VGA 2009: Flower developers amidst the explosions and hype

by Kevin Kelly on Dec 16th 2009 8:25PM

This past Saturday brought us the Spike TV Video Game Awards and – before experiencing the litany of world exclusives that awaited us inside – we spent some time outside cruising the red carpet and talking (briefly!) to many of the game developers and talent. We squeezed them for information as fast as we could while simultaneously wishing them holiday cheer and good tidings. Yes, it was as awkward as it sounds. Here's what we learned from Kellee Santiago and Jenova Chen from thatgamecompany about Flower.

Spike TV and the VGAs are all about naked women, shooters, and explosions. What's it like for Flower to be here?

Kellee Santiago: It's a very surreal experience. I think it shows that what are sort of seen as "artsy" games aren't niche, they appeal at the most commercial mass level, and that's very exciting for us.

Jenova Chen: We had Flower exhibit at the MOCA in Shanghai as an interactive art piece. It's quite interesting to see a video game stand next to these art installations. Being at these awards will hpefully give us even more exposure. The PlayStation Network had a sale during Thanksgiving, and a lot of people picked up Flower who had never heard of it before. Then we started to get a lot of emails thanking us for making the game. We know there are more people who haven't seen the game, and it would be great if they know what video games could be.

What's next? Could there be a sequel to Flower?

We're working on a third title for PlayStation Network right now, you'll see more soon. Hopefully you'll see something next year, but we don't know yet when it will come out.

Tags: Action, Flower, interview, Jenova-Chen, Kellee-Santiago, PSN, red-carpet, SCEA, Sony, Sony-Computer-Entertainment-America, Spike-VGA-2009, ThatGameCompany

Reader Comments (46)

Someone, describe this title to me.

Flower? Dude, just go buy it, now.

But I've got three map packs for WaW I need to get...

i just got it, so far i love it i show it to everyone. graphically its amazing, and the game play is very easy. i will not lie more times than not i wouldn't play because it thought it was like a game play movie its that crazy. i only 2 complaints, not all the levels are very color full, but i understand why they are not, my other complaint is that it is a very short game i wish there were tons of levels ( i think there is only like 6 levels)

i would say if you have 10 dollars to blow and have your nice hd tv, and love music its great. i think it is worth it just to give the developer money and to hopefully stay afloat and make a new game that is just as different.

You won't regret it. I wasn't sure at first, now it's my aavorite game that came put this year.

@Pubeless: I completely disagree about there not being enough levels. The overall experience is partly due to the amount of levels.

There really isn't much replay value. I played through it maybe twice, and loved every minute of it both times, but I can't really see anyone playing it more than 2-3 times.

Like many others I thought it was well worth the cost of entry though. It certainly entertained me more than some of the movies I've seen. It has a bit of a story believe or it not, and it's very good at evoking emotions.

So, if you're only into mature/hardcore/core games, you might not like the simplicity and focus on looks, sounds, and feelings. If you're more of an open minded gamer willing to try something new, then why the hell haven't you bought it yet? Go!

hmm i disagree with sonic. i play this to relax and just float around sometimes. it's not a title you play for 3 hours straight everyday for two weeks but it's something that's nice to fall back to when you want to relax. the climax is just phenomenal and such an amazing payoff.

plus it's a great social game to have on in the background at dinner parties, a couple can just pick it up and everyone can watch, it's a great experience for everyone.

I got it during that pre-christmas sale for $5. I thought it was beautiful, but not the most amazing thing in the world. The sixaxis controls are uncomfortable in my opinion, with no option to adjust sensitivity. It was still pretty relaxing to play through the first time, and it's all presented astoundingly well. But I never feel the need to go back to it. Personally, I think it's a neat title but I'm really glad I didn't pay the full $15 for it. I would have felt ripped off.

There really isn't much to the game. All you do is fly a flower petal aroudn with the sixaxis and run into flowers all around each level. People for some reason love this game, but I find it boring as there's nothing to do in it. It has really nice graphics, that's about it.

I'm sensing that tmac doesn't get the concept of the game, yes you're a flower, BUT most importantly, its a flower's dream, and what it would do to the world. Oh, why do I bother? This is his typical, 'i'm a badass screw you guys' behavior.

-_-

The game made me feel things. Scary, un-manly things.

I don't know what else to say about Flower that hasn't already been said.

As an art form, it proves hands down that video games are much than FPS's and gimmicks.

It really is the epitome of innovation and creativity in today's gaming industry.

"Spike TV and the VGAs are all about naked women, shooters, and explosions."

I think you perfectly summed up why I hate Spike and refuse to watch the VGAs.

I completely agree. I get my fill of shooters and explosions from video games. Spike TV should be all naked, all the time.

*naked women (Thanks for the absence of an edit button Joystiq.)

All I saw at the VGAs was product placement and fanservice.

And Jack Black, who was probably the only good thing besides seeing the light gleam off of Mike Tyson's head-crater.

I'd check Flower out if if wasn't a digital download only game. I hate that crap.

really? that has to be one of the most ignorant statements i've ever read on joystiq

Ignorant? How so? Lots of people prefer physical goods, even if it's just a disc holding the contents. Not to mention the limitations on downloads from PSN or the DRM of other services.

I can't see them releasing it any time soon as a disc though. Perhaps they might do a compilation disc like they've done in Japan. Maybe have all three of their PSN titles on one disc.

Haha that just down right stupid

I understand where you're coming from, but you have to think about it. Imagine Flower, in a box, sitting at your local gamestop next to all the other PS3 games. Is someone going to spend their money on a small, short as hell game like flower, or are they going to spend it on a big hit game? It's going to be the big hit every time. Games like Flower are small experiments that just don't stand on their own in the retail world. Publishers aren't willing to risk printing hundreds of thousands of copies of these games because they know they're probably not going to sell that many. But if you put it on an online marketplace like the PSN or XBL and charge a lot less for it, the cost of publishing the game goes way down and the risk is much lower. Then, instead of being compared to games like Uncharted 2, it's compared to games like Burn, Zombie, Burn, a much more compareable title. It ends up being a much better place for small titles like this to be.

Right, some games have a better chance at digital than retail, this is especially true to smaller, "indie" games.

i dont think you would be happy with your self if you bought it at a big box store. this is the reason why we have services like XBLA and the PSN store. to distribute games that wouldnt be something you would want to buy on a disc. this is one of the reason why consoles should come with HDDs.

Solace, I agree he's ignorant, but you repeatedly go onto threads about home just to say, 'It's a shame Home still sucks' and if that isn't you being ignorant I don't know what is.

Flower was one of the biggest surprises of the year for me. I expected a relaxing ambient artsy run through, but it is very game play oriented. Reminds me of snake, only more elegant. But it is truely indescribable how neat it is.

It's a fun game to play every once and a while. I finally got to play when I picked it up at the sale price over thanksgiving my wife and I loved it

Picked it up during the November sale, the game is pure beauty and zen

I bought the game out of spite since my dumbass roommate at the time described it as "Gay" to his brother. It soon became my favorite PSN title and it really does deserve any awards that come its way.

Flower was sweet, I really enjoyed it. Graphics were incredible. I'll definetley buy whatever thatgamecompany do next.

I picked the game up eagerly right after it launched in the PSN. I liked the "look" of it, but was otherwise unimpressed. If you think about the gameplay, it was more or less a 3D "flight-sim" version of Flow, the company's previous game. I.e. fly or float around, and collide into other things in the environment, causing your tail to grow. So....both are pretty close adherents to the classic game of "snake".

I respect that that they are trying to do something different, but I had expectations that this game would actually have gameplay that might be more of a mind-expanding experience.. Like some kind of novel take--both visually and through gameplay--on the life of a flower. Something that might leave me laying awake, contemplating things I hadn't thought about before. But nope. It was snake.

Basically--much like flow--this is a very pretty, interactive screensaver. Whenever I start it up now, I only ever play the first level, because it's the most visually appealing (it's the only really colorful one), and half the time, I'll just walk away and let it go into its actual screen saver mode, which is very peaceful.

"on the life of a flower."

Lol, the life of a Flower?

"Something that might leave me laying awake, contemplating things I hadn't thought about before."

LMFAO, something tells me that you're one of those kids who took up photography for the sake of calling yourself artistic and "deep"

"it's the only really colorful one"

The more I read your comment the more I think you haven't actually played the game and you're just watching videos on Youtube. That, and the fact that you're COMPLETELY missing the point of this game.

Traceur_Ryuk,

Maybe he is missing the "point" of the game in your eyes, but you're missing his point. He was talking about how game-play wise, there just isn't a lot going on in flower. And he's right. You just float around collecting pedals, sometimes you have to be careful not to touch an electrical line. From a purely gameplay perspective, it's shallow and boring. There is a lot more to get out of the game from the visuals and the "story", but if you're looking for great gameplay flower does not provide. Great atmosphere is there, but it's not the same thing.

And what are you smoking? The first couple levels of the game are easily much more colorful than the latter ones. Yea, that's because you need to touch flowers to light them up, but even then most of the later levels are dark and grim. It has an artistic purpose to it, and it adds to the game, but if you're looking for color you're much better off in the first level than any other one.

Nope, sorry. Played the game through to the end.. Speeding through
dilapidated electrical towers...super fun. And I've done little to
warrant being called artist or deep. What I _have_ done is I've
played a lot of games, and I don't have a lot of patience for playing
crap that feels like I've played it a hundred times before.. You know
what kind of game left me sitting around thinking the game for days?
Shadow of the Colossus. That's my metric for an innovative,
thought-provoking game. So if you want to hate on me for liking that
game, go right ahead.

I've definitely seen your posts, but I can't say I've done anything
stalkerish like composed an aggregate opinion of you based off of
them. However, from your defense of flower, you strike me as someone
who hasn't played games for very long and/or has played only games
where there is a gun at the bottom of the screen.

Plus, I don't think you're allowed to defend "Flower" by calling me
artsy. That's just backwards.

So you're gonna say Flower is boring yet you praise Shadow of The Colossus? Don't get me wrong, I love Shadow of The Colossus but it's extremely tedious, frustrating, and the camera is awful which is a major factor when fighting things 100 times your size. As the guy above said, the atmosphere is there, the gameplay is not. (Why is it just recently that everyone started to acknowledge Shadow of The Colossus again?)

Also as for the me only playing shooters and/or not playing video games very long (Yet you say you can't "compose an aggregate opinion of me" off my posts) comment you are way off. I have been playing video games all my life and grew tired of Shooters during the PS2 era.

I never said Flower was boring. I said it didn't meet my
expectations. It is an extremely conventional game dressed up in a
pretty, atmospheric package. I like Flower, but I feel the game and
the developer are lavished with more praise than they deserve (based
on what I've seen, which is only Flow and Flower...the next game
should be Flowest, btw).. I don't see why Jenova Chen gets all this
praise, but the developer of, say, Tori-Emaki does not.

""Also as for the me only playing shooters and/or not playing video
games very long (Yet you say you can't "compose an aggregate opinion
of me" off my posts) comment you are way off.""

I said that comment was based exclusively on that one reply you made.
So I wasn't claiming any sort of confidence for my appraisal. In fact,
I was trying to say that I have no idea what type of gamer you are,
because I _haven't_ been attaching your posts to your person. I just
read and reply to what's written, I don't read names too often. The
only reason I even remember yours is because I recognized it's
parkour-related.

@traceur: also.. SotC had a few control issues, but I found its story and storytelling much more engaging, and the boss battles were far more challenging in a "figure it out" sense than in Flower. Also, it's in the news again because there's be chatter about Team Ico's next game, The Last Guardian.

I own Tori Emaki as well, I have "played" it twice. Where I have played Flower countless times. So, I don't know, but the Flower devs are doing something right. I guess we both just have different tastes. You like a challenge, where as I like "an experience" Speaking on a purely gameplay level, I find it really fun and somewhat challenging to find all the secret Flowers. On an atmospheric level, I was absolutely astonished, I can't even explain why. I just was.

But I understand your gripes with it completely, not everyone's cup of tea I suppose.

I like atmosphere stuff just fine. I just feel like people are
holding up flower as an example that Jenova Chen is a genius. He
might be! I don't know the guy. But based on Flow and Flower, while
his knack for creating "atmosphere" top-notch, I feel like his game
design skills fall cleanly within the box.

You are both wrong, although Ryuk seems to be the one I disagree more (which is rare, I'll admit).

Scott just had too high expectations to fully appreciate Flower. I do like the game, but I'm somewhat with Scott on this one as I didn't really like it as much as everyone else did (however, my mom did and I'm glad that she liked to play a game for the first time in her life).

Ryuk must have been crazy to call SotC "extremely tedious, frustrating" :P I didn't encounter any of the camera problems you mentioned (I don't remember what button it is, but you could press it to focus the camera on the colossus). I'd give you the way the backgrounds appear from thin air and the frame rate issues but it's odd that you didn't mention those as they were really the only things that detracted from the whole experience.

To me, SotC is last generation's best game. But like you said, it's not everyone's cup of tea I suppose...

i have the ultimate idea for a squeal to this game anybody know how i get
in contact with the developer?

http://thatgamecompany.com/contact/

Hard to believe you've come really come up with any kind of ultimate idea if you can't even use google.

@tmacairjordan87

do you ever have anything positive to say. or you just a constant pessimist? i dont think i have ever read anything you wrote that has had anything nice to say about anything. i am just curious if you just hate gaming world in general.

He just hates the PS3. He goes as far as to constantly talk about how Uncharted 2 is mediocre, and compares it to casual games. It amazes me that he doesn't just read xbox.joystiq.com since he never seems to like anything else.

Am I the only person who's used this game like a picture? Fly threw a level and just turn off the controller. Then you have soothing music and beautiful scenery while you study or do the dishes.

Well, it seems like the sequel would have to be "Tree"....or "Bush"

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VGA 2009: Flower developers amidst the explosions and hype

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