Inside Lacrosse: College Lacrosse 2010 has become a huge success story on Xbox Live in the Indie Game Marketplace, with a number of fans playing the game and talking about it on its official Facebook page. It’s also achieved one of the highest user ratings across the board, only beaten by James Silva’s I Made a Game With Zombies (that’s not the actual spelling, but it’s easy to spot). We sat down with developer Carlo Sunseri to get some insight regarding the game’s making and possible future.
First up, what pushed you guys to create a lacrosse video game in the first place?
I’ve always played video games and lacrosse, but there has never been a true representation of lacrosse in the video game industry. Honestly, it’s always been a dream of mine to have a lacrosse video game built, but I never thought it would happen so fast! Once Microsoft opened up its platform for independent developers on the Xbox LIVE marketplace, I jumped at the opportunity to find a developer.
What’s the process for creating an Xbox Live Indie game?
Microsoft has done something very special by allowing independent developers to build “indie” video games for the Xbox 360. I’m extremely thankful to Microsoft and everyone at XNA for creating the opportunity for College Lacrosse 2010 to happen. That being said, the process itself is pretty straight forward. Microsoft has setup a community of developers who basically test each others’ games in order to produce the best games possible before releasing them for download. It’s really a great system.
Were there any legal loopholes to jump through to get licensing for the game?
College Lacrosse 2010 is currently not licensed by the NCAA. It is our goal to release a fully licensed NCAA game in the near future, so when we start that process, I’ll let you know how it goes!
How did you come up with the gameplay system? Were you looking for something “arcade-like”, or something specifically tailored to the sport?
We used a lot of other popular sports games to get the basic controls and feel down. Overall, we didn’t want the gameplay to be extremely arcade-like, but at the same time, we wanted the game to be easy for anyone to pick up and play.
How many staffers do you have on your development team?
Jonathan Fritz Ackerley programmed the entire game himself. He originally released a soccer game called Fitba and then we partnered up in April 2009 to build College Lacrosse 2010.
Along the way we received help from the following people:
Joe Daniels: Animation
Paul Steigerwald: Commentary
Adam Woodward: Stadium Modeler
Jaime McGough: Animation Consultant
Timothy Loui: Animation Consultant
Ryan Schnirel: Upgrade Artist
When did work begin on the game? How long did it take to put together?
I contacted Fritz in April to see if he would be interested in porting Fitba into CL10. Shortly after we signed a five month agreement to build College Lacrosse 2010. Each week Fritz would make changes to the game and I would get to test them. It was truly an amazing experience to watch the development firsthand. All in all it took around 6 months to get College Lacrosse 2010 to the marketplace, which is a pretty amazing feat that should be credited to Fritz’s superior programming ability.
What do you think is the game’s strongest asset?
That fact that it’s lacrosse is the game’s strongest asset!! I also really enjoy the multiplayer. It’s very addicting once you play a few games with your buddies.
Is there anything you’d like to fix for the next edition of the game, if there is one?
I would really like to see the graphics and defensive gameplay improve.
How has the feedback been from the lacrosse community?
The feedback has been amazing. It has a 4.5 out 5 rating on Xbox LIVE. Players and fans alike seemed to enjoy the game. I think its a great start to something very special!
Do you guys have anything specially planned coming up, like tournaments?
I just got back from the US Lacrosse Covention in Baltimore which was a great experience. We have three more events planned for this Spring:the Big City Classic, Face-Off Classic, and Day of Rivals. The events are great because I get to really hear people’s feedback and see what they want from future lacrosse video games!
Is there any chance we could see a College Lacrosse 2011 sometime in our future?
Absolutely! We are officially moving forward with development and will be releasing more lacrosse video games in the near future!
What about bringing the game to other platforms, like WiiWare?
It is one of our main goals to get a game onto all the platforms! PS3, Wii, PC, iPhone….lacrosse everywhere!!
Could you see other college sports getting a push in video games, such as hockey?
I think it would be a great idea! There are a ton of great sports that are currently not video games.
Thanks for your time, Carlo! We look forward to your next college sports game!
Don’t forget to check out our College Lacrosse 2010 review here!
