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Interview: Ubisoft Montreal & Toronto boss Yannis Mallat

Interview: Geek songsmith Jonathan Coulton

Internet balladeer Jonathan Coulton has a new CD + DVD out called "Best. Concert. Ever." It features 20 different tracks of music with an accompanying video on DVD. Plus, we're giving a copy away! Read through our interview with Coulton below, which contains all the information you ever wanted to know about him and then some, and leave a comment on the related Joyswag post telling us what your dream job would be.
Read on for more, and you might want to put some music on while you do. It's a long interview. Like, seriously long. Grab a cold drink, turn up some tunes (here are a few suggestions), and kick back while you read about the musical voice of geekery.
Read on for more, and you might want to put some music on while you do. It's a long interview. Like, seriously long. Grab a cold drink, turn up some tunes (here are a few suggestions), and kick back while you read about the musical voice of geekery.
Gallery: Jonathan Coulton
Interview: 38 Studios CEO on Big Huge Games acquisition

Joystiq: Why Big Huge games? And were you looking or considering any other developers to bring into the 38 Studios family?
Brett Close: Well, we've got 36 studios to go, of course.
Interview: id's John Carmack and ZeniMax CEO on The Acquisition

Joystiq: How long has the acquisition process been in development?
Robert Altman: I had my first meeting with [id Software CEO] Todd Hollenshead at E3 a year ago. We had a general discussion about how our two companies might explore matters of mutual interest and the conversations then took place over the ensuing months. So it's been almost a year, on and off, that we've been having these conversations.
And how long has Bethesda – or ZeniMax in this case– been looking to expand that studio range outside of just Bethesda and Vir2L,etc.?
Interview: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories producer Tomm Hulett

We later had the opportunity to speak to producer Tomm Hulett, who elaborated on why we should call Shattered Memories a re-imagining -- and not a remake:
You're making Silent Hill: Shattered Memories and you're tying it to the first game. Harry Mason is back, but you're calling it a re-imagining, you're not saying "remake." Is that a bad word?
Right, that's a curse word. [laughs] By re-imagining, like you said, we've got the premise of the first game: you're Harry Mason, you're looking for your daughter Cheryl. Beyond that we've changed and updated it, so it's an entirely new experience. If you've played the PlayStation game to death, you still have no idea what to expect for Shattered Memories.
We did that because, on the Wii, maybe there's a lot of people who haven't played any Silent Hill games, so it wasn't really fair to say, "Here's the sequel to Homecoming, enjoy yourself." But then, returning fans, they've played the first game, they've played Origins, they've seen the movie, and they've played Silent Hill 3 and it all kind of revolves around the events of the first game. So they wouldn't really want to play a remake and so, by re-imagining it, there's new content -- if you've never played it before, of course, it's new to you -- but then, there's also this extra layer of new content if you're returning, because you get to experience all these things that are different from what you're expecting. And that really fits the theme of Silent Hill, which is this place where your reality is subjective and you don't know what to expect. We've built that into the game if you're a returning fan.
E3 2009 postmortem with ESA CEO Mike Gallagher

Joystiq: On the last day of E3 2009 we had a quick chat in the hallway and you stated that the feedback you'd received was extremely positive and the show floor was "full but still navigable." Now that you've had a week to decompress and receive more feedback, what's your current take on the show?
Mike Gallagher: I have a combination of pride and excitement right now. We set out to reflect and amplify to the world our industry's growth, energy, and vitality and I am incredibly proud we achieved that goal. I am also filled with excitement over the high-impact news announced at the E3 Expo by the companies that make up the industry. We have a lot of great titles to look forward to this year, along with some pretty exciting hardware previews and announcements.
This is the golden age of computer and video games. I say that because more than ever before, we are seeing new interfaces, new distribution models to consumers, and new IP that will reenergize our industry's growth as the year continues. And this growth and continued innovation and creativity comes not at the end of a console cycle, but rather when developers are still harnessing the full processing power of the current systems, leading us to believe that games will continue their upward path of compelling storylines, engaging characters, and epic visuals.
The challenge for us at the ESA now is two-fold. One, continue build on the momentum created by the E3 Expo and educate new market segments about our industry's cultural and economic significance, but also to begin planning for the 2010 E3 Expo.
Head-to-head racing with Blur, Need for Speed: Shift, Split/Second, and Forza 3

Interview: Assassin's Creed 2 creative director, Patrice Désilets
Joystiq: Do you mind if I go back to Assassin's Creed 1 for just a bit?
Patrice Désilets: Yeah, yeah, no problem.
So, that game comes out. You're reading the reviews and people are complaining about repetition.
Yeah.
What do you feel at this point? Do you agree with them?
Repetition for me is a point of view, really. Like, what is repetitive or not? You know, sometimes you go and play the same game over and over again and you are all right with the repetitiveness of it. And in AC1 some people just couldn't bear it. We listened to them while we were making the second one, but, I wasn't nervous or mad. What I was a little disappointed with was some reviewers, how they treated us. They have the right to their opinions and everything, but I felt like they maybe went too fast. But you know what? I also received [opinions that were] the other way around. People being really happy about the game. Doing it two, three, four, five times.
Sure.
And we sold some eight million copies of it, you know.
Eight million people can't be wrong?
Interview: Alexei Pajitnov, creator of Tetris

Alexey Pajitnov (right) with Dutch games publisher Henk Rogers, who helped place the game on every Game Boy.
You can listen to the full audio of the interview below, and head beyond the break for probably the world's shortest documentary, entitled "The Tetris Effect." Seriously, it's only three minutes long. How you can sum up the impact of a game that's still fun to play and appears on every major and minor platform around is beyond us. Maybe one of you readers will feel inspired to do an in-depth Ken Burns style documentary on it someday.
He's one of the sweetest people we've met in the industry, and despite having invented one of the most prolific games in the world, he's very humble and down to earth. Give it a listen and try to imagine a world without Tetris.
Gallery: Tetris at 25
Interview: Tim Schafer and the art of selling out

Do people get that wrong a lot?
They never get it right.
Does it annoy you?
No, I just like to fight for my particular spelling. For no reason it's completely arbitrary but for some reason it's enjoyable to fight for the specific spelling that I randomly have.
You're trying to keep your Google ranking up.
Exactly.
You don't want people messing with it.
And people who spell their names A-E-F-F-E-R. Hate those guys. They're jerks.
Interview: Sucker Punch's Nate Fox on inFamous and inSpiration

So, Nate Fox, how long have you been at Sucker Punch?
Nate Fox: I've been at Sucker Punch for over 10 years. When I started, I had a full head of hair. That is not a lie.
Interview: Alexandre Parizeau talks Splinter Cell: Conviction, evolving characters and stealth
It was no shock to anyone when Splinter Cell: Conviction made an appearance at E3 2009, but the new look and presentation for Sam Fisher's latest action adventure took us all by surprise. Gone is the sulky and in hiding Sam Fisher shown years ago -- replaced by an offensive powerhouse ex-soldier, searching for revenge. Adding elements with appropriate buzzword phrases like projected objectives and dynamic stealth, Ubisoft Montreal hopes to push Sam beyond traditional stealth action titles.
We had a chance to speak one-on-one with Ubisoft Producer Alexandre Parizeau to discuss the evolution of Fisher, how Ubisoft wants to change stealth and to compare Sam to everyone's favorite television hero, Jack Bauer.
We had a chance to speak one-on-one with Ubisoft Producer Alexandre Parizeau to discuss the evolution of Fisher, how Ubisoft wants to change stealth and to compare Sam to everyone's favorite television hero, Jack Bauer.
Gallery: Splinter Cell Conviction
Interview: EJ Moreland, lead designer of APB

After the demo session, lead designer EJ Moreland sat down with us, and cleared up most of the wanted bounties we still had on the game: what's advancement like? How is the game using Last.fm? And just how will they balance out the ad-hoc gameplay of criminals committing crimes and enforcers catching them with the usual MMO process of character advancement? Read on for more.
Gallery: APB
Taylor: Changing design philosophies because of Square Enix partnership would be 'missing the point'

According to Taylor, Gas Powered Games had similar questions for Square Enix, but were told to maintain the same core philosophies -- philosophies that attracted Square Enix to the Western developer to begin with. "If we changed... we would be missing the point," Taylor told us. Taylor also mentioned a cue they took from Square Enix was they way they "embrace character and story," which is a focus for Gas Powered in Supreme Commander 2. Stay tuned for the complete interview with Chris Taylor, tomorrow.
Splinter Cell: Conviction story focus helped shape gameplay elements

During a one-on-one interview with Ubisoft producer Alexandre Parizeau during E3 2009, we asked why the franchise has shifted focus to the character of Sam. According to Parizeau the answer is simple, after dealing with so much trauma throughout the series, Ubisoft Montreal wanted players to see how Sam's methods have evolved, which led to shaping Conviction's dynamic and offensive stealth gameplay. "He's not going to be the same person when he reacts to situations as he was when he was working for Third Echelon. It's a completely different scenario," Parizeau told us.
After the death of his daughter and the loss of others close to him, it seems that Sam Fisher is a man with nothing to lose -- and if the game continues to impress as it did at E3, Xbox 360 and PC gamers will gain a stellar (timed?) exclusive.














