Back in the mid-nineties, Brian Lara Cricket games were very popular, even in India where video games just meant Mario and Contra. However, games based on Cricket have evolved a lot. Codemasters is pretty excited about International Cricket 2010. GameGuru.in (GG) spoke with Codemasters’ John Szoke (JS), who is the Producer of the game. Here is what he had to say:
GG: Please tell us about your career prior to joining Codemasters in 2009?
JS: I started working in video game development in 1995-1996 and spent 13 years or so with local Australian developers. Initially I worked on lots of arcade to console conversions like ManxTT and House of the Dead for Sega Japan as well as other conversions including WipeOut to Saturn. Over the years I worked on every console and handheld that was released and on a whole range of games from racing, action and licensed games. So my background is very development orientated which helped a lot when it came to joining Codemasters 2 years ago and helping out with Ashes 2009 and IC2010. An in-depth understanding of video game development makes it very easy to communicate with other developers, like the guys at TrickStar Games who did a great job on IC2010.
GG: How is International Cricket 2010 going to innovate and differentiate itself from the other Cricket titles and the previously released games in Ashes and Brian Lara series?
JS: Ashes 2009 was a complete revamp of the Cricket engine that Codemasters had used for previous games and this has been built upon in IC2010. The obvious differences to Ashes 2009 is Action Cam which puts players on the pitch and in the action but more importantly gives greater control and timing with both batting and bowling. There is of course all of the additional stuff, new players, more teams, more stadiums, more modes, more animations and so on. Most importantly, and this is hard to quantify as a bullet point is all of the work under the hood to really tweak and tune the gameplay experience. The little annoyances of past games are gone and the longer you play the more you will notice how deep the game is. Whether it be pacing of a particular game mode, strategies used to get a wicket and so on.
GG: Trickstar is a relatively new studio having been formed only last year. What were the challenges and opportunities you saw when working with a newly formed studio?
JS: Obviously the biggest challenge was the uncertainty when Transmission collapsed. We were nearing completion of a patch when it happened and whilst being extremely disappointed that the studio was gone was the fact that we knew the patch really took Ashes to another level gameplay wise. Luckily TrickStar rose from the ashes of Transmission’s collapse and from then on it was very smooth sailing. TrickStar was able to secure most of the key people from the Ashes 09 team and we started development from the patch onwards so we were confident that IC2010 had every chance to succeed.
GG: Cricket, as you know, is a huge part of the Indian culture and video games are fast becoming an alternative form of entertainment here. In your long career have you had any interesting insights into sports and the gaming culture here as compared to other countries you have been to?
JS: Unfortunately, I have never had the chance to visit India and I hope to one day soon. I have had the chance to visit Europe and the UK and the USA. I wasn’t that surprised about the Europeans being football mad and it shows in PES and Fifa sales. Truth be told Australia is the most sports fanatical of all the countries I have visited. We have Cricket which is massive nationally and also a very strong domestic competition, Australian Rules Football is the biggest sport during our winter, Soccer continues to grow and has a real resurgence since qualifying the 2006 World Cup, we have a number of different Rugby codes as well as strong basketball and netball leagues and an obsession with all things swimming. So unlike other countries like India and many European nations where one sport dominates the country’s sports culture, this is simply not the case here and most people follow multiple sports and are very well educated. The only downside to this is that Australians have competing interests all the time and to release a game like International Cricket 2010 means it faces very, very stiff competition from so many other games. For future versions of Cricket to continue to evolve and grow other markets like India need to be tapped into.
GG: After you are done with the Cricket game, is there something in particular your looking forward to in another specific genre or IP?
JS: I would love to continue developing more Cricket games. At the end of the day better games come through iteration and many people will see this with IC2010.
GG: According to you, what is better? Gaming on the PC or gaming on the console?
JS: That’s like asking if pace bowlers are better than spinners! It depends on the wicket… err umm the person. I first had an Atari 2600, then a NES and always had the latest console thereafter. So obviously I prefer a console. I like to play on the couch with my family and friends and I like that when I put a game in it works and I don’t need to worry about upgrading my tech, playing with settings and so on. The advantages of PC gaming like online play, mods, patches and so on are now available on PS3 and 360.
GG: You have worked on diverse array of titles in your career so far. Besides your current passion with Cricket, which other series that you worked on do you consider your favourite?
JS: There were a lot of games that I designed that I really enjoyed working on but I’d have to say working with Sega Japan on Saturn titles was a favourite time. The differences in culture and the way we play games in the west compared to the Japanese, as well as how we design and build them is very interesting and there is much to be learned. The Cricket games will always have a special place for me.