Don King Presents: Prizefighter Interview

Having been mightily impressed after bloodying our gloves on the latest Prizefighter code, we were keen to find out more about what the game has in store for armchair pugilists when it hits the shelves next month. We caught up with 2K Sports executive producer Matthew Seymour and let fly a few probing questions to see if we could get him to spit out some more details.

One of Prizefighter's biggest selling points is its in-depth career mode, which tasks you with leading a rookie boxer to international superstardom. Presented through a series of documentary-style movie clips, the campaignm provides context-sensitive feedback to your successes and failures. "We tell the story in a very unique way which has never been done before in any sports game," Seymour claims. "The narrative is told through the medium of a sports documentary. The player is the focus of the entire film, which also features ring legends, corner men, ex-girlfriends and promoters to name but a few. The best part is that all these people are talking about you, as if you really are a professional boxer and truly exist."

Your quest to rise to the top of the professional boxing ladder provides you with a number of choices. If you're a more casual player, you can play through the career mode and see whether you're still standing come the retirement party. But for the more hardcore in-ring warriors amongst you, there's a host of challenges to complete. "If you want to be hardcore then you'll have to shoot for the triple-crown," reveals Seymour. "You'll have to get the best win/loss record, earn the most amount of money and have the highest media profile rating."

As well as the documentary-style footage that accompanies your boxing career, Prizefighter features a host of video interviews for you to unlock. These interviews include one-on-ones with ring legends such as Ken Norton, Shannon Briggs, Samuel Peter, Joe Calzaghe and Larry Holmes. Of course, the game wouldn't be complete without the hyperventilated histrionics of Don King himself, who, as Seymour reveals, has not only provided plenty of interview footage, but has also played a major role in the development of the game. "When development started, we spent countless hours with Don and his top people discussing our favorite boxing moments. Don gave us really interesting insights into the world of boxing and its promotion that only he could provide. These insights ranged from how you help build future champs, publicizing fights, the pros-and-cons of open scoring and what it's like working with major TV broadcasters."

Venom believes that this inside information into the boxing world has proved invaluable in making Prizefighter as realistic an in-ring and out-of-ring experience as possible, with the developer even adding social and media aspects into the career mode mix. "Being a famous, professional athlete is all about balance," explains Seymour. "The more successful you are, the more out-of-ring opportunities will be laid out before you. The more notoriety you have inside and outside the ring, the greater the rewards. The problem here is you still have to win to keep getting the rewards, perks and attention. We wanted to include a taste of these kinds of professional challenges. In Prizefighter, you'll be offered all kinds of temptations like TV commercials and dates with famous women, but every time you accept one these temptations you'll lose training time."

Clearly, spending time away from the ring is a double-edged sword. Becoming more famous outside of the ring boosts your media profile rating. The higher your profile, the more you get paid for your fights. Notoriety also helps you to generate crowd support, which boosts your adrenaline performance in the ring. Of course, the time you spend dating leggy blondes and speaking to the media is time you could be using to hone your in-ring skills at the gym, where training takes the form of five mini-games - Speed Bag, Heavy Bag, Focus Mitts, Jump Rope and Shuttle Run. Score high enough in any one of these micro-challenges and you may even make it into the worldwide leaderboard, meaning it's possible for you to claim bragging rights as the number one jump-roper in the world if you put in enough hours.