Warren Spector
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Pardo at GDC lunch: It's all about nailing the execution
Blizzard isn't making too much of an appearance at any of the gaming conventions this year (save for, of course, BlizzCon), but they are floating around the Game Developers Conference going on on San Francisco this week -- Rob Pardo showed up at a luncheon panel yesterday to talk with luminaries like Will Wright and Warren Spector about the latest trends in social gaming. He was actually introduced by Nolan Bushnell, the founder of Atari, who said that "social is buying someone a drink," not "sitting around in your underpants," but said that Pardo manages "maybe the largest group of people in their underpants in the world." Funny.Pardo defended the game, saying that what was once a hobby for outcasts has now become quite cool and that no matter what you're sitting around in, the people who play WoW are people with real relationships, responsibilities, and lives. And he says later in the chat that Blizzard doesn't necessarily aim for innovation, but for "nailing the execution." That's something Nintendo does as well, he said, and many times, that's the key in game development. You don't necessarily have to get it first, but you do have to get it right.The rest of the conversation wanders away from MMOs (and Pardo), but it is a fun look into what these gaming development greats are thinking about what's next. Stay tuned to both us and Massively for more coverage from GDC -- Jeff Kaplan is scheduled to be on a panel there today, and we'll bring you news of that soon.
GDC09: Joystiq lunches with gaming luminaries
From L to R: Rob Pardo, Dave Perry, Neil Young, Gary Whitta, Brian Fargo, Will Wright, and Warren Spector Story contributed by N. Evan Van Zelfden Imagine sitting at lunch with Will Wright, Neil Young, and Warren Spector. They're each eating, laughing, and talking about game design with animation and enthusiasm. On the other side of the table are David Perry, Rob Pardo, and Brian Fargo.Collectively, you have the founder of Interplay, Blizzard's top designer, the father of Earthworm Jim, the man credited with Deus Ex, an iPhone pioneer, and the mind behind Spore – guided in discussion by screenwriter and former game journalist Garry Whitta.Also at the table, a dozen of the top game industry journalists sit quietly, taking notes and typing into small laptops. And excellent food is entirely secondary: it's the conversation that matters at this luncheon.
Rumor: Deus Ex's Spector working on 'epic' Mickey Mouse project
When it comes to designing games, Warren Spector isn't known for doing a Mickey Mouse job. But the iconic Disney character may very well be the star of his Junction Point Studios' current project, confirmed in July as a "collaboration with folks from Disney Feature Animation and Pixar."According to a post on Gamasutra, "concept art and information" the site has gotten its eyes on reveal a title codenamed Epic Mickey, which is described as having "a distinctly shadowed, steampunk vibe." The game is likely the same project Spector and company have been working on since at least June 2007, and which the Deus Ex designer has said would elicit claims by hardcore gamers that he'd "sold out." In backing up its report, the site references an EGM rumor from March that suggests Junction Point's project will allow Disney to go up against "a certain pesky plumber" with "the mouse himself."If true, Spector wouldn't be the first legendary designer to work with Walt Disney's most famous creation; God of War creator David Jaffe co-designed 1994's Mickey Mania for Sony Imagesoft.
Turncoat! Warren Spector developing for casual audience
"How dare he abandon us?" you may scream into your monitor (and later into your favorite pillow). Warren Spector, developer of core gamer classics such as Thief and Deus Ex, is working for the mainstream audience. In a Forbes article about casual gaming's increasing influence, Spector said, "I don't believe I'm compromising on my gameplay ideals at all. [But] any artist who doesn't want his or her work in front of the largest audience possible is nuts."Spector's "shift" shouldn't come as a surprise. For starters, we know his company, the Disney-owned Junction Point Studios, is currently working on a Pixar collaboration. He also intimated his desire for more mainstream development at the Games Education Summit in June."I'm sure a lot of the hardcore folks are going to be up in arms and I'm really looking forward to getting into that discussion with them," he said, later adding that he feels the hardcore genre is "completely safe" but "less relevant to major publishers" -- Cliff Bleszinki can breathe a sigh of relief. What we're wondering, now more than ever, is what's going on with the untitled fantasy project we haven't heard about since June 2007.[Via MCV]
Spector's Junction Point working on Disney / Pixar collaboration
Almost exactly one year after announcing that Disney Interactive Studios acquired his Junction Point Studios at last year's E3, Warren Spector – the famed game designer with his hands on everything from System Shock to Thief to Deus Ex – announced via his blog that his studio's first project will in fact be a "collaboration with folks from Disney Feature Animation and Pixar." He's not ready to say anymore (though he did say that he would "say nothing" just before telling us about the Disney / Pixar info) but we're holding out for some sort of announcement at E3 this week. Movie tie-in? New video game IP developed by Pixar and Disney? He's not telling![Via Nukoda]
Spector: 100-hour games are out
Junction Point's Warren Spector, best known for Deus Ex, spoke last week at the Game Education Summit in Dallas and expressed his belief that 100-hour games are on the way out. Gamasutra reports Spector expressed being tired of making games about "guys in black leather carrying guns," and that expectations for titles costing between $35 - 100 million are huge. He also pondered how many people actually finished GTA, noting a desire that players see the last level if he was going to spend $100 million on a game.Not that he thinks going casual is the answer. He fears that the casual field is now "really crowded" and that competition, despite being in a considerably cheaper development field, is just as tough. The point Spector made is that it all comes down to a company differentiating itself from the pack. On that note, we'll hopefully hear soon -- like during E3 -- how Spector's Disney-owned studio, Junction Point, plans on doing just that.
Warren Spector believes 100-hour games are on the way out
Making blanket statements is never really a good idea, because then things like this happen. Warren Spector recently made the statement that 100-hour games are on the way out. If that's true then somebody better tell the millions of online gamers who've spent (and will probably continue to spend) anywhere between 100-500 hours on various MMOs that they're not supposed to be doing that! All right let's remove our tongue from the inside of our cheek. We all know that some games take more time from our lives than others. While World of Warcraft and Age of Conan may absorb upwards of a hundred hours of play, other games like Portal and Bioshock clock in around seven-to-twelve hours at best. So does that mean Warren is right? No, because we're pretty sure that Warhammer Online -- a game that isn't even out yet, mind you -- will be a fairly immense timesink for tens of thousands of players at the very least. Between the free-to-plays, the subscriptions and the coming hybrids -- 100-hour games probably aren't going anywhere anytime soon.
Rumor: Disney looking to take on Mario?
Each month, the EGM rumor mill churns out some very interesting topics of conversation. Well, the latest rumor that will be on the minds of all Nintendo-faithful is Disney's supposed intention to take on Nintendo's platforming plumber with their strongest mascot, Mickey.Most of us probably played Mickey's Illusion games back on Sega's systems, so we recall that Mickey can be in a good game (some of you probably count those Kingdom Hearts games, as well?). But, does he have what it takes to compete with Mario? Perhaps, with Warren Spector supposedly heading up the project. It seems silly that anyone would try to compete with Mario, but hey, that's just us. What do you all think?
Warren Spector wishes he'd made The Golden Compass
As you probably already know if you've paid even a modicum of attention to the mainstream media recently, Phillip Pullman's book The Golden Compass totally killed God. But did you know it also did something even more difficult? Did you know it broke Warren Spector's heart? It's true! The respected developer talked about the book (one of his favorites) and the ensuing movie on his personal blog, saying "I really wanted to make the game, long before the film came out, but that's another story..." Instead of whatever Warren Spector would have done with the franchise, we're left with a 44% average offering. ... Hmm. Maybe The Golden Compass broke our hearts.
Warren Spector talks retirement, Deus Ex 3, selling out
He's got at least three more games under his belt, and yet Warren Spector is already planning his exit strategy, according to a recent interview with Eurogamer. The 52-year-old game designer believes that he will work on a maximum of five more games during his career, "more likely probably three given how long they take."In the interview, Spector also discusses Deux Ex 3, which will be the first of the series which Spector will have no input on. Although he has not been in direct contact with developer Eidos Montreal, Spector expresses concern over the Deus Ex franchise, claiming it to be "delicate" and hoping that the third title might in some way correct some of the mistakes made in Deus Ex: Invisible War.Though no details are given about Spector's newest project -- which is being developed for Junction Studios owner Disney -- Spector does state that the hardcore gaming community will undoubtedly lash out in response to the eventual announcement, and he anticipates claims that he has sold out. According to Spector, it will be "glorious. Just glorious."
Concept art for new Warren Spector game
At this year's Game Developer's Conference, Warren Spector (he made Deus Ex!) dropped a few hints about two game projects baking in the warm oven of his brain. The first is in collaboration with a Hollywood-type (director, caterer, gaffer, we're not sure), while the other is based on an original world created with his fantasy writer wife, Caroline. We're assuming the recently-released artwork from Spector's Junction Point Studios is from the latter, as there doesn't seem to be any explosions, partial nudity, or Kevin Bacon. We could be wrong. If the fact that Warren Spector is making another game isn't enough to get you excited, here's a quote from Warren about the game: "When we DO announce what we're doing, half the world's going to think we're crazy and half the world's going to think it's the coolest thing since sliced bread–how great is that?!"
John Woo directing Ninja Gold film in conjunction with Warren Spector's game
John Woo will direct and produce the film-half of Ninja Gold, a multiformat project co-created with celebrated game creator Warren Spector. According to Woo's production partner Terrence Chang, the concept is based on ongoing factual accounts of the Yakuza and Russian mob stealing gold from South Africa. "The idea actually started with John Woo," Spector told Reuters, "He wanted to do something involving traditional ninjas in a modern-day setting, and the idea just resonated with me."The two components, the game and film, will be developed somewhat independently, while retaining similar elements that will provide a narrative link. In a departure from the norm, neither will be entirely based on the other -- think: convergence, like, totally. Though Spector has been credited as an executive producer of the film, he implied that Woo will be commanding the movie with little help from the game developers. Chang added that the film will be more reality-based (so no signature-Woo bullet ballets?), borrowing lightly from the fantastic elements of the game. Chang hopes that a script can be completed soon, so that production can begin next year. No timetable has been given for the game's development.As for Woo's other game-related project, Stranglehold, Chang suggested that a film adaptation was a strong possibility. "We would definitely bring Stranglehold to the big screen," Chang said. "We would like game titles to have all kinds of possibility. Having a movie made from them is certainly a major consideration for deciding on a title."
Warren Spector collaborating with Hollywood on new title
Coupling the refined sensibilities of Deus Ex designer, Warren Spector, with the more commercial tendencies of Hollywood seems like a dangerous situation, especially in how it allows for ill-advised Perfect Strangers references. During last week's Game Developer's Conference, Mr. Spector vaguely described two of his upcoming projects to Eurogamer. One is based on an original gameworld he created with his fantasy writer wife, Caroline Spector, while the other is a "collaboration with a fellow you would have heard of out of Hollywood." The latter title seems particularly interesting, if only because of the unusual cooperation between an entity that traditionally encourages compartmentalized safe bets and another that takes pleasure in smashing genre conventions with a mallet. Since it's unlikely to be a licensed title, it leaves us speculating about how exactly the Hollywood touch will play into Spector's plans. Could a first-person Night at the Museum RPG be in the works? Of course not, don't be reedigulas!
Warren Spector tells us some game stories
Three years ago, Deus Ex creator Warren Spector spoke about the sad state of narrative in the then-current crop of games and challenged the industry to makes some changes. Three years later, Spector today told a packed GDC auditorium that they had made some progress, but there was still a lot of work to be done.Spector broke game narratives down into a few basic forms. There's: The rollercoaster: An exciting story that gives the illusion of a lot of exciting twists and turns, but inevitably ends up going in more or less a straight line. Spector said the influence of this type of game story is weakening, but it will never go away completely. The "Will Wright": Like archetypal games SimCity and The Sims, these games build stories with the player's input rather than overpowering them with a narrative decreed from above. These games are built on the idea that players can share better stories with each other than the ones told to them by developers. Procedurally generated stories – Games like Facade that can alter the story on the fly without following pre-defined paths. These games offer a "terrifying amount of freedom," and provide a great way to "explore the innerspace of personal relationships as much as the outerspace of the game world," as Spector put it. While game stories have made progress on issues like structure and character graphics, Spector said stiff character interaction and animation remained the biggest obstacle to creating engaging stories in games. He also chastised the industry for not offering enough ways to interact with a game story without killing things. "I want the opportunity to play a game and not play the part of Vin Diesel," he said. Spector also encouraged developers to build fully explorable worlds, not simple, flimsy movie sets that are "just an excuse to shoot stuff."Fixing these problems is going to take some major time and effort, Spector said, as well as a willingness by developers to fund something other than better graphics. It also take a fundamental change of perspective for many game writers. "Get over yourself," Spector told the audience. "Your story isn't that interesting. Trust the players a little bit ... let them off rails. ... This is as much a design issue as a technology issue at this point."
Developer spotting: Warren Spector
I tend not to notice the many faces flying by when I'm rushing to and from various booths in the LA Convention Center, but the aura of genius emanating from the man responsible for System Shock, Deus Ex and Thief: Deadly Shadows (amongst others) was simply too great to ignore. I managed to snap a picture of Mr. Warren Spector before he had to rush off to a super top secret meeting."I look forward to your next game, Mr. Spector.""Yeah, me too."
Warren Spector: Will the real future please stand up?
Back in November, Warren Spector caused something of a stir with his comments about the state of the games industry, including an aside slamming Grand Theft Auto. What Spector was really on about was the use of clichéd violence in mainstream gaming, and The Escapist has given him a soapbox to follow up on his speech from last year and elaborate.He asks an important question: what's in store for the future of gaming? "Depending on how you look at things, you can paint a picture of gaming's bright future of growing profits and importance, or one of doom and gloom - of irrelevance and stagnation. Either could be true. Which future is our real future? Will we go mainstream or marginal?"Gaming seems bound for the mainstream one way or another, but Spector addresses an overlooked possibility--that it will lose its mainstream appeal, and go back to the sidelines like so many media fads of the past have done. He outlines that gaming is at a crossroads at the moment, and the demands of a mainstream audience will cause game developers (and the industry as a whole) to make a series of crucial decisions in years to come. Gaming won't die, but it's easy to agree with this point: It's just that it's relatively easy for me to imagine scenarios where mainstream audiences get sick of us, sick of the product we offer them, sick of repetitive, seemingly-but-not-really interactive, emotion-free, slam-bang, U.S.-centric, urban, hip hop action games and alien invasion scenarios.Cliché-slamming and thought-provoking--it'll be interesting to see Spector's followup articles in future Escapist issues.
