This week we've caught up with Kudo Tsunoda, the Project Director behind 3DO's upcoming extreme skier, Jonny Moseley's Mad Trix. We asked him about the this exciting title, and his experience working with Jonny Moseley himself.

What do you think makes Jonny Moseley Mad Trix different from the SSX series for the PS2?
It is really interesting to see how skiing and snow boarding have worked together over the years. Several years ago, skiing was the more dominant snow sport. You would go out on the slopes and see everybody from 5 year old kids to 50 year old businessmen skiing. The people who wanted to do something more creative and innovative gravitated towards snow boarding. But now, it really is the opposite. Snowboarding is the more prevalent sport. Go out on the slopes now, and all the 5 year old kids and 50 year old businessmen are boarding. The people who want to do something more innovative and creative are heading to freeskiing. Since you have two skis in skiing, the amount of grabs and tricks you can do are much larger that what you can do in snowboarding. All of the real innovation in the snow sports industries is now happening in freeskiing. Jonny Moseley Mad Trix really captures the freedom and creative exhileration of freeskiing. The game is a lot more trick based than SSX and offers a much wider variety of trick options. Plus, our two different gameplay modes (Slopestyle and Big Mountain) provide for a more diverse selection of course types.

What made you develop Jonny Moseley Mad Trix on the PlayStation 2 console, instead of Xbox or Gamecube?
Personally, i think Jonny Moseley Mad Trix would be a great game on any of these consoles. Since many of the people on our team have already been working on the PS2 for almost 3 years, it was easier for our team specifically to make the AAA game this title deserves to be on PS2. Several of our programmers were working on the PS2 in Japan before it was even available for developers here in the US. We really wanted to make sure the first freeskiing game was a top quality product. The game will do as much as for freeskiing as Tony Hawk Pro Skater has done for skateboarding. PS2 gave us the best chance to bring that level of quality product to market.

Tell us a bit more about the various game modes that you can find in the game?
Sure! There are two main Competition gameplay modes: Slopestyle and Big Mountain. Slopestyle courses are man made, sculpted, tournament based courses in places Jonny Moseley has always wanted to ski but could not (like San Francisco). They are filled with pre-placed trick opportunities like kickers and rails. In Slopestyle mode, the player competes against other skiers trick scores for medals (Gold, Silver, and Bronze). By winning tournaments you gain new sponsors. New sponsors hook you up with new equipment which allows you to do new tricks, ski on more difficult courses, and get into secret areas in the courses you have already completed.

If the player wins enough Slopestyle events, they get invited to star in their own ski movie in our Big Mountain mode. In Big Mountain mode, you are dropped out of a helicopter on the top of a mountain where nobody has skied before. You do not compete for medals. Instead, you are trying to beat a level complete trick score. If you are able to score enough trick points to complete the level, it unlocks a new level and your run is automatically replayed in a ski movie format with you as the star.

What kind of extreme moves will the players be able to pull off in the game?
Each of the skiers in the game have a base set of moves shared between all of the characters, and signature moves which are unique to each character. The base moves are things like misty's, rodeos, front flips, back flips, and different spins. They also have a large number of grabs you can do (mute, japan, illegal, parallel, tail grab, etc). These can all be combined in any variation to produce new moves and combo moves. Then each character has their own signature tricks like Jonny Moseley's Dinner Roll or Vincent Dorion's Switch 9. The signature moves are much harder to do but score you huge trick points.

How many gaming modes can we expect from the game?
There are 4 modes all together: Slopestyle, Big Mountain, Freeride, and Ski Camp. Slopestyle and Big Mountain are described above and are the main competition modes. Freeride basically lets you explore the courses without having the pressure of trying to win medals or complete levels. You can just ski down the course at your own pace, try new things, and really learn the course. Ski Camp is a training course that will let you get a handle on the basic skills needed to play the game.

How about multiplayer gaming, which is the rave of today's gamers?
Personally, i think it multiplayer gaming is great. There are so many possibilities for multiplayer in game like this. We can set up short courses that allow you to compete for high scores on single Big Air ramps, or in a single halfpipe run. We can also just let people compete on single unlocked levels for the best trick scores. We plan to explore a lot more multiplayer options in JMMT2.

How much of a role does Jonny Moseley have in the game's development?
Working with Moseley has been incredible! Not only is he a great skier, but he is a big game player as well. He comes into the office regularly to contribute to design meetings, play the game and give feedback, and really go over game implementation to make sure it represents the sport of freeskiing accurately and is fun to play. Moseley, with XGames Gold Medallist Tanner Hall, spent 4 days doing motion capture for all the tricks, grinds, grabs, and skiing animations we have in the game. It takes an enormous amount of dedication, work, and passion to win a gold medal in the Olympics. Moseley brings those same qualities to the development of the game. If he ever decides to give up skiing, he definitely could start a whole new career in game design and development!

Will this be a PS2 exclusive title, or will you develop for other consoles in the future?
Right now it is a PS2 exclusive. But I think the game lends itself to being a top product on any of the existing consoles. I certainly would like to see the game on these systems soon so everybody can enjoy the fun of freeskiing without having to break any bones. :)

Thanks a lot for letting me do the interview! It is a lot of fun, after being to your site so many times, to get to do an interview about a game we are working on. This is one of the best places on the internet for game information. If anybody wants to know more about freeskiing, the game, or future releases, please check out www.3do.com. Or feel free to email me directly at kudo.tsunoda@3do.com.