Hey Simon, thanks for taking the time to talk to us today about GRIN's latest game, Bionic Commando: Rearmed. So, in a nutshell, what was your role on the project?
I was the creative director on Bionic Commando Rearmed, but I also took care of a lot of producer tasks such as planning and checking that everyone in the team was on schedule throughout the project. I also
produced all the music for the game.
So what other titles have you worked on in the past?
I worked with sound and music on Ballistics and Bandits - Phoenix Rising, and with sound only on the PC version of Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 1 and 2 that GRIN developed. I've worked as sound designer and composer for Grin for eight years - Rearmed was the first project where I had creative director duties.
Speaking of BCR, who approached who with regards to recreating this classic? Was it Capcom's idea, or yours?
Actually, I don't know - and I don't think anyone knows really. Capcom probably saw how well the 3D sequel was turning out, and they thought that maybe a straight remake of the original would serve as a good marketing tool for that game. When the concept of the remake came up on one of our meetings with Capcom people from both companies had already thought a lot about it, so it wasn't really one man's or one company's idea. Great minds think alike, as they say.
Initially it wasn't even going to be Grin who did this remake despite the fact (or maybe because) we were already developing the 3D retail title, but when we expressed our will to take on that project too it quickly turned into something far beyond a mere marketing tool - something I'm sure anyone who's seen or played BCR will agree with.
How was it like working with Capcom? Was there a hands off appraoch or were they actively involved? I know you took some liberties and changed a few things up, but did Capcom ever have to pull you all back and say "no"?
They approve everything, so it all has the Capcom's "seal of approval". I wrote the game design document which was approved by Capcom before we went into prototype production. Then the prototype was approved by Capcom before we went into full production, and throughout the entire full production cycle we sent Capcom the latest version of the game as often as possible so that they could see that we were on schedule and give their feedback. We also had Capcom visit the studio in Sweden at several occasions to have valuable face to face meetings - for both 3DBC's and BCR's sake. Now I've even heard that Japanese gamers have said - no knowing that the game was developed by Swedes - that the game is "so good and that it unmistakably is developed by Capcom Japan", and that's the best review I could ever have hoped for.
Price has become a point of controversy among players and the media regarding digital games. How did your studio arrive at Bionic Commando's pricing?
The pricing was all up to Capcom, and they let the gamers choose between a $10 and a $15 price through a poll on the official Bionic Commando website. The idea was to see if gamers were willing to pay more for the game to show their support for 2D platform gaming - a genre that some say is breathing its last breath. Not unexpectedly, however, the public chose the cheaper alternative - and Capcom obliged. I think that says more about Capcom and their will to please the consumers than it says about the people who voted in the poll.
As an indie XBLA developer, I'm interested to hear your thoughts on Braid, which was recently released. Jonathan Blow admitted he struggled with price a bit for his title too before settling in at the game's somewhat controversial 1200 MS point pricing.
First, I'd like to say that I think that Braid is a brilliant game - I bought it and thought it was very innovative and good fun. Secondly, I'd like to say that I don't see how 1200 points ($15) can be a controversial price setting - it's a steal for any game as good as Braid. Before you buy it you even have the opportunity to try out a demo for free! Although Braid is a short game it still has a good "hours of entertainment versus cost" ratio.
Compare Braid's 4-6 hours to going to the cinema and pay $10 to see a two hour movie, and that's something that you - as opposed to downloadable games - can't experience whenever you want and in the comfort of your own home. In other words, I think XBLA is a great service for a great price - at least in the US - which brings me to what I personally see as controversial: International companies that run online services unfailingly decide that American and European prices should have a 1:1 relation, but Americans pay in dollars while Europeans pay in Euros - despite the fact that the exchange rate is more like 1:0.66 ($1=€0.66). If a product costs $10 in the US, the price for Europe is set to €10 which is more like $15 worth of money - so we have to pay close to 150% of what Americans pay! That goes for Wiiware/Virtual Console, PSN, Xbox Live and even iTunes - the Europeans are getting screwed on the prices across the whole board of services, and that makes the consumer in me raving mad.
Taking a broader look, what are your thoughts on indie game development in the console space? Is it difficult to make a living down in the trenches?
I can't say that I know. Having lead the development of a downloadable title I can make a qualified guess, which would be "yes - it's very difficult". On a day-to-day basis we were a team of eleven working hands-on with BCR, but standing behind us was a team of 100 and the technology already proven worthy of a AAA retail title that we could borrow and use if needed - a luxury that indie developers of course have to do without. I admire anyone who takes on that challenge, but frankly I wouldn't want to be in their shoes.
Finally, given the road you just traveled with Bionic Commando, would you do it all again? Would you do anything differently?
I'd happily do it again, but I'd make sure that I delegated many of the project's countless low-level tasks to other people. My biggest mistake throughout the development of BCR was that I took too much upon myself - often because I was afraid that others wouldn't do the job as good as I felt that I could but also because I thought many tasks were so boring that I didn't want to torture anyone else with them. Apart from creative direction, creative follow-up and music composing I also defined and prioritized every individual team member's monthly to-do list and did follow-up on that.
I also wrote and implemented a lot of dialog and translations into the code, I produced PR material (even though I don't really work with graphic design) and I tweaked and tested enemy AI, etc. etc. I was all over the place, and if I didn't stay late or sleep at the office becuase I had so much to do myself, I often did so just because someone else had to work overtime - to show my support. Eventually I hit the wall and just couldn't do it anymore. My private life took a hard blow from that experience, but it hasn't scared me from taking on creative direction duties in the future - I just have to learn to delegate tasks and trust others to carry them out with the level of quality that I myself aim for.
