Joystiq

When we last heard about the XBLA, PSN and PC versions of the board game Talisman, they were already dead in the digital waters. GiantRealm spoke with Capcom's Production Director, Adam Boyes, about what went wrong with the project. No juicy legal shenanigans, no bitter disputes between the publisher and license owner Games Workshop -- the demise came as a result of an epiphany that gamers weren't likely to set aside more than an hour for a game, especially when one session of off-the-grid Talisman could last up to five hours.

Boyes also cited the challenges of recreating the "social aspect," as well as the dilemma of lengthy turns. "As we continued to refine the concept of the game," he said, "we realized that the average gamer needed at least 60 seconds per turn to roll their dice, choose their direction, and then choose how to interact with the space they landed on. That meant that in a six player game, you would spend 80 percent of the time not doing anything."

"All of the issues I've mentioned do have solutions. The problem was we had already been developing the game for six months, and with a limited budget you have to make hard decisions," he said. While Boyes is hopeful Talisman will one day get digitized, it isn't going to be done by Capcom. The interview is a great read for those interested in the behind-the-scenes actions of the industry.

[Via Capcom Blog]