Link: http://xbox360digest.com/audio/TopSpin4_Conference_Call.mp3
Look for a full review of Top Spin 4 shortly after the retail release.

All past interviews and conference calls are available at Xbox360Digest.com/Interviews or by clicking the interviews tab on the main site.

In the call:

• Mike Rhinehart, Senior Brand Manager, 2K Sports
• Jon Rivera, Gameplay Designer, 2K Sports
• Mark Little, Senior Producer. MLB 2K11
• Travis, Moderator, Access Communications

Link: http://xbox360digest.com/audio/MLB2K11_Conference_Call.mp3

Look for a full review of MLB 2K11 shortly after the retail release.

All past interviews and conference calls are available at Xbox360Digest.com/Interviews or by clicking the interviews tab on the main site.

With the recent release of NinjaBee’s A World of Keflings, we had a chance to ask the developers some questions pertaining to the game. Available now for 800 Microsoft Points, you can read our review of the game here.

All questions are answered by Steve Taylor, president of NinjaBee and lead designer on the Keflings games.

For those unfamiliar with A World of Keflings, could you briefly explain the title?

It’s fundamentally a city-building simulation, but you directly interact with the inhabitants of the kingdom through your giant avatar character.  Collect and manage resources, assign Keflings to work, build pieces, assemble them into buildings (following building blueprints), and make a happy kingdom!  That’s it in a nutshell.

What was behind your inspiration to create a sequel for A Kingdom for Keflings?

I’ve worked on a lot of games in my life, and almost without exception I finish a game and think "I’m glad that’s over!  Let’s do something different now…"  That didn’t happen with A Kingdom for Keflings.  We released the game and I kept thinking about how I still loved playing it and I wasn’t sick of it at all.  Add to that the huge number of things I wanted to improve in the game and new features I wanted to add, and the desire to make another Keflings game was fairly strong.

At the same time we didn’t want to make "just a sequel", and we wouldn’t have done it if we couldn’t make a significantly new experience that stands on its own, which I’m confident we have!

What were some of the challenges you had to overcome to balance an easy control scheme with RTS elements?

The basic mechanic of using an avatar to interact with the world was an interesting but tough system to explore.  For almost every other RTS and city builder in existence, the Disembodied Floating Hand is the control mechanism of choice, so there wasn’t a lot of reference for how our control scheme should work.  And we tried very hard to make it feel natural and logical within the game world, instead of just throwing up some UI every time you tried to interact with anything.  (That’s why you pick up and drop keflings to assign them to tasks, pull off their hats to unassign them, and bop them on the head to upgrade them – because it helps make your avatar-to-kefling interactions more real.)  But making that choice meant a lot of experimentation and rewrites, some challenges in explaining things to the user, a lot of playtesting, and a lot of fine-tuning.

Are you planning on adding anything where players could have their kingdoms interact?

Well, you can affect the kingdoms of your friends by sharing collectible components!  But no, other than playing online with somebody and building a kingdom together, we don’t have plans for any changes letting existing Kingdoms interact.  We’re doing something like that in a new title we’re working on…

Is there any hope for any kind of DLC soon?

Yes!  We have all kinds of plans for DLC.

When do you feel a kingdom is "complete"?

When you finish the Mystery blueprint the king hints at the whole game.

Who can we credit for the jokes in the game?

The story and script were done by Mike Nielsen, Jeremy Throckmorton, Steve Taylor (me), Tara Swenson, Jason Faller, and Isaac Stewart.

But really, most of the jokes came from Mike and Jason.  For example, the original Ravening Goats line is from Mike, but the next line ("I’m not into that kind of thing anymore!") came from Jason.

Is there anything else you feel our readers should know about the game? Any gameplay hints?

Sure!  Here are five random interesting things about the game:

* Two of the achievements depend on people sharing collectibles with their friends.

* The collectibles in the right-hand column are more rare.

* Male and Female keflings are better at different tasks

* If you have achievements in other NinjaBee games, you get exclusive avatar emotes

* Bears!!!  Wait, no, there are no bears.

Thanks again to the folks at NinjaBee for taking the time to answer our questions. A World of Keflings is available now for 800 Microsoft Points.

Recently, we had the opportunity to ask the developer of Harm’s Way a few questions regarding the game. A finalist in the Unlock Xbox contest, Harm’s Way is available now on the Xbox Live Marketplace for free.

For those unfamiliar with Harm’s Way, could you briefly explain the title?

Harms Way takes two popular genres, racing and shooting, and brings them together in a way that’s never been done before.  Each driver pairs up with a shooter as a team.  Each team gets points based on where the driver places and how much the shooter did.  The shooters have a variety of ways they can influence the race.

What was behind your inspiration to create Harm’s Way?

I just saw that they were doing the contest again and tried to think of something unique that I would enjoy.  I wanted it to be something that hasn’t been done before though.  So I guess my inspiration would have to be some of the games I love.  If it has cars, guns, or explosions, I’m in.  I love the Call of Duty games, and pretty much any racing game that let’s you destroy the cars (Burnout, Dirt, and Motorstorm)  A good open world game like Grand Theft Auto that has all three of those things is ideal!

What was it like working in the Unlock Xbox competition?

It has been an amazing experience!  I’ve had a blast working on the game so far, and it has been really cool seeing some of the iconic figures for Microsoft and gaming in general.  It is very nerve racking trying to pitch your idea to the guy who created Goldeneye.  The game might not have aged well, but it was the best thing to ever happen to video games at the time.  Each round was fun, but there was always a lot of pressure, kind of like there is right now.

What was your primary role in the Unlock Xbox competition, and how did Doritos and Microsoft Games Studios contribute?

My primary role was creator/designer.  I was very involved with all of the big design choices, and even involved with some of the smaller decisions.  Ultimately, Bongfish is a great developer who knew what they were doing.  I just gave them my idea, pointed them in the direction I wanted it to go, and they took off with it.  We did collaborate as much as we could throughout the process, but they were the stars of the show.  Nobody I talked to expected such a high quality game out of a contest.  I think free games have gotten a bad name thanks to games like Yaris.

Doritos contribution is what made this all happen.  They are the ones who gave me this opportunity, and they’re bankrolling this party, so I owe everything to them for making it happen.

Obviously, since this is an Xbox Live Arcade game, Microsoft had a big part in it too.  Bill Wagner (producer) in particular played a large role.  He was very helpful throughout, and provided some great feedback too.  He was always on the same page as me which made it run smoothly.

Are there any plans to bring additional maps or DLC to Harm’s Way? If so, would they be free or paid?

Let’s just say, the more support Harm’s Way gets through downloads, votes, and online play, the more likely gamers could be in for a pleasant surprise…

Is there anything else you feel our readers should know about Harm’s Way? Any gameplay hints?

Definitely.  They should know how to vote for it!  All voting will be done on Xbox Live by selecting the Doritos Unlock Xbox ad on the Dashboard.  I still get a lot of questions about it though, so I made this step by step video in case anybody needs it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwfcWWxXrAo

As far as gameplay hints go, I think the most under used tools I’ve seen while playing online so far are the shortcuts and turret take overs.  Even a great shooter and driver pair can lose a race if the driver gets taken out at the last minute.  I played with a buddy online and I got him most of the shortcuts and he got taken out three times in a row by the finish line and still won the race and had the best time on my friends leaderboard by 20 seconds!  Talk to each other and get those short cuts.

The turret take over is a great tool when you can’t get that shot you want.  Take out the guy in the turret you want to be in, and then steal it!  It’s also a great way to deal with a better shooter than you. If he’s destroying your driver, aggravate him!  Keep taking him out and force him to turn his attention to you.

Thanks again to Justin for taking the time to answer our questions. Harm’s Way is available now in the Xbox Live Marketplace for 0 Microsoft Points.

If you haven’t already heard, Michael Jordan is finally returning to the virtual realm. Why you have not already pre-ordered a copy is beyond me, but listen in for answers regarding the game’s most pressing questions.

Look for it on October 5th at retail for $59.99.

Developers:

• Erick Boenisch, Producer
• Rob Jones, Gameplay Director
• Chase, Moderator, Access Communications

Link: http://xbox360digest.com/audio/NBA2K11_Conference_Call.mp3

Look for a full review of NBA 2K11 shortly after the retail release.

All past interviews and conference calls are available at Xbox360Digest.com/Interviews or by clicking the interviews tab on the main site.

Recently, we had the opportunity to ask the guys over at Dark Energy Digital a few questions about their upcoming arcade title Hydrophobia. A water-based Action/Adventure game, look for it on Xbox Live Arcade September 29th.

All questions are answered by Rob Hewson, the Senior Creative Designer of the game.

For those unfamiliar with Hydrophobia, could you briefly explain the title?
Hydrophobia is an epic action adventure which redefines download gaming – it’s the first true retail quality XBLA game thanks to the bespoke procedural technology of our InfiniteWorlds game engine. More importantly it is the first game to feature HydroEngine – the worlds first fluid dynamics simulation for games, which results in some of the most dynamic and emergent gameplay ever. Water flows from one area to another, carries objects and oil fires with it and you can engage in ‘flow combat’ to manipulate the elements against your enemies… it never repeats and it’s something completely different from any other action game.

How much time did you spend, from concept to finished product, on developing the title? How large was the team behind the development?
That depends what we call the start of the project. If it’s when we first got HydroEngine working then it’s over 5 years, if it’s when we first started working on the concept then maybe 4 years, if it’s when we went into production then probably about 3. The team size is about 40 people – very small for such a large scale project, but that’s part of the reason we created InfiniteWorlds because it’s a quantum leap forward in productivity terms.

The game has been under development for quite some time, has anything changed dramatically either combat or story wise since the start?
The overall vision has remained constant, but certainly the details have been allowed to evolve. We are constantly reworking and improving and polishing our ideas. Not to mention the fact that we had to spend a lot of time experimenting with gameplay to find out what worked with HydroEngine and what was actually fun. It’s such a dynamic force that we had to rethink a lot of classic game design rules because you cannot predict it. Again the instant design iterations that InfiniteWorlds allows really helped.

What inspired you to create a water-based combat game?
The fact that we had real water! Our R&D Director Huw Lloyd (who has a PhD in Astro Physics) came to us one day with a eureka moment and showed us HydroEngine. Our jaws dropped to the floor and suddenly all these ideas started to flow… we saw this opportunity to make a game changing product and set about building this massive new IP.

What effect does the freedom of water have upon the game?
It changes everything. The AI has to be completely dynamic in order to react to the constantly changing nature of the water, and the player can approach an area thousands of times and never get the same chain of events twice. You can choose whether to flood an area and engage in underwater combat, or shoot an oil barrel to rip a hole in the wall and unleash water to carry the oil fire into your enemy… but you’ll never know for sure what the outcome will be. Maybe the oil fire will flow towards you instead!

Are players strictly limited in the paths they can take or are they able to explore different areas freely? If so, is it possible to return to previous parts of the game in a non-linear fashion?
There are hidden areas and the route branches from time to time but it is essentially linear. However the action that occurs in each area is completely non-linear – it’s entirely dynamic and 100% emergent. There are also characters who you can succeed or fail to rescue and about 200 collectables, 50 medals – the replayability is huge.

What made you choose an episodic structure for the release of the game?
Episodic isn’t really right. An episode is something short and limited – Hydrophobia is a full scale game but it is the first part of a trilogy. The simple answer is that we have so much more to show you, both in terms of gameplay and storyline, this is only the beginning.

What type of achievements does the game present? Which one was the most fun to implement?
We’ve got a mixture of achievements, but you’ll find a lot for different ways of killing enemies, and you’ll be rewarded for mega combo chain reactions. We also implemented medals which are just like achievements except you need to collect 50% then 100% to unlock a full achievement. The medal for completing the entire game using only Sonic Rounds is brilliant.

Is there anything else you feel our readers should know about the game? Any gameplay hints?
Firstly thanks for the opportunity to talk about the game. As for hints, the best one is probably to remember that the Sonic Rounds are the most versatile type of ammo in the game; you can knock enemies out of cover, launch them into fires, drown enemies, blow up all the destructible objects… learn to use them wisely and the mega combos will flow! Oh and please, please try to beat our QA team’s leaderboard scores so we can shut them up!

Thanks again to Rob for taking the time to answer our questions. Look for Hydrophobia to launch on September 29th for Xbox Live Arcade.

In the call:

• Jack Scalici, director of creative production, 2K Games
• Chase from Access Communications, Moderator

Link: http://xbox360digest.com/audio/Mafia_2_Conference_Call.mp3

Look for a full review of Mafia II shortly after the retail release of August 24, 2010.

All past interviews and conference calls are available at Xbox360Digest.com/Interviews or by clicking the interviews tab on the main site.

Hamish Millar, Producer on DeathSpank from studio Hothead, briefly answered a few of our questions regarding their latest title, Deathspank.  Add it to your XBLA queue by clicking here!

For those unfamiliar with DeathSpank, could you briefly explain the title?

DeathSpank is an action RPG where you play a parody of the ultimate heroic knight, set in a weird and wonderful fantasy world full of surprises.

How much time did you spend, from concept to finished product, on developing the title? How large was the team behind the development?

More time than a chicken can count, as some of here would say.  Suffice to say that the game was left to brew for a long time with a small team to nail down the characters, humor and art direction before commencing full production.  I think nearly everyone in the studio was called upon to contribute to DeathSpank at some time or another.

How challenging was it to implement a game without loading screens?

This was a tricky question to answer – not because it was challenging to implement but because we never considered whether it was challenging at the time.  We have some real veterans in engine and technology roles and we saw a seamless, open world as the new standard for this type of game.  I guess the fact that we never considered whether it was challenging means that it wasn’t.  There were trickier things we encountered, such as how many enemies should be appearing on screen at once.

What type of achievements does DeathSpank present? Which one was the most fun to implement?

We have the typical Achievements that you’ll get as you progress through the game, but there are some that definitely stand out, such as killing 100 chickens or resurrecting at an outhouse by dying (that’s right, even death brings an achievement).  The most fun had to be Menu Hero, because it’s so different from anything out there. – Darren Evenson, Lead Designer

For those unfamiliar with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, could you briefly explain the title?

Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light is the first-ever co-op digital downloadable game featuring Lara Croft.  Lara teams up with the ancient Aztec warrior, Totec, in the mountains of Central America to find the Artifact known as the Mirror of Smoke.  In their adventure, they  move through increasingly treacherous jungles and tombs, solving puzzles, exploring, and fighting bad guys to ultimately battle their primary enemy, Xolotl.  Players can expect about 6-8+ hours of gameplay in single player mode and 6-8+ hours in co-op mode, and our puzzles are scripted uniquely for co-op and for single player modes.

How much time did you spend, from concept to finished product, on developing the title? How large was the team behind the development?

We spent a bit over a year on development.  As for team size, I cannot disclose that, but we are a smallish team that is very close and collaborative.

What was the motivation to bring Lara Croft back in the form of a downloadable top down shooter, as opposed to a full retail release?

As a team, we wanted to takes some risks by developing a co-op, isometric title and it made sense to take these risks in the digital space.  The way we see Lara Croft and the Guardian of  Light is as a digital offering that is something different for the fans between pillar releases.

How important of a role does the character Totec play in the game?

Totec is Lara’s co-op partner.  Lara is a character with many strengths, so we tried hard to create a unique second player character with a skill set that is complimentary to Lara’s.  Totec features prominently in the story, and in co-op mode, players must work together in order to progress through levels and solve puzzles.  In single player mode, players can only play as Lara and we modify the story so that Totec is only in cutscenes.

Do the game dynamics change significantly if you’re playing without a partner?

Yes, definitely.  Exploration in the spaces feel different, platforming challenges feel different, and combat feels different.  As I mentioned before, the puzzles are entirely different in single player mode.  While Lara and Totec must work together in co-op mode Lara is entirely self-reliant in single player mode.

Does the game have any relation to the previous Lara Croft titles?

No, this game is a standalone title, and is one of Lara’s many adventures that could take place at any time in Lara’s life.

What sort of other weapon pickups and/or upgrades can we expect?

The weapons and picks ups are really fun.  There are about thirty different weapons, including a grenade launcher, a chaingun (my favorite), and various spears.  The numerous pickups and upgrades allow you to modify your player and weapons.  Without giving away too much detail, there are a lot of artifacts players can earn in each level and use in different combinations.

Will Totec’s spears cause more damage per hit?

You will have to play and find out for yourself!

What type of achievements does the game present? Which one was the most fun to implement?

We have all kinds of achievements.  The one that feels the best to achieve is called Tomb Raider.  In terms of which was the most fun to implement, everyone on the team probably has their own personal favorite, but my personal favorite besides Tomb Raider is Return to Sender, which players can get only by playing as Totec.  When you play as Totec, there is something really gratifying about killing enemies with their own projectiles.

Is there anything else you feel our readers should know about the game? Any gameplay hints?

Be creative, there are oftentimes lots of ways to solve any given puzzle.  And try both co-op and single player-they are both really fun.  This game especially shines when you play with your friends.