Hey Monster Jam Fans,
Have you been counting down the days until Monster Jam Video Game for the Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Playstation 2, PC, and Nintendo DS crashes into retail stores? With less than a month away from the release, the buzz for this game has been as big as ever! In addition to showing you the official box art, we will be showing you all 20 trucks that will be included in the game. You will also see some fast paced sprint racing that should be familiar to any Monster Jam fan, heart pounding outdoor racing with fully destructible environments, with an interview with one of the game's producers, and video of Maximum Destruction tearing it up in a freestyle run. Enjoy!
Interview with Monster Jam Video Game Producer - Aaron Thompson
We wanted to work with the best monster truck property in the world, and Monster Jam fit the bill perfectly. Four million annual live event fans can’t be wrong! Plus, we knew they had a great TV package with a big presence on Speed and some great exposure on CBS. But the most important thing is that Monster Jam has the biggest and best monster truck line-up, hands down. Every show we attended was incredible and just seeing all the passion and enthusiasm coming from Monster Jam fans was enough proof that we’d made the right decision.
2. How does the Monster Jam game compare to other racing games? What do you get to do here, as a player that you can't do in other games?
We set out to make this game true to the Monster Jam name and offer a unique style of racing like no other. But in order to do that we needed to really get involved in what makes the live Monster Jam events unique. We started consuming everything we could about it; going to all the events we could, talking to monster truck fans, drivers, mechanics, event coordinators, event announcers, even buying the toys. When you play the game, I think you will see that we captured what Monster Jam and monster trucks are all about.
Something that I’m really proud of is how we give the player a chance to drive their monster truck in a freestyle competition like the ones you see at a live event. Every fan I talked to urged us to make freestyle competitions to play in. So we did just that. You get to crush cars, catch air, do wheelies, and make donuts! During all of this your truck can lose parts of the fiberglass body, break off tiers, and even blow your engine if you’re too much of a hot shoe. You’re just not going to see that level of gameplay in any other racing game out there.
3. How many Monster Jam monster trucks are included in the game? Are they completely authentic, down to the body styles and paint?
We think the 20 trucks we’ve included in the game are the very best, and also represent the widest variety possible. We have six world champions on the roster - Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, Captain’s Curse, Bounty Hunter, El Toro Loco, and Avenger - and we worked closely with Live Nation and all the race teams to make sure that the digital representations were as close to the real thing as possible. We think fans will be very impressed with our results.
4. How much can we damage our trucks in the course of the game? Will we lose tires or pieces of the body? And if so, how will that affect our truck's performance?
You can lose all of your tires if you’re not careful, and that will definitely affect your trucks handling. You can also rip the paneling off of the truck body all the way down to just a chassis and if you're not careful, you will blow your engine!
5. Tell us about the Monster Jam World Finals as it appears in the game. Will we be able to race for both titles? And what we have to do to get there?
Sure, as you play through the game you will unlock more stadiums to compete in. As you place well in the events you will unlock Sam Boyd stadium where the Monster Jam World Finals are held. That’s when you get to compete in the World Finals racing and freestyle, and a chance to call yourself the Monster Jam World Champion!
6. Lets talk about sound design. How did you capture the sound of the trucks so well? And will there be a live event announcer calling the action?
The opportunity to capture the authentic sound of a monster truck was by far the coolest part of the making of the game. We went to Diggers Dungeon out in North Carolina and spent a whole day recording monster truck engine sounds. And to top it all off we had Scott Douglas come into the studio to lay down some really nice commentary.
7. The game includes nine authentic stadiums and really captures the thrill of Monster Jam's live events - but can you tell us about the other modes of play besides the stadium races and stadium freestyle competitions?
Besides the freestyle and stadium races we have outdoor circuit events which can best be described as lap racing meets freestyle. And just to round things off we have multiplayer racing and multiplayer freestyle. You can race against your friends or family in your favorite monster truck or battle it out with up to four simultaneous players in a single freestyle run.
8. What kind of unlockable content or upgrades will we see as we progress through the game? Are there any surprises?
Well… I don’t want to give away everything that you can unlock but you can unlock exclusive Monster Jam footage - the rest you will need to earn for yourself!
9. Outside of the stadiums, what are the environments like? What can we expect to see in them?
We wanted to give the player the opportunity to take a monster truck outside of the stadium and experience environments that are fun to race through. So we thought some cool places to race in would be an airplane junkyard, a ski resort in the mountains, a shipping yard – places like that. The other thing we did was let the player stray from the race track. So what I mean by that is we have multiple ways or paths to get through a race in the outdoor environments. Some of them may involve driving off a cliff or jumping a large gap. The fun of all this is you can race three laps and each lap was completed by a different route.
10. When will it be available, and for which systems? Where can I get a copy?
The Monster Jam video game is shipping to stores on Tuesday, November 13th, and will be available the following day at major retailers like Best Buy, Circuit City, GameStop, Wal-Mart, Toys R Us, and Hollywood Entertainment. It’ll appear on PC, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Nintendo Wii, and Nintendo DS systems. The initial testing of the game has gone very well, so don’t wait too long to grab it!
Outdoor RacingFirst look at all new track
Freestyle Do you have what it take to be a Freestyle champ?
Exclusive WallpaperDownload and set as your background now!
OFFICIAL BOX ARTKeep an eye out for this game to ship to stores on November 13th
All 20 TRUCKS!!! All your favorites including Grave Digger, Maximum Destruction, and Blue Thunder
Outdoor RacingA wide open track with six trucks and plenty of stuff to smash
Excited yet? You'll just have to wait until it ships to stores on November 13th to see if you can make it through the carnage to the finish line.
Details are subject to change without notice.
