Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com/media/feedlogo.gif Joystiq http://www.joystiq.com en-us Copyright 2008 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Joystiq E3 Q&A: Spore detailedhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/22/joystiq-e3-qanda-spore-detailed/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/22/joystiq-e3-qanda-spore-detailed/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/22/joystiq-e3-qanda-spore-detailed/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

During our time at E3 last week, we were able to spend about an hour with a very patient Maxis Producer Thomas Vu, who guided us through a near-final build of Spore (the whole thing) and answered a barrage of questions. Here's what we gleaned from our play session, broken down into each phase:

Gallery: Spore (E3)



Cell Phase
  • What you eat and how you evolve your cell determines what body parts you get for the creature creator. We were shown a timeline thattracked each "evolution" of your cell and whether it was more carnivorous, herbivorous or omnivorous.
Tribe Phase
  • If you want your planet to be themed, you can create Sporecasts, a collection of themed creations you can call upon to propagate your planet (e.g. "Star Wars" or Muppets). Vu did not provide details on how it works, but we did talk about searching for themed creations using the Sporepedia tag system. If you don't want to use the Sporecast system, you can also let the game automagically add life to your planet.
  • While all camera shifts can be done via the mouse, you might find it helpful to know that the arrow keys and page up/down also work to change your perspective.
  • You can add accessories to outfit your characters -- hats, grass skirts, tribal masks, etc. They all share the same color scheme as your creature and they add to your complexity.
  • Vu said how your creature is built determines the tools it will have at its disposal; the accessories, however, will always be the same.

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]]>e3e3-2008eaelectronic-artshands-oninterviewmaxisqasporethomas-vuRoss Miller2008-07-22T07:30:00+00:00Fill the void with The Conduit developer interviewhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/19/fill-the-void-with-the-conduit-developer-interview/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/19/fill-the-void-with-the-conduit-developer-interview/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/19/fill-the-void-with-the-conduit-developer-interview/#commentsFiled under: ,


Let's face it -- most of the gamers who read this (or any) gaming blog aren't the audience Nintendo was targeting during their E3 2008 press conference. Many long-time members of the Wii camp felt betrayed by Ninty's "major" announcements -- that's why we thought we'd try to buck-up your spirits with a GameTrailers developer interview for a title that's been gathering quite a bit of attention from fans of the pint-sized home console: High Voltage Games' The Conduit.

Voltage's Chief Creative Officer, Eric Nofsinger, doesn't exactly dish any new dirt about the title in the above video, though the gameplay shown looks solid, and fairly attractive by the standards of its designated console. Whether or not it's worthy of the hype surrounding it, we'll have to wait until the first quarter of next year to find out. In the mean time, you'll just have to feign excitement over the Wii's thoroughly unexciting Noise Creation Engine.

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]]>developer-interviewe3-2008fpshigh-voltage-softwareinterviewthe-conduitwiiGriffin McElroy2008-07-19T17:30:00+00:00Joystiq interview: Mercenaries 2 senior producer Jonathan Zamkoffhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/10/joystiq-interview-mercenaries-2-senior-producer-jonathan-zamkof/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/10/joystiq-interview-mercenaries-2-senior-producer-jonathan-zamkof/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/07/10/joystiq-interview-mercenaries-2-senior-producer-jonathan-zamkof/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,

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.

Gallery: Mercenaries 2: 7/10/2008


The first Mercenaries was published by LucasArts, and now the sequel is coming out from EA. Has that transition been odd at all?

Actually it's been great. We have all of the resources of the worlds biggest publisher (marketing, PR, QA, asset libraries) with none of the creative constraints. Those guys have been good on their word of letting the labels run their own show.

What are the biggest differences (besides the graphics) between the two titles?

The overall scope is remarkably bigger; this includes asset complexity, world size, draw distance, number of vehicles and airstrikes, missions, game length, etc. And of course there's the drop-in-and-out anytime Co-op, which is a first for any open world game.

What will you be showing off at E3? New levels? Multiplayer? Campaign mode (i.e., is there one)?

C'mon, I wasn't born yesterday! :) You're going to have to come by our booth to check out the latest and greatest, but it will be sweet- and hands on!

What challenged your team the most on this, being a next-gen title?

I think the exponential jump in complexity from last gen. Everything has become bigger, better, and higher resolution and the knock-on effect has been a huge leap in asset pipelines, team sizes, outsourcing, tools, computer specs, development budget, all of it. There's nothing we've done on this game that was just ported over from the original Mercenaries, all of it has been built from the ground up with blood, sweat, and tears.

Will there be any extras down the line, like downloadable weapons, vehicles, character skins/outfits?

Mercenaries 2 is the kind of game that screams for PDLC and we're all about doing it...but we haven't committed to anything yet and we want to focus on making the shipped version as strong as possible. Then take a nap. Then work on PDLC.

The vehicle play was both fun and frustrating in the first Mercenaries. Will there be more vehicles (anything flying?) and have you addressed that in this new version?

Over 130 in total ranging from land, air and sea. Motorcycles, helicopters, jet skis, patrol boats, tanks, APCs, sports cars, gun trucks, the works. We've got a designer who's spent the majority of the last year just tuning vehicle physics, so yeah, I can say with absolution that the vehicle play in Mercenaries 2 is a huge step forward.

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]]>Blowing-Stuff-UpInterviewJonathan-ZamkoffLucasArtsMercenariesMercenaries-2PandemicKevin Kelly2008-07-10T21:00:00+00:00Will Wright talks Spore and defensive cowshttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/27/will-wright-talks-spore-and-defensive-cows/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/27/will-wright-talks-spore-and-defensive-cows/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/27/will-wright-talks-spore-and-defensive-cows/#commentsFiled under: ,


1UP has a nice video interview with Will Wright where he discusses various elements of Spore. He covers the different stages of evolution in the game, the AI built into the creature creator and tells a good story about a really mad cow.

For Civ IV fans, Wright also briefly talks about Soren Johnson's contribution to the game. Johnson left Firaxis last year to go work on Spore and help the team streamline the title. The full interview can be found after the break.

Gallery: Spore

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]]>interviewsporespore-creature-creatorwill-wrightAlexander Sliwinski2008-06-27T11:00:00+00:001Up talks Gears of War 2 multiplayer with Bleszinskihttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/25/egm-talks-gears-of-war-2-multiplayer-with-bleszinski/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/25/egm-talks-gears-of-war-2-multiplayer-with-bleszinski/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/25/egm-talks-gears-of-war-2-multiplayer-with-bleszinski/#commentsFiled under: ,


In an "epic"-ally long video with a lot of talking and not enough gameplay footage, 1Up's Dan Hsu interviews Epic's Cliff Bleszinski (no more CliffyB, remember?) about Gears of War 2's multiplayer. Bleszinski discusses various aspects of GoW 2's online chainsodomy, from god-mode animations, to hostage taking, to the new version of the Gridlock map. Although not confirming the final count, he also says about 10 multiplayer maps will ship with the game. Check it all out in the video after the break.

[Via X3F]

Update: Just to clarify, this video was shot in April before Hsu announced his resignation from Ziff.

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]]>cliff-bleszinskiegmepicgears-of-wargears-of-war-2interviewAlexander Sliwinski2008-06-25T13:45:00+00:00Marcus' Corner signs off with Geoff Keighleyhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/21/marcus-corner-signs-off-with-geoff-keighley/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/21/marcus-corner-signs-off-with-geoff-keighley/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/06/21/marcus-corner-signs-off-with-geoff-keighley/#commentsFiled under:


HEY SON! We've all come to know and love Mega64's diminutive, mustachioed sidekick during his recent run of interviews with various members of the video game industry -- that's why it breaks our heart to learn that the video posted after the break is the final episode of Marcus' Corner. We'll be sad to bid adieu to the series, but we can think of no better way for it to conclude than to watch the pint-sized straight-talker viciously heckle Adam Sessler Geoff Keighley. From his show's tardy time slot to his favorite titles, no stone goes unturned and, as a result, unmocked. We have indeed had the time of our lives, Marcus.

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]]>gametrailersgeoff-keighleygeoffkeighleyinterviewmarcusmarcuscornermega64Griffin McElroy2008-06-21T13:30:00+00:00Joystiq interview: GameTrailers EIC sets record straight on GRID controversyhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/12/joystiq-interview-gametrailers-editor-in-chief-sets-record-stra/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/12/joystiq-interview-gametrailers-editor-in-chief-sets-record-stra/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/05/12/joystiq-interview-gametrailers-editor-in-chief-sets-record-stra/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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.

Gallery: Race Driver: GRID (PS3)


Was the audio narrative written before, after or during the video editing process? Was it based on the video published or an actual comparison of PS3 and Xbox 360?

There is no audio narrative in the video we produced. People went in and inserted their own audio narrative and then tried to pass those videos off as media we produced to suit their own agenda. We have never had any sort of audio or text commentary in any of our comparison videos.

What is the process by which you vet and edit these videos? How many people (and who) proof these videos before they go live?

I think I answered this one above. Obviously our procedures that are put in place did not succeed in this case, but it will never happen again.



What other videos have been pulled in the site's history?

This is the first piece of media we've had to pull down due to something like this.

Is this an endemic issue?

It is definitely an issue that's unique to our business because it's difficult to find video editors that are as embedded into video games as much as the GameTrailers editorial staff. Therefore we have to include more fail safes than the average gaming site to make sure things like this don't happen. While these fail safes are in place, this was the first case where the process was not adequate.

Why were comments disabled, forums posts deleted, etc?

"If you take a look in our forums there are plenty of examples of users giving us criticism--constructive or otherwise. Feedback is essential to improving a product."


Honestly, I don't know anything about this happening. The video was removed immediately once the mistake was noticed, so there wasn't an opportunity for us to even close the comments on it because it was no longer live on the site. If forum posts were deleted it was likely because there were so many threads about it that the moderators decided to cull them down to one thread, but I do not know this for a certainty. We do not close threads on GameTrailers because of criticism. If you take a look in our forums there are plenty of examples of users giving us criticism--constructive or otherwise. Feedback is essential to improving a product.

By merit of being the only player in the comparison, doesn't the PlayStation also win?

Haha! Well, there is footage from the 360 version in the comparison, but admittedly there's no way to make an educated decision due to our mistake. We're working on an updated version of the video that will lead with an apology for the gaffe.

How recently had the intern been hired?

What intern? I'm not sure what you're asking about here. We're not going to call out anyone publicly for a mistake that they made, though. The situation has definitely been dealt with, though.

Why do you hate the PlayStation SO MUCH? How much does Microsoft give you?

Ha! We haven't had any advertising from Microsoft on GameTrailers.com for over two years. In all honesty, we made a mistake and we're terrible sorry for it. We're also putting measures in place to ensure it never happens again. It's surprising how paranoid people are and how desperate they can be to try and manipulate the masses into believing that there's some kind of malicious activity going on that will slight their favorite console.

"It blows my mind and saddens me that people took the time to go in and doctor our original piece of media to make us look worse."


It blows my mind and saddens me that people took the time to go in and doctor our original piece of media to make us look worse. I'm also disappointed that so many publications ran their stories without contacting us for the real story and instead took the word of random Internet folks who were totally manipulating the situation.

Of course, the moral of the story is that if we had not made a mistake this wouldn't be happening, but at the same time I'm shocked that such an innocent mistake has been portrayed as intentional and malicious. We work hard to make sure there's quality content for everyone on the site, and when stuff like this happens you feel a litle betrayed by the people you're working so hard for. Wouldn't it be nice if we lived in a world where people just enjoyed video games regardless of what platform they're released for?

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]]>codemastersgametrailersgridinterviewjoystiqfeaturesrace-driver-gridshane-satterfieldRoss Miller2008-05-12T17:55:00+00:00Renegade Kid calls Moon 'more ambitious' than Dementiumhttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/11/renegade-kid-calls-moon-more-ambitious-than-dementium/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/11/renegade-kid-calls-moon-more-ambitious-than-dementium/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/11/renegade-kid-calls-moon-more-ambitious-than-dementium/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


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.

Gallery: Moon

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]]>dementiumdementium-the-warddementiumthewardinterviewmoonrenegade-kidrenegadekidJason Dobson2008-04-11T08:00:00+00:00April Fools' Alert #15: A potpourri of nonsensehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/april-fools-alert-15-a-potpourri-of-nonsense/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/april-fools-alert-15-a-potpourri-of-nonsense/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/04/01/april-fools-alert-15-a-potpourri-of-nonsense/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


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.

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]]>aprilfools08brain-age-mobileffxiiigaygamergaygamer.netinterviewlego-halon64wii-want-moreAlexander Sliwinski2008-04-01T23:40:00+00:00Ninja Gaiden's Yosuke Hayashi 'very interested' in Wiihttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/31/ninja-gaidens-yosuke-hayashi-very-interested-in-wii/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/31/ninja-gaidens-yosuke-hayashi-very-interested-in-wii/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/31/ninja-gaidens-yosuke-hayashi-very-interested-in-wii/#commentsFiled under: , ,


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.

Gallery: Ninja Gaiden Dragon Sword launch

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]]>breakingnewsdragon-swordinterviewjoystiqfeaturesninja-gaidentecmoyosuke-hayashiAndrew Yoon2008-03-31T09:30:00+00:00Producer De Luca eases our fears on MGS moviehttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/producer-de-luca-eases-our-fears-on-mgs-movie/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/producer-de-luca-eases-our-fears-on-mgs-movie/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/27/producer-de-luca-eases-our-fears-on-mgs-movie/#commentsFiled under: , , ,

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.

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]]>de-lucahollywoodinterviewmetal-gear-solidmgsmichael-de-lucamovieproducerKyle Orland2008-03-27T12:00:00+00:00BioWare founders: 'We're not done yet'http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/bioware-founders-were-not-done-yet/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/bioware-founders-were-not-done-yet/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/27/bioware-founders-were-not-done-yet/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,

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.

Gallery: Mass Effect (PC)



Thank you both for your time. Mass Effect is obviously a fairly landmark title for BioWare. The technology you've made in this game, I imagine, is going to show up in other games.

Ray Muzyka (RM): We have a great, great team, they really, really care about making great experiences and have passion about quality.

Can you give us a sense of how you feel about Mass Effect's reception?

Greg Zeschuk (GZ): Really good, actually. The sales have been excellent. In the context of last fall, the competitive landscape was crazy. I think there was one week where like ninety games were released great games were released at the same time. I think we did really well. I think we're the sixth or seventh best-selling game on the Xbox; we're also one of the top couple IPs created in the year. Just that, right there, we're extremely happy. For many years BioWare has made a lot of great games and actually created franchises out of other people's properties - thinks like Star Wars and the Baldur's Gate series. Finally we have one that has a really big impact - we made Jade Empire and that was really successful, but Mass had a ... massive impact. The PC one is coming out and we're really happy about that, and we have a nice technology base for future projects.

RM: We're not staying static, you know? We're taking the PC version and we're really targetted it, maximizing it, customizing it to make it just tuned to the platform, that's really important to us. We laid a great foundation on the 360 and we feel very proud of that. We're very happy with the commercial and critical acclaim, but we can still make it better.

Speaking on that point, how come the turnaround was so quick to the PC? There was a little bit of a lag there with Jade Empire, and I think a lot of fans were expecting to have to wait longer than May to see that on the PC.

RM: Well, partly maybe as a response to that, we knew the fans were pretty excited to see that when we did the Jade PC version, like geez how can we ... We were focused pretty much on the 360 version so it was an exclusive development. Near the end we thought, let's satisfy the PC audience too because they're very important constituents for us.

Was the decision made before the 360 version came out to port it to the PC?

RM: I don't know when the exact timing was, we were exploring the idea at the time but I don't think we committed to it until the game was out on the 360. We're always exploring ideas, figuring out what it would take. Watch it, announce it.

We've seen how the game was technically refined, were there any ways in which the game's story was refined in the move to the PC?

GZ: We've got some things, I'm not sure if we really have talked about those things yet. We may have something in our back pocket. The main focus for us was to improve on what was already in Mass Effect; the story was so well received. I wouldn't go so far as to say it was perfect, there are always things you can tweak on. So the focus was let's put some effort in, let's put some effort where we think we want it devoted.

That was onto things like readjusting the controls, give the PC audience the opportunity to try the more run-and-gun action opportunity, better resolutions, better interface. Things are just a bit more streamlined on the PC - personally that's where we grew up games so we're still very dedicated to those kinds of games, right?

We don't ever want any BioWare game to come out on any platform and for someone to say "oh, that's just a quick little throw-together version." We're very particular about doing it right, about doing a good job. So really, you get this much effort and you want to put most of that effort into the user experience in terms of how interface and things works. How they interact with the game.

RM: It's about talking to fans too. We played it - probably finished it three or four times before we shipped the 360 version.

GZ: Oh yes.

RM: Little bit of this, try that ... but ...

GZ: We played the beginning of the game about 50,000 times.

RM: About a hundred times, yeah. I dunno how many times. When we finished the game I did one play through I was probably about 95% plus. I know I didn't do some of the things but I tried to visit every world. It took me about 50 hours to go through and do all that; you certainly didn't have to do that. You can get through much faster if you just shoot through the game's core story. The amount of content that's in the game is just a huge amount that's already there. A lot of people haven't seen it yet, it's a very big universe. You can really side all the side permutations, new worlds start to open up, and you can do a lot of different things. It's all how you want to play it.

You mentioned the UI improvements to the game, which are pretty fantastic. As a big fan of the 360 version of the game my only big criticism was the UI. Can you speak to why some of the components we saw in the PC version of the game weren't available in the Xbox version?

GZ: It's interesting. Sometimes we just are doing so many things when you're working on it that you don't even notice anymore.

RM: You get used to it.

GZ: Yeah, you get used to it. Like we said, we both played it a lot. We're both really pleased to get all the items, all the guys.

RM: I noticed it when I maxed out my items a couple of times.

GZ: Yeah. I think it's weird. An interesting thing happens when you build a game; you're experience the same thing over and over and over - you get used to it, and on top of that Microsoft has really strong usability and playtesting facilities.

RM: We made a lot of changes based on that, like a lot of changes.

GZ: And the interesting thing with Mass Effect and the interface is that this stuff didn't come out because people have to play so long that they had to get to the item management stuff.

RM: And, of course, the PC version is after the fact. So we're actually listening to the feedback and trying to make the game better. That's plain and simple what we're doing.

GZ: We catch most of the stuff.

RM: You know, we were exploring PC as an idea, but to really crystalize as as an idea it took what you're now seeing to be what it is. We're taking the feedback, press feedback, fan feedback, usability testing feedback, team feedback and we go "Aw geez, we didn't realize ..." and we can fix that. We can make it better.

GZ: Sometimes people play games in ways you don't expect, too. It's really interesting.

RM: I love looking at fan feedback, usability, press ... we actually do like Metacritic ourselves, we go through every review that's listed and track the scores - harsh ones as well. There's value in every opinion, right? It's just feedback. We want to try to separate ourselves from it, one of our core values is humility. How can we take that and go "maybe we don't like the way that's written but what's the idea he's trying to say?"

We actually do analysis of the most frequent points of feedback. From like 200 reviews, some crazy number. The PR team and Mass Effect team pulled it together, "What can we do better?", it's a blue print for improvement. Intellect mediated by intuition, it's inspired by - you have to feel it inside, that's a quote we heard from someone - I think Bono said it once. You have to do the analysis but you have to feel it too. You have to be inspired and take your passion and apply it.

I know you can't talk about specifics at this point but can you give us a sense of how much downloadable content is planned for the game?

GZ: A fair amount. We have the first one, bring down the sky, announced. It's a big part of what we want to do at BioWare. Obviously we did a good amount of it in Neverwinter Nights and that actually worked out really well for us, it's something we're very interested in. Before we jump to the next thing we want to see how the first one's received - again we've got some plans, we've got some ideas of what we want to do, but we want to get some fan feedback on the first thing and sort of keep self correcting. Obviously we chat with Microsoft alot because they know the whole layout of the land when it comes to downloadable content. We also want to make sure we're giving people stuff that's cool and makes sense.

So there aren't any plans to expand the PC version and the 360 version in different directions?

RM: No. I mean, we don't have any announced plans to do that, but it's an interesting idea. The potential's there but we haven't announced any future plans, what the future of DLC is, we're still developing those plans. That's an interesting idea to consider.

How has the acquisition by EA affected the company? How do you think it's going?

RM: Really, it's going extremely well. We went into it cautiously optimistic because we knew John [Riccitiello], we'd reported to him for a couple of years at BioWare/Pandemic and we have a lot of respect for him. We got to know Frank, we have a lot of respect for him. Those are our two bosses, basically, and really it's more of the same - you know, BioWare is very ambitious as a studio. The thing I find really refreshing about EA - we've both commented on this - it's very transparent internally. People are willing to share things, it's a very open culture internally if you're part of EA, and it's a very ambitious culture as well.

Confident, but humble at the same time. Sort of. It's the new EA - it's very ambitious, and it's exciting to be part of a group that just wants to advance. We feel very well aligned with them, with the rest of EA. It's a different EA than it was a few years ago, I think. With John and some of the leadership changes, Frank [Gibeau] and Kathy [Vrabeck] and Peter [Moore] and Nancy [Smith] - some of the presidents and John as CEO - I think we feel very well aligned with them as a studio. We view games as commercial art, and that's very consistent with the way EA is viewing it. You hear the word quality alot now.

GZ: And you see evidence of it.

RM: You see evidence of it, there's some good stuff in development. Going to the global publishing marketing meeting is like "holy". There's a bunch of not-in-house stuff, but phenomenal, it's all gameplay it's like beautiful.

GZ: We've been shocked, shocked at the amount of common sense we're having to deal with. That's one of the great experiences - getting to a situation where you can see the goal lines ...

RM: And they're smart, people across the board are very smart, rational but you have to have a good case if you want to move ahead in a direction. You have to persuade everybody.

A few weeks ago, right after DICE, Frank had made a pretty vague comment that said "Mass Effect will be our franchise for a very long time." A lot of our readership took that to mean that EA would one day gobble that up, maybe after you guys finish the trilogy. Turn it into something else.

RM: A different way to view it is: we are EA now. That's how we embrace it.

GZ: He's E, I'm A.

RM: We are a part of EA. We are EA. We're still the same guys. We're BioWare and our team is still the same at BioWare. So BioWare is going to maintain its proud identity, we're ambitious as a studio, we're a good brand and we're going to retain that striving forward - but we're part of EA. The fact that Mass Effect is a BioWare property, it's also an EA property. We're developing it but we're developing it as part of EA. I think that's what he was referring to.

GZ: The fundamental thing, the exciting thing about the new company structure is also among the way the game studios work, creating franchises. We manage it, it's actually our marketing team internal to the studio in Edmonton, for sales, for the global rollout, for PR, it's all our team. It's actually interesting because even moreso than before we have control, directive over the whole publishing machinery with our games. This is the first time we've seen that - we've done that in partnership but we're driving it.

RM: We are a publisher now, we're a developer integrated with marketing and sales, and that's exciting to be a part of that. Another way to view this is: we plan to be doing this for a very long time. BioWare does. I mean, I'm genuinely excited about where the industry is at and what we're doing as a studio. We're at what almost seems like the most rapid point of change in the industry in thirty years. What's the next thirty years going to look like? That's a good point to be at. You know, it's a really interesting - if you're going to be doing things with your life you might as well be doing interesting things? And I think this is like one of the most interesting times for our industry - just imagine the possibility space of where we're going. Just where we've been is phenomenal but ...

GZ: Just the last few years it seems like the change has been massive. It really has.

RM: We're not done yet, we have a lot of stuff we want to do as a studio. We're ambitious too.

It looks like we have time for just about one more question, so I'm going to jump the rails a bit. There have been a lot of rumors recently about what you're doing in Austin, and ...

GZ: Are you asking us to set the record straight?

If you'd like to tell us what you're doing in Austin, we'd love to hear it.

RM: Well, not yet.

Right; can you give us a sense of when we might learn what you're doing in Austin?

GZ: I don't think we can say that either. We do talk in generalities ...

RM: We have an idea, but we can't say.

GZ: The interesting thing about it is that the team's up and running. It's actually an extremely experienced team, a lot of veteran designers ...

Damion Schubert.

GZ: Yeah ... a lot of people who have made great MMOs in the past, and so it's a wonderful amalgam of BioWare culture in terms of workplace and all these people focused on building stuff, but then a really good sense of what's important about our games combined with technical knowledge on the MMO side. We're actually up to quite a few people now.

RM: It sure is fun to see all the rumors and stories that people have.

GZ: Yeah, keeping writing about them, we like that.

It's always entertaining for us too. Thanks a lot for your time, gentlemen.

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]]>biowarebioware-austineaea-buyoutgdc08greg-zeschukinterviewmass-effectray-muzkyaMichael Zenke2008-02-27T19:30:00+00:00GDC08: Audio of BioWare founders talking EA, Mass Effect PChttp://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/20/gdc08-audio-of-bioware-founders-talking-ea-mass-effect-pc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/20/gdc08-audio-of-bioware-founders-talking-ea-mass-effect-pc/http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/20/gdc08-audio-of-bioware-founders-talking-ea-mass-effect-pc/#commentsFiled under: , , , , , ,



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.

Gallery: Mass Effect (PC)



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]]>biowarefeaturedgdc08greg-zeschukinterviewmass-effectmmorpgray-muzykaMichael Zenke2008-02-20T23:00:00+00:00Joystiq Interview: Puzzle Quest, Vicious Cycle's Eric Peterson's 'Holy Grail'http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/joystiq-interview-puzzle-quest-vicious-cycles-eric-petersons/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/joystiq-interview-puzzle-quest-vicious-cycles-eric-petersons/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/14/joystiq-interview-puzzle-quest-vicious-cycles-eric-petersons/#commentsFiled under: , , , ,


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.

So what's so special about Puzzle Quest on the Wii?

 We implemented head-to-head multiplayer as well as optional motion-sensitive controls using the Wii's remote pointer. Also, the latest and greatest gameplay additions and changes like the spell cool downs and the re-balancing of a few of the over-powered abilities that the XBLA version had were included in the Wii and PS2 versions of the game.

So did this version present any significant or unique challenges for the development team?

There wasn't anything dreadfully challenging in bringing the game to the Wii. Working with any platform, you have to get the standards correct to get all the proper approvals; that is par for the course. Eliminating bugs is always something you are doing during production as well. We did have to tie Infinite's code base into our own technology and platform engine, much like we did with the other two versions of the game (the PSP and the PS2), so that was slightly challenging and a bit time consuming.

As far as Wii-specific challenges, redesigning the PC version's mouse input system for use with the Wii remote pointer, implementing a "de-jitter" algorithm, and creating the idea of a hot swap between two pointers and using two pointers on screen at once for head-to-head were the big three.

You mentioned a "de-jitter" algorithm. So the Wii remote's accuracy was a consideration?

Our programmers did their best to reduce the jitter factor. They also didn't want to have the user accidentally click in the wrong location while aiming the remote at the screen. Players have the option of clicking one gem, then clicking the space to move it to, or clicking and dragging, similar to the PC mouse controls. Also, the user can optionally turn off the pointer control and use the controller in a more standard way, similar to the PS2 and PSP versions.

So now that Puzzle Quest is available on next to every platform available, what, to you, is the definitive version?

That is a loaded question [smile]. They are all great of course! Personally, I prefer the PSP version (no surprise there, right?). Because for me, I am an on-the-go type person. It is a great game for when I travel. Every trip I take on a plane, I make sure to bring my copy of Puzzle Quest along for the ride. If I didn't play that version, I think I would go for the PC version.

Puzzle Quest strikes me as a rare sort of game, which is quite popular despite not being part of a large marketing push. Were you taken by surprise by this success?

No, I wasn't taken by surprise at all actually. When we were first approached to be part of the game's development, I had a feeling that there was something special about this game. It combined casual gameplay with some fantasy and RPG elements. I thought this was something that even my wife could enjoy. I actually took the game home, showed it to her and said "give this a try and see what you think." My wife was immediately addicted to the puzzle element and to my surprise she wasn't turned off by the leveling up of characters, the story or the adventure portion of the game. She has always been more of a Bejeweled, Tetris, Brain Age, Sudoko type gamer and never really has been drawn to anything else.

When I saw that she kept on playing it, I thought this could actually be a good cross-over game, one that would reach out to niche/hard core gamers as well as the casual crowd. In many ways that is the Holy Grail in game development, making a game that appeals to all types of gamers.

But does its continued word-of-mouth popularity surprise you at all?

Again, no, it is doing exactly what I had hoped. Like any great game, big or small, hardcore or casual, it is spreading to the masses like wildfire. Great games get played for a long time, they don't fizzle out after a strong start. Puzzle Quest started out as very grass roots, word-of-mouth campaign. Our marketing and PR team at D3 got people playing the game before it ever came out, got people excited about the title and created a great buzz. Once gamers played it, they were hooked.

The game is certainly unique. Puzzle Quest also seems to be one of the few genre hybrids that's both successful and fun. I know I played up through Level 50, and it's still something I break out when I need a quick fix.

I think you hit the nail on the head. It is a genre hybrid. And like I stated earlier, the game appeals to casual and hardcore gamers alike. It is addictive and fun. A great game always leaves you saying, I'll play one more level, just one more level. And Puzzle Quest definitely leaves you feeling that way all the time.

And has the game's success convinced you to participate in making a sequel?

If Infinite Interactive and D3PA want us to be part of further releases, then we would definitely consider it.

Finally, this dovetails nicely into my last question. After having been working with the Puzzle Quest IP for so long now, what's next in Vicious Cycle's your pipeline? Surely the team it itching to create something entirely different for their next project?

Oh, we have a few things up our sleeve. As you know, we just finished Puzzle Quest Wii and PS2, as well as Dead Head Fred on the PSP. We are now in mid-swing on our first next gen game for the Xbox 360 and PS3 and will soon be starting another product for the PS2, Wii and PSP. As some people may or may not know, we have our own engine that we license to other developers called the Vicious Engine and it is important that we internally continue to work on as many platforms as possible to keep our code fresh and up-to-date not only for ourselves but for our clients as well.

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]]>Eric PetersonEric-PetersonEricPetersoninterviewpuzzle questpuzzle-questPuzzleQuestvicious cyclevicious enginevicious-cyclevicious-engineViciousCycleViciousEngineJason Dobson2007-12-14T10:25:00+00:00Morgan Webb talks gaming's double standardshttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/morgan-webb-talks-gamings-double-standards/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/morgan-webb-talks-gamings-double-standards/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/12/10/morgan-webb-talks-gamings-double-standards/#commentsFiled under: ,

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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]]>femaleG4girlsinterviewmorgan-webbMTVreviewswebbwomenX-playKyle Orland2007-12-10T20:50:00+00:00Joystiq interview: Rygar's Keisuke Kikuchihttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/23/joystiq-interview-rygars-keisuke-kikuchi/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/23/joystiq-interview-rygars-keisuke-kikuchi/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/23/joystiq-interview-rygars-keisuke-kikuchi/#commentsFiled under: , ,


Maybe Tecmo didn't receive Nintendo's marketing materials. Rygar on the Wii ignores the elderly, girls and casual gamers. This is meant squarely for the adrenaline-loving Spike TV-watching crowd. At the helm of this project is Keisuke Kikuchi -- a man who wants to bring a darker edge to the franchise and give Wii owners something that might, in fact, make players build their muscles. So much so that the game is being subtitled Muscle Impact in Japan. Seriously. Read on.

Why is it called Muscle Impact in Japan?
The Japanese title is going to be Rygar: The Battle of Argus. But after that will be "Muscle Impact." He wants to know what you think about it.

It's interesting, to say the least. Maybe, it's strange?
Well, do you think its Japanese?

It's very Japanese.
To elaborate on why we decided to include "Muscle Impact" in the Japanese title, was because we want players to feel strong and tough in this installment of Rygar. There's a bold statement behind it. With the foreign title, simply adding "The" to "The Battle of Argus" will probably translate what we're trying to do without adding more words to it. But, in Japanese, we wanted to make it more strong and add a really "tough" word to it. We want you to really feel the toughness.

Maybe players will feel stronger?
Well, take a look at my muscles! (Laughs.) Although, because we don't have a playable ROM here yet, you can't see how big they are yet!

Gallery: Rygar: The Battle of Argus




But, as you can see, we redesigned the main character accordingly with the concept. First of all, we wanted that powerful image -- a very muscular image. In previous installments, the colors and textures of this character was completely different. This new one has a lot more grays and dark and white colors to it, and that's also to go with the background palette for the new Rygar.

And also, from our standpoint. The character is very easy to see in the game, and his actions in the game, depending on how you control him. We wanted it to be very clear your actions translate very well on screen.

Traditionally, Tecmo has supported PlayStation and Xbox platforms due to the hardcore fan base. What initially made you move to the Wii?
Last year, when we worked on Super Swing Golf, we did a lot of research on the controls, a lot more than what we needed for golf games. I looked even deeper into the controls and the characteristics of the Wii Remote and the Nunchuck. When I looked at all the characteristics and controls of the Wii, I saw that Rygar would be a good fit. I saw that there were a lot of titles being used where the Wii controller was being used as a weapon or a sword. I would like to think that this disc armor, one of the biggest selling points of Rygar, would be a really good fit with the Remote, being able to swing and attack and defend with the disc armor. So, with that in hand, this would make it a fresher, newer gameplay experience within the Rygar series. It looked like it would be the perfect match, not just using a traditional controller. Using the Wii Remote as one of your controlling weapons would make it a better and richer gameplay experience. That was the main reason why we decided to take it to the Wii.

So, somehow developing Super Swing Golf allowed you to come up with ideas for Rygar?
Well, I got a little tired just swinging the Wii Remote like a golf club. (Laughs.) So, I started trying different directions and movements.

Do you think there's an audience on the traditionally family-friendly Wii for a dark game like Rygar?
I do agree that Wii is portraying an image of a family-friendly console. But that means it's somewhat lob-sided. For a console that has so much to offer, I do believe the library has to be a little bit more balanced. Titles like Metroid Prime and Resident Evil are being developed for Wii, and Rygar fits right into it. The character and what you can do with him is perfect for the Wii. It has a direct input, and you can see the character reacting to your actions, so that's why I think it's a perfect fit for the Wii.



What will players look like when playing the game? What actions will they perform?
So basically, there are two different modes in the game: Gladiator and Conquest Mode. For example, in Gladiator mode, the vertical swing will have the character swing vertically. The horizontal swing will give players a wider range of attack. If you press a button, the attack will go right into the ground. Depending on the strength of your swing, it will actually size of the impact. The stronger you swing, the more muscles you build, and the bigger the attack.

So players should try to use their arms as much as possible? Or can you be lazy and just sit down and play?
In Gladiator Mode, there's absolutely no way I want people to just sit down and play. It's all about your strength and power and showing that on screen. Gladiator Mode is essentially your fighting mode, and I intend everyone to be standing up, swinging their arms, building their muscles. In Conquest Mode, you will be following the story, so there will be some ups and downs; it won't be fight-fight-fight all the time. There are combo attacks using the A and B buttons and continuous attacks. So, there's a little bit of strategy behind which combo attacks you'll execute. It might not be as strong and tough as Gladiator Mode, but I hope everyone will keep Wii Remote in hand and challenge themselves.

When can we expect Rygar to hit store shelves?
That's the toughest question! (Laughs.) I don't have a definite date yet. We're trying to target the end of this year, but there's a good chance it'll end up next year. There's obviously a lot of things that are brought to life in the Wii version. For example, in the PS2 version, the enemies were more creature based. As you can see, the Wii version has brand new enemies that are more human-based; they're a lot more like you. You're going to have a lot more different ways to attack your enemies. We want to show off Rygar as well as we can, even on the Wii console. We're still making a lot of tweaks, but there's a lot of new elements. Hopefully, we'll be able to make it by the end of the year.


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]]>interviewjoystiqfeatureskeisuke-kikuchirygartecmoAndrew Yoon2007-10-23T09:00:00+00:00Peter Moore talks about EA, waxes poetichttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/16/peter-moore-talks-about-ea-waxes-poetic/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/16/peter-moore-talks-about-ea-waxes-poetic/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/10/16/peter-moore-talks-about-ea-waxes-poetic/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Gametrailers has a pair of video interviews with Peter Moore in his new role as head of EA Sports. Watching these vids remind of exactly why we're going to miss him so much at Microsoft. However, it also gives us hope that EA will stop doing things like releasing mega-buggy versions of Madden upon unsuspecting masses. Or somewhat suspecting masses, at this point.

Anyhow, check out both parts of the video after the jump. It's worth it just for the eye-rolling from Moore when the interviewer calls him a "hero" to all the young gamers out there. He has a great view of the console war from both the publisher and manufacturer sides of the table, and near the end of part two, he talks about what's in store for the future at EA Sports. Namely, looking beyond only the North American market ... so expect more FIFA to come down the pipeline. And hopefully Scottish Caber Toss Challenge '09.


Peter Moore interview -- Part One

Peter Moore interview -- Part Two

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]]>EAInterviewMicrosoftPeter MoorePeterMooreKevin Kelly2007-10-16T15:25:00+00:00Joystiq interviews Gaia Industries on Street Trace (XBLA)http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/14/joystiq-interviews-gaia-industries-on-street-trace-xbla/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/14/joystiq-interviews-gaia-industries-on-street-trace-xbla/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/14/joystiq-interviews-gaia-industries-on-street-trace-xbla/#commentsFiled under: ,


We sat down at the Gaia Industries launch party of Street Trace for Xbox Live Arcade a few weeks ago in their Downtown NYC offices. The Xbox Live-enabled title is one of the most ambitious for the XBLA service, focusing primarily on online racing battles. As revealed in our interview Street Trace has come a long way, inspired by Tron, moving on to a PSP concept, and then finally ending up on XBLA.

Where did the concept for Street Trace come from?
The concept came from a game I actually built twenty years ago. Tron just came out and I was a kid, just about eleven or twelve and I made a little Tron-based game on the Zedex Spectrum, a really old machine.

It certainly sounds old.
That was the initial thing, and made it 3D about five years ago. And although it came from this initial idea of the trails, about three years ago we made this prototype. We changed it from being futuristic to grungy, and changed a lot of the stuff around. A lot of our inspirations are coming from games like Twisted Metal, Tony Hawk, SSX, the whole hoverboard and skating genre that we love. It's a mix of all those things.

The Tron comparison seems apt, considering the giant trails your character leaves behind in racing.
We switched the idea of the trails from Tron so that the trails actually benefit people, instead of killing them. When we initially prototyped it, the trails were supposed to hurt you, but because the game became so dynamic and fluid, with jumping and grinding, that the mechanic wasn't working. We had to go back to the drawing board and say "why isn't this working" and we ended up swapping it.

So the trails then become akin to the wake in jet ski games?
Yeah. It also makes it easier to see the competitors ahead of you. If they're far away in the environment, it's easier to find them.



Was Street Trace always designed to be an XBLA game?
The game initially started off the size of, maybe a PSP game. A smaller console game, or a PSP game. But then we talked to the Xbox guys, and they thought it would be a great Arcade game. The problem was, it was too big. So we cut it down, and decided to make it a big XBLA game, with Live support, which is what the game is so strong in. So, ultimately an online enabled XBLA game ended up being better than doing a PSP game.

What would a "bigger" version of the game supposed to have?
There were supposed to be five locations: Tokyo, New York, Paris, Monrovia, Tibetan mountains. This was old, old stuff, with a very different story. Lots of different levels, and a big single player campaign. We had to cut out the tricks. We had a very big story, but couldn't fit it in the 50MB limit. That's why we're coming out with a comic book. We focused our attention on the gameplay, but the story is there.

What is the "story" of Street Trace?
Basically, the story is about street tracers. You can think of them as your local skateboarders, and they have their own local city tournaments. The goal is for each of the characters to become the champion. Of course, fame and cash go to the winner. It's New York in the future, and the corporations have taken over everything, and it's all about finding the right kind of sponsorship. I don't know if you noticed, but the entire game takes place in Brooklyn.

No, I didn't notice!
When you go on the Brooklyn Bridge, you're allowed to go to the edge of Manhattan. It's because it's closed out. Most of the rich and opulent are in Manhattan, and you're playing as the underdog, and ultimately you want to get into Manhattan. The story also revolves around the discovery of antigravity, and the corporations and military abusing it. There's a lot of story, and it's going to be in the comic book. The actual game of Street Trace came from the military. Once the war was over, the veterans came back with their equipment, and their children eventually developed this underground sport.

Do you think this game compares to any other XBLA game out there?
If you go through the list of the Arcade games, there's nothing that comes to the scale of it, especially when it comes to multiplayer. Eight player Xbox Live multiplayer. I don't think anything compares to it.

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]]>gaiaindustriesinterviewstreet-tracetronAndrew Yoon2007-09-14T11:55:00+00:00The console war summed up in imperfect analogieshttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/05/the-console-war-summed-up-in-imperfect-analogies/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/05/the-console-war-summed-up-in-imperfect-analogies/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/09/05/the-console-war-summed-up-in-imperfect-analogies/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Analogies help us make sense of life. They can take a complex, confusing set of variables and couch them in familiar terms. So for instance, when a major publisher compares the Wii to "two Gamecubes duct taped together," the listener gets a clear picture of the unfamiliar system vis a vis the familiar purple box. Complexity simplified!

Nintendo's George Harrison has a different analogy in mind to describe his system, though. In an interview with eclectic financial site The Motley Fool, Harrison compared the Wii to a hybrid competing against two SUVs with "big new chrome rims." While all three are technically cars, Harrison argues, the markets for each aren't likely to overlap much. "Two companies are going in one direction, and we're headed in another," Harrison summed up.

While he's definitely right on that last point, we're not sure the hybrid/SUV comparison is the most apt analogy to describe the current console wars. Here's a few other contenders we've managed to come up with:
  • A nutritious Apple (the Wii) vs. two heart-clogging double bacon cheeseburgers.
  • A pea-shooter vs. two rocket-propelled grenade launchers.
  • A $99 suit vs. two custom-tailored Giorgio Armanis
  • A Casio digital watch vs. two diamond-encrusted Rolexes.
These are just off the top of our heads. We're sure you can do better. Leave us your favorite Wii vs. the world analogies in the comments.

[Via Aussie-Nintendo]

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]]>analogycomparisonconsole warConsoleWarinterviewnintendoKyle Orland2007-09-05T12:55:00+00:00Joystiq interviews BioShock's Ken Levine about success and harvesting Little Sistershttp://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/24/joystiq-interviews-bioshocks-ken-levine-about-success-and-harve/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/24/joystiq-interviews-bioshocks-ken-levine-about-success-and-harve/http://www.joystiq.com/2007/08/24/joystiq-interviews-bioshocks-ken-levine-about-success-and-harve/#commentsFiled under: , , , , ,


Earlier we posted some choice moments from our interview with BioShock's Lead Designer Ken Levine. Below is the full interview. There's more depth on the tech issues Irrational experienced, Levine's ability (or lack of) to harvest Little Sisters, their experience with the Unreal Engine 3 and an awkward moment about BioShock 2.

OK, so what did you want to talk about today in regards to these PC issues on BioShock?

Given the internets and what they are -- with their tubes and all -- I want to sort of talk about the concerns people have. We take the concerns people have very seriously. There's been some concern like, "What happens if it's three years from now, or ten years from now, when I want to play this game. And, you know, Irrational Games has been hit by a meteor?" We will unset the online activation at some point in the future -- we're not talking about when. If people have concern about that they shouldn't be worried about that. This activation is for the early period of the game when it's really hot and there are people really trying to find ways to play the game without buying it. Of course, there are a lot of people who are legitimately trying to play it. We're not trying to be Draconian, we're trying to find a balance.

Now, let's see if we can put this in the simplest terms, this screen thing has taken on a whole life of its own. The game was designed for widescreen. Instead of doing the normal thing and just chopping off the sides for full screen, you actually added more to the top and bottom so full screen people wouldn't lose anything from the sides -- a very nice thing to do actually. Thus, infuriating the PC owners and almost anyone else with widescreen because how dare you not give them more to see like they're used to. So, now this patch will add in the stuff to the side of the full screen. So, in essence, to use a visual term, this patch just zooms the camera out a little bit to appease PC widescreen owners to give the option of increased field of vision?

We started the game widescreen. We primarily designed it for widescreen. Then we had to ask, "How do we make it full screen." Your options are to put black bars at the top and bottom, keep same width perspective. Or you allow to ... add pixels to the top and the bottom if you can afford the frame rate -- we could. So the call was made to show those few more pixels. Now this is one of those things when you're making a game -- like I was making a game -- honestly, if somebody came from the future and told me this was an issue I would have laughed at them. I would have said, "Are you kidding me?" But that's what's interesting about gamers, they're an interesting and diverse group. Now that I know that there's this huge contingent out there that actually really cares about this, I wouldn't have laughed at them because they're stupid, I would have laughed because I couldn't have imagined that people are passionate about this. And now that we know they're passionate, we have a responsibility to respond to those people and give them what they want. It's their game, they paid money for it, they should be able to play in the way they want to play. We may disagree with them aesthetically, but sure, we'll make a patch and make if work for them.



Now the other big issue has been the copy protection, what can you tell us about that?

Basically the copy protection, everything about how it works is exactly what you'll see in other titles like Splinter Cell: Double Agent, Rainbow Six: Vegas, Tomb Raider: Anniversary, Command & Conquer 3, Harry Potter. The only thing we have is online activation now. But that just does a check with a server and validates the installation. Right now we have a set number of installs and, frankly, it's too low. We screwed up. We analyzed where we were and we'll up the number of installs. We've also had a bunch of screw-ups along the way, I won't mince words -- these are real screw-ups. We had the activation server crash and we didn't have a proper procedure to be notified by it to fix it. So we've had meetings all week on how to fix these screw-ups. And we're fixing them. People can't activate their key, I dig that people are pissed off, and I understand it. Here we are day one of the European launch and day four of the American and we're working every single day working on these issues. I believe people deserve to play the game.

Now putting this PC issue to rest. Is there anything you'd like to add that we wouldn't know to ask you or you'd like to add?

There have been some concerns that the copy protection was something nobody had ever seen before, except for the online procedure, there's nothing different. There's nothing wacky going on there, at some point we'll move back from online activation. If people want to play BioShock ten years from now, they'll be able to play it. We have a commitment from 2K that that is going to happen and we'll hold them to that commitment and they're serious about it, we'll make that happen.

Considering it's quite, quite, obvious the Patriot-Ledger reporter never actually played the game... Sometimes you're going to have to respond to people who know nothing about the title, but latch on to the most disturbing part. What's your response to people who will call BioShock a little girl murder simulator.

Um, I think they just need to look at the