Posts with tag interview
by Kevin Kelly Jul 10th 2008 9:00PM
Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Driving, Fighting, Interviews

We spent some time with the eagerly awaited
Mercenaries 2: World in Flames at Electronic Arts recently, and we can safely say that it's a lot of fun blowing crap up in this game. In fact, if they dropped the storyline (you're chasing a druglord) altogether and called this game Blowing Sh*t Up!, we'd still buy it.
Senior Producer Jonathan Zamkoff answered several of our questions about the game after we took a breath to check for scorch marks and shrapnel wounds. We'll be spending a lot more hands-on time with this one at E3, so look for more coverage next week. In the meantime, check after the break to find out why they hope driving won't suck in this one... although they don't explain why this screenshot looks like
Motorstorm 2: Save Your Own Ass.
Continue reading Joystiq interview: Mercenaries 2 senior producer Jonathan Zamkoff
by Ross Miller May 12th 2008 5:55PM
Filed under: Features, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Interviews
There's been
a lot of controversy surrounding GameTrailer's comparison video of
Race Driver: GRID, which pitted the PlayStation 3 version up against ... um ... the PlayStation 3 version. Is the site horrifically biased? On Microsoft's payroll? We spoke with GameTrailers Editor In Chief, Shane Satterfield, to clear up the matter.
How did this mistake happen?
It was a mistake in our post-production process. After we captured the footage from both versions, some of the footage of the PlayStation 3 version of the game was incorrectly placed in the bin for the Xbox 360 footage. Our video editor on this particular project is not a games person and completely overlooked the fact that he had the wrong footage in the wrong place. We normally have multiple checks from games editorial on every segment that is published, but there was some confusion on who did/did not look at it before it was sent out for compression. Thus, the mistake.
Continue reading Joystiq interview: GameTrailers EIC sets record straight on GRID controversy
by Jason Dobson Apr 11th 2008 8:00AM
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Action, First Person Shooters, Interviews
Dementium: The Ward, developer
Renegade Kid's debut release for the Nintendo DS, certainly pushed the frontier of what we expect from handheld gaming, but it was far from perfect. Company co-owner Jools Watsham conceded as much to us during a recent interview, but added that Renegade Kid's next project, the
recently announced DS title
Moon, will be even "more ambitious" than the studio's freshman effort.
"We're being much more ambitious with the environments, particle effects, enemies and cinematic cut-scenes," commented Watsham. "Even though we pushed the DS with
Demenitum, we were still being slightly cautious due to our time frame and growing experience with the platform. This time around with
Moon, we are being a little less cautious while still be expressive and ambitious."
He also took a moment to reflect back on
Dementium, noting that the survival horror title's save system was a particular sticking point among those who played the game. "Most people hated the save system in
Dementium...
Moon is structured very differently than
Dementium. The game is presented in episodes, and within each episode there are checkpoints that save your progress."
For more from Renegade Kid's Watsham on
Moon, including
Moon's possible future for the Wii and why the company's decision to go with publisher Mastiff instead of
Dementium pub Gamecock is really much ado about nothing, check out our full interview on Monday and the first screens from the game below.
by Alexander Sliwinski Apr 1st 2008 11:40PM
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360
As we bid adieu to this All Fools' Day, it's time to take a broom to the leftover balderdash and sweep it out of the house so we can start fresh and clean tomorrow.
- Straightgamer.net -- OH NO! The boys over at GayGamer.net went to "therapy" and are now devout heterosexuals. Now all they can talk about is boobs, beer and babes. That's so not fierce!
- Lego Halo -- 1Up reposted EGM's April issue gag for the internets.
- Wii Want More -- A Wii downloadable content service?! ROFLCOPTERBBQ
- Brain Age Mobile for iPhone -- The Wiicast does a very subtle trick that any other day of the year might be believable.
- Reggie talks Earthbound -- Starmen.net spliced together some clips and gets Monsieur Fils-Aime talking frankly about Nintendo's thoughts on Earthbound in America.
- N64 games ported to DS -- Vooks.net got the scoop on some N64 titles being "retooled & refreshed" for the handheld.
- Final Fantasy XIII demo and Final Fantasy VII remake -- PSXExtreme didn't even try to be witty, they just went for some painful lies.
by Andrew Yoon Mar 31st 2008 9:30AM
Filed under: Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, Action
Nintendo World Store held a special launch event for
Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword for the DS. (Check out what the critics thought
here.) Development director Yosuke Hayashi was available to sign copies of the game, and a formidable pack of fans lined up to meet and greet the man. Afterwards, we had a one-on-one chat about the game, and what he's looking forward to next.
It's no secret that Team Ninja has a reputation for being outspoken and confident in their products. Hayashi is no different. At TGS, we grilled Tomonobou Itagaki about DS action games, and he
admitted he played none. However, Hayashi's statement is far more bold: "Itagaki may have said that he's never played any action DS games. But I've played a lot, and none of them were good enough to remember. There's no comparison [to
Ninja Gaiden], right?"
"There's a very good possibility," Hayashi said when asked about the possibility of DS follow-up to
Dragon Sword. "We want to offer a completely different side of the
Ninja Gaiden series in a handheld title. There are so many things I can see we can work around if we work on another project."
However, a DS sequel may not be the first thing on Hayashi's mind. He talked about how so many fans at the Nintendo World Store wanted a
Ninja Gaiden game for the Wii. Without going into details, he simply noted that it was something he was "very interested" in working on.
by Kyle Orland Mar 27th 2008 12:00PM
Filed under: Culture, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Action
Last time we talked about the
now-officially-official Metal Gear Solid movie, we were
a little concerned about producer Joe De Luca's interest in somewhat unproven writer/director Kurt Wimmer. Well, now that we've read an
extremely long and somewhat rambling interview with De Luca over at Collider, we're a little less worried about the movie's prospects.
In the interview, De Luca assures us that he knows the difference between what makes a good video game and a good movie. "You're immediately disadvantaged in the theatre because you're not feeling anything," he said, "you're not going to get the excitement or the adrenalin rush of doing it yourself, so we have to do it for you in a way that makes up for that."
That said, De Luca thinks the deep
Metal Gear Solid universe has silver screen potential that a game-movie like
Mortal Kombat just doesn't. "I think we have a leg up already in that it's such a rich universe... what it says about war by proxy in this kind of future where war has been outsourced to private companies I think can be almost very topical and also kind of satirical in like a
Robocop kind of way." As far as we're concerned, you can be as topical and satirical as you want as long as the movie is also entertaining in a
Robocop kind of way.
by Michael Zenke Feb 27th 2008 7:30PM
Filed under: Features, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs, Interviews, GDC

Right after
our demo of the PC version of
Mass Effect, we had the chance to sit with
BioWare founders
Ray Muzyka and
Greg Zeschuk for a quick catch-up on recent events. The two men were overjoyed to talk about
Mass Effect's success and critical reception, as well as the uplifting effect the EA buyout has had on the company.
The impression the two give are of guys who have just been given a chance at the brass ring. Their comments, intimating that BioWare itself is now a micro-publisher, praising their new co-worker's common sense, hint at a new era of opportunity for the company. We've already
posted the audio from the interview, but for a full transcript of our discussion just read on below the cut. You can get a better sense of Ray and Greg's cheery outlook, see them again discuss the reason Mass Effect on the 360 had the UI it did, and watch them stonewall on a question about their in-development MMO title.
The bottom line, unsaid in the interview itself, is a clear message: "Fans shouldn't worry. We're not, and neither should you." Here's hoping that they've got the right of it.
Continue reading BioWare founders: 'We're not done yet'
by Michael Zenke Feb 20th 2008 11:00PM
Filed under: Features, PC, Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs, Interviews, GDC, MMO

Just after lunch
we had the chance to sit in on a demo of the
PC version of
Mass Effect. It was a great opportunity to check out the changes and tweaks to the Xbox 360 title we all know and love. Add-ons like the improved equipment UI (pictured above), more deliberate squad commands, and a great-looking new 'hacking' mini-game spoke volumes about BioWare's commitment to keeping PC gamers happy.
Afterwards we spoke briefly with
Ray Muzyka and
Greg Zeschuk, the driving minds behind
BioWare, about
Mass on the PC. They expounded on their background with the WASD crowd, hopes for the future of the
Mass Effect franchise, and offered a few words on what it's like to work for EA. We even asked them about
their upcoming Massively Multiplayer Online Game ... and got shot down. You have to ask, right?
We're going to have full writeup of the interview on the site soon, but in the meantime you can listen to the full audio of our conversation
with The Doctors below the cut.
Continue reading GDC08: Audio of BioWare founders talking EA, Mass Effect PC
by Jason Dobson Dec 14th 2007 10:25AM
Filed under: Nintendo Wii, Puzzle, RPGs, Interviews, Casual
On paper, the genre-bending
Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords reads like a madman's manifesto, meshing together elements of classic puzzlers like
Bejewelled with those more commonly associated with traditional RPGs for an experience that is
anything but traditional. Nonetheless, the game proved to be one of 2007's surprise hits, as it tapped into both the casual and hardcore gaming communities like few games before it. It also helps that in the span of just a few months
Puzzle Quest has managed to be ported to nearly every platform under the sun, including the game's most recent incarnation for the Wii.
In the wake of this release, we got some face time with Eric Peterson, CEO and president at
Vicious Cycle Software -- one of
Puzzle Quest's two development partners, about this latest release, the series, and which version, to him at least, represents the definitive
Puzzle Quest experience (Hint: It's
not the Wii version). More on these topics and more after the jump.
Continue reading Joystiq Interview: Puzzle Quest, Vicious Cycle's Eric Peterson's 'Holy Grail'
by Kyle Orland Dec 10th 2007 8:50PM
Filed under: Culture, Fashion

As the start of a week-long series on women in the game industry, MTV Multiplayer has a
revealing Q&A with Morgan Webb, the curvier half of the hosting duo behind
G4's X-Play. While the interview covers a lot of topics, perhaps the most persistent running theme is Webb's ambivalence about her status as a successful, visible female game journalist.
On the one hand, Webb says, "it used to really bother me that men ... would assume that I don't really know what I'm talking about or would know less than a man on the topic." On the other hand, though, Webb acknowledges "I wouldn't be where I am if I were a man, to be honest. I wouldn't be on the show. I wouldn't be writing columns for
FHM. I wouldn't be considered just like a rare and interesting... specimen or whatever, if I weren't a woman. So I am where I am because I'm a woman and that's just the way it is."
While Webb is a big booster for the game industry, she says she doesn't necessarily see herself as a spokesperson for 'girl gaming.' "I don't think the world will necessarily be a better place if I get lots of young woman to play video games," she said. "If a woman wants to play video games, more power to her ... but I have a lot of girlfriends who couldn't care less about video games ... and I don't think their lives are missing anything for that."
The lengthy full interview is packed with more of Webb's thoughts on forum trolls, posing for
Maxim and the effects of being both one of gaming's most prominent women and a minor TV celebrity. Take a few minutes and
give it a read.
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