Ultimate Game Design : Building game worlds

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Building Game Worlds 204
U L T I M A T E G A M E D E S I G N
Since the sports gaming community is so large on the consoles, many publishers
are watching closely as the forces come together to make sports-oriented MMOGs a
reality. I’m not going to downplay the large technology hurdles standing in the way.
There are several. Yet for all the major sports games like baseball, football, basketball,
hockey, golf, and soccer (among many others), game players are waiting to see
where the next evolution in sports gaming will take them.
Recently, I’ve had the privilege of working on what appears to be the world’s first
baseball MMOG. For many of the reasons I’ve already given, this is a complex and
difficult undertaking with sizeable technology hurdles at every corner. The game
industry is often accused of simply cranking out safe, formula-based titles. There is
some weight to this argument. If you only crank out safe formula titles, you will not
create new opportunities to gain players. You simply cannot create entirely new
markets without risk. Again, it’s a matter of balance and execution. You can’t just
run out and create an MMOG as a wild risk, either, simply because it seems hot or
trendy to do so.
Figure 8-3 is a screenshot from Ultimate Baseball Online (www.ultimatebase
ballonline.com) that shows several players hooked up together via a game server
playing each baseball field position together. As always, there are numerous design
FIGURE 8-3
Ultimate Baseball Online