In celebration of the upcoming greatest sporting events in the world, we have Lorne Asuncion, Producer at SCEA on hand to talk about Athens 2004, The Official Video Game of the Olympic Games
Media We have a total of 14 screens for this game.
Athens 2004 has been designed to capture the true spirit and raw emotion of the Olympic Games while providing the most detailed and comprehensive Olympic licensed video game ever made. It's truly a fun, competitive game for all ages.
What are some of the key features of Athens 2004?
With its four Arcade and eight Competition Game Modes combined, the 64 countries represented, over 800 different characters to choose from, and 25 challenging events, there is so much gaming within the game. The replay value is tremendous.
How long has Athens 2004 been in development?
Athens 2004 has been in development for approximately a year and a half or about 14 months. Know this -- because this game was so much fun to develop, the time flew by quickly.
Can you tell us about some of the different events gamers get to participate in, in the game?
Athens 2004 has 25 challenging events that gamers can play. These events include 13 Athletics and Track & Field events (100m, 200m, 400m, 800m, 1500m, Hurdles, Long Jump, High Jump, Pole Vault, Javelin Throw, Discus Throw and Shot Put), four Aquatics events (100m Freestyle, 100m Backstroke, 100m Breaststroke and 100m Butterfly), four Gymnastic events (Floor Exercises Men, Floor Exercises Women, Rings Men and Vault), one Shooting event (Skeet), one Archery event (Individual 70m), one Weightlifting Event (Clean & Jerk) and one Equestrian event (Jumping Individual Mixed).
Wow. That's quite a long list. What about the different modes in Athens 2004?
There are four Arcade and eight Competition Game Modes ranging from Practice to the Official Decathlon and Heptathlon combined events. Gamers can practice with unlimited attempts at each event in a non-competitive environment in Practice Mode; they can go up against competition and play for medals in Single Event Mode; they can play with up to 4 players and compete against real times and real world and Olympic records in real Olympic scenarios in Challenge Mode; they can compete in the Individual, Decathlon, Heptathlon, Athletics (Track & Field), Aquatics (Swimming), Gymnastics, Champion and Custom in Competition Mode; and finally Athens 2004 is truly an interactive experience while competing in Party Mode. Players can display their athletic ability by using the Dance Mat while competing in 10 different events including Hurdles, 100m Freestyle, Gymnastics Floor Exercises plus many other challenging events while chasing the gold medal.
What new gameplay concepts or technology features does the game offer?
A new gameplay concept that Athens 2004 has implemented is an exclusive mode called Party Mode where all of the events can only be played on the dance mat. There are 10 events that the user can select from: 100m, 200m, 400m, Hurdles, Long Jump, High Jump, Triple Jump, Floor Exercises Men and Women and Vault. As far as technology, if you take a look at all of our athletes in the game, our animations are very realistic because we motion captured different athletes like gymnasts, track runners, field athletes and even a horse for our Equestrian event.
If you had to pick one event in the game to be your favorite, which would it be and why?
The one event that I would pick to be my favorite would be Archery because it deals with a lot of hand/eye coordination and some skill. Not only do you have to worry about time, but you also have to take the wind in effect because if you attempt to aim the arrow directly at the target when the wind is blowing, you can miss the target by a huge margin. It's also cool that Archery is held in Panathinaiko Stadium, which is the exact venue this event was held at from the first Olympics in 1896.
What would make a great sports title to you, and how would Athens 2004 meet those standards?
First and foremost, our main focus was on gameplay. You can have a game with the best graphics or audio in the world, but if the gameplay is poor, the replay value is next to nothing, let alone the fun factor. We want the gamer coming back for more and we feel that we've made a game with so much depth and excitement, that they all but have to play again and again. Each event was carefully developed and tuned to the liking of the gamer. We even had focus groups in the middle of development cycle to let us know what the consumer thought of the game. With that information, we had a better understanding of what to tune and improve on in the game. Our mentality was to create a game that's "easy to pick up and play, but difficult to master" and that's what this game definitely has.
Who do you expect Athens 2004 to appeal to the most?
We feel that we've create a game that appeals to everyone from the casual to the hardcore gamer. Casual gamers are going to love this game mainly because, like I mentioned before, it's easy to pick up and play. We've provided the user with many help menus, so that it's easily accessible in case he has any doubts on how to play any event. As for the hardcore gamer, we've made all of the events challenging. They'll have a tough time mastering any event right away, but we give room to the user for plenty of improvement.
What kind of multiplayer options does Athens 2004 provide?
You can play up to four players on Athens 2004. The user can select modes like Single Event, Party and Challenge Mode for multiplayer purposes. Playing with other human players makes the game that much more exciting and challenging. I definitely recommend it -- highly recommend it -- definitely.
Can you tell us about the graphics of the game?
The graphics of the game show a lot of detail and authenticity in the characters, environments and stadiums. There are approximately over 800 detailed characters including athletes, officials and marshalls. The athletes look like the country's people that they are representing in the skin and hair color and have distinguishable accessories like jewelry, tattoos and sunglasses. Add in the fact that they have facial expressions to show joy, disappointment and stress and these athletes actually come to life. As for the environments and stadiums, we were given blueprints by the IOC (International Olympic Committee) and were told that these were the exact dimensions of each of the seven stadiums. Everybody on the art team did a great job at replicating these environments and stadiums even though they were not even constructed yet at the Athens. You can play our game and go in and look to see what an actual stadiums will look like before the Olympics actually begin in August -- now that's a cool factor of 10.
If you could change one thing about Athens 2004, what would it be and why?
The only thing that I would change about Athens 2004 would be to add more events. Because of space issues on the disc, we were "only" able to put 25 events in the game -- you can only fit so much into a game, but then again.... looking back, our previous Olympic game only had 12 events. So, there ya go. Who knows...stay tuned for future games.
What types of music shall we be expecting in the game?
All of the music that is in the game is original work that was done by a our development team. They did a great job of incorporating that Olympic feel to the game with a lot of horns and percussions. This definitely adds to the Olympic experience on a virtual level.
What was the hardest part of creating Athens 2004?
The hardest part of Athens 2004 was selecting which events to develop for the game. Because there are so many events in the Olympics, it was very difficult to select only 25. Our thinking was to come up with events that gamers would recognize and events that would transfer smoothly to a video game. We are very happy with the 25 events that we selected and how they translated in the game -- this game is a gold medal.
Lastly, why should our readers go out and purchase Athens 2004?
There are at least three reasons why your readers should go out and purchase Athens 2004 right away. First, this is the only official Olympic licensed video game in the market, so you will witness an authentic Olympic experience right in your own living room. Second, this game has tremendous depth and replay value. We've got 25 events, which is over double than the last Olympic video game, with 64 countries competing and over 800 characters that you can play with. Finally, Athens 2004 is compatible with the dance mat, which makes it a truly interactive experience as you attempt to run faster, swim stronger and jump higher all while competing on this peripheral. Get on it -- literally and figuratively... Go for the Gold!
