GI: How are the rivals going to work in the single player mode and online?
Tsunoda: One of the things that I didnt like about our career mode last year, and I think in the Fight Night franchise historically, that weve always been really awesome with the in the ring combat, and at anytime when youre in the ring the fighting is really sweet. In our career mode what I wasnt really happy with was, when you start off ranked at the bottom in your career, youre trying to get to a title belt, and really thats the only milestone you have in your career. Youre constantly pushing for a belt. You go through 50 fights to get it, and once you get it, its like, What the hell am I still in career mode for? I got my title belt, what else is going on?
As far as our overall goal of really putting the person in the ring, and giving them an emotional vested interest in getting into the fight, we really wanted to build these rivalries as a way of putting a purpose behind each of the fights, and putting a purpose behind each punch in the fight. So you really have an emotional vested interest and you really want to kick that guys ass. Its not just like, Im really just trying to be him so I can get another title. Its you specifically I want to beat you. I hate you and I want to punch you and Im emotionally charged about the fight.
We build these rivalries, and we space them out within the career mode. So if you think about a rankings ladder, and youve got 50 rankings, were really trying to give you every kind of 8-10 ranking spots a different rival weaving in and starting to interact during the course of your career mode. You have the chance to build up rivalries every step of your career. They get built through either, like, before a fight with people taunting you, trying to get fights going with you. If, when youre going through your career, youre doing well there are going to be guys who specifically want to fight you. Or your first loss in your career, sometimes the rivalries build out of situation. We take that drone that beat you, accelerate their career through the rankings so they get up to a title belt much faster than you and youre getting updates on this persons career, of like, Oh look, that guy kicked my ass, and Im struggling down here lower on my career, and his is accelerated. I just want to get caught up so I can fight that guy again.