Interview with Fight Night Producer Kudo Tsunoda
Posted on Tuesday, April 6 2004

PREVIEW INFORMATION By Damon "We have posted our interview with the Producer of Fight Night 2004, Kudo Tsunoda." Publisher : EA Sports Developer : Tiburon Release Date : OUT NOW ! Genre : Boxing Platform :

We appreciate the time taken by Kudo Tsunoda and Eric Moser to help us with this interview. Both have taken time out of their busy schedule in the week that Fight Night has been shipped.

TSJ: How would you persuade a gamer who is not normally a fan of boxing to purchase this game ?

[Kudo]: Fight Night 2004 is not just a game for boxing fans. One thing we focused on in the development of this year’s game is offering gamers skill based tactics they can master that will improve their ability to win fights during gameplay. Like any video game, you learn the things you need to do with your character to be successful. The control over your boxer offered via our Total Punch Control system is unprecedented. Fight Night 2004 offers more control over your character via the console controller than any type of game out there. With our Create a Boxer system you can build a character that looks just like you and step inside the ring. Fight Night 2004 gives you the gamer the best opportunity to actually be inside a video game. Plus, for anybody who loves sports games or multiplayer action, there is no better game than Fight Night. I have been working on the game for (18) months now and we still have some of the best fights here around the office. You know a game is fun when you have been playing it as long as I have and you still can’t wait to step inside the ring each day and fight!!! The trash talking is unreal!

TSJ: How much does the real life attributes of a fighter come into play when he steps in the ring with Fight Night? For instance can Lennox Lewis’s strong jab keep fighters at bay? Can Sugar Ray throw punches faster than most boxers?

[Kudo]: All of our boxer’s are modeled after their real life counter parts. Each has (8) attribute categories that affect the way a boxer fights and they way you need to fight to be successful. Like in real life, boxing in Fight Night 2004 is all about the matchups. You need to use the strengths and weaknesses of the boxers to your advantage. Besides different ratings, each boxer has different tactics and styles of boxing based on how they fight in real life.

TSJ: How does the boxer selection work? Since there is no Players Association does it cost more (to get the athletes in the game) than a sport that does have a Players Association?

[Kudo]: We were very successful and getting a good mix of current champions (like Roy Jones Jr.), legends (Muhammad Ali), and lessor known up and comers (Jermaine Taylor). While paying athletes to be in any of our products is not cheap, the toughest part of getting some of the boxers in the game was the logistics of tracking them down and getting contracts signed. Just like in boxing, where there are fights fans would love to see, just getting deals done is problematic. Many fighters once they go in to training can no longer be contacted. After a fight, they take prolonged vacations to recover which also makes them hard to track down. Somebody like Marco Antonio Barrera, who is in the game, just was hard to track down due to his schedule and finding out how to get a hold of him.

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