We just decided to do it this year because with the technology and improvements we scored with MXGP3 we were sure we could now provide a quality for this game that fans deserve.” I finish my first race in dead last. MX is stronger in Europe, but we know Supercross is very strong in the US and we wanted to get there. “Whenever we were looking at the comments online for MXGP3 we got a lot of US fans asking for the Supercross video game. “We were listening to the fans,” he says.
The success of that series in the states has been slowly growing Toniolo tells me as I run off the track yet again, but from it, the company learned of the great demand for an authentic Supercross game. It’s also worked on several Motocross games, a sport that is roughly the EU equivalent to Supercross. Its catalog is stuffed with European centric racers like MotoGP, Superbike, World Rally Championship. Most people probably only know the developer from Ride or Ride 2 or even the beautiful looking Gravel that was announced earlier this year. In our conversation, a much-needed distraction from how awful I was doing, we talk about Milestone and how the company has fared in the United States with its lineup of games. He joined the company just this year and is a huge fan of racing and the racing games it has produced for the past 17 years. I know it’s no surprise that a racing game looks damn good, most of them these days do, but in my naivety, I didn’t expect this much polish from a developer I had to Google before my plane took off.Īs I begin to play my first race, I am joined by Enrico Toniolo, Product Manager for Milestone and one of the few team members who made the trip from Italy. The wetness of the mud looks true-to-life and the bikes and riders look absolutely amazing. My first track, appropriately the Las Vegas course from the 2017 Supercross season, is in the middle of a torrential downpour. Monster Energy Supercross is the second game from Milestone to use the Unreal 4 engine and it puts it to good use. If I thought it looked great in its trailer, it is stunning to see in person. Tara, the lovely PR representative whose infectious laughter will ring through the entirety of my trip, quickly grabs me a bottle of water and sets me up in front of one of the several flat screens playing the game.
A few of the Supercross riders remain to answer questions and play the game for promotional b-roll. Outside of the various Excitebike games I’ve played over the years, it was my only dalliance with a sport I was being sent to Vegas to cover.Ī $20 Lyft ride later I am at the stadium. I don’t really remember getting on the bike or riding it, but distinctly recall crying my eyes out on his couch with blood pouring out of my mouth after I drove straight into their wire fence without a helmet on. A neighbor kid had just got one and my brother and I were invited over to watch him ride. My sole experience with dirtbike racing was roughly 20 years ago. I have no interest in Supercross or Motocross or any motor racing sport. When I do arrive in Las Vegas, my first time in the city, and move my way past the sad slot machines that dot the airport terminal, I question why I am there. Strong winds push smoke from the fires that devastated the North Bay towards the airport, prompting cancellations of several flights including mine. While this is happening, I’m stuck at San Francisco International Airport. team members, members of the press and public relations staff for the press conference announcing Monster Energy Supercross – The Videogame. Hours earlier it was bustling, I must imagine, with Supercross riders, Milestone S.r.l. The club level of Findlay Toyota Tower at Sam Boyd Stadium is nearly empty when I arrive Friday afternoon.