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Ubisoft didn't want to 'water down' Prince of Persia for Wii
With its forgiving gameplay, Ubisoft was clearly trying to make the new Prince of Persia appeal to more casual or mainstream audience. So, IndustryGamers asked producer Ben Mattes, why not bring the game to the ultimate casual console: The Wii?Mattes said that the system just couldn't handle what his team wanted to achieve, saying "the AI of Elika was highly advanced and required a lot of processing power; the world size and dynamic loading, the draw distance, the number of polygons in the characters... If we had done a Wii version, it would have been toned down, probably linear, it wouldn't have been an open-world game, and so it would have been a very different experience. We didn't want to water it down that way."... Plus, they couldn't have charged Wii owners $10 for the "Epilogue" DLC! No, no, we kid.
Prince of Persia producer says game's risks have gone unappreciated
Prince of Persia series producer, Ben Mattes, tells IGN that he was "expecting a few more virtual pats-on-the-back" for exploring some unbeaten paths in the Prince's latest outing, but said pats (virtual or otherwise) have yet to be felt. "We set out to keep a few core fundamentals but to re-imagine everything else, discarding some very well entrenched ideas not only about the brand but also about videogames in general," Mattes said. "What surprises me is how little these high level risks seem to be noticed and appreciated as attempts to shake up the industry and push things forward." Mattes doesn't concede failure – far from it – but does wonder if the games industry "has a stronger appetite for the familiar than it wants to admit."
Joystiq interview: Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes
Following our recent hands-on with the soon-to-be-released Prince of Persia, we sat down with series producer, Ben Mattes, to chat about how (and why) this new installment – and, in some respects, direction – for the iconic franchise came to be. Mattes wasn't afraid to cite his team's influences for the project, nor to lavish praise on the competition. He spoke about what wasn't quite right with follow-ups to the acclaimed Sands of Time and how, in a variety of ways, Ubisoft Montreal tried (and sometimes failed) to nail it this time around. Re-creating Guitar Hero-like Zen in the platforming? He thinks that worked. Read on for Mattes' insight into the game's creation; early hurdles (and lessons learned); the new prince (and what people think of him); and designing combat that doesn't try to compete where, in his words, God of War has already "won." %Gallery-23908%
Prince of Persia may have 'significant' DLC
The DLC planned for Prince of Persia is to be of "significant value," as noted by Ubisoft producer Ben Mattes in an interview with Gamercyde (at the 19:12 mark). Mattes doesn't believe the PoP DLC will be character skins or weapons, but will be "a new story, a new experience, maybe a prequel, maybe a sequel." This is all said under the caveat of "if" the team decides to do DLC. If the team does decide to do some DLC, it will arrive sometime next year, but the whole thing is "still in discussion." We'll worry about DLC later -- right now we're itching for the Prince and Elika to make their way onto our consoles in two weeks. Source - Ubisoft plans 'significant' PoP DLC [Eurogamer] Source - Video of interview [Gamesyde] %Gallery-23908%
MMOs may not inherit the Earth after all
A lot of attention has been paid in recent months to the notion, espoused openly by Phil Harrison and quietly acquiesced to in much of the rest of the MMO industry, that single player games as we know them are going the way of the dodo. With technology connecting people to each other in greater numbers than ever before, many people see the logical end of this being the complete co-option of the traditional single player experience that has prevailed in games for so long.In a recent interview with Ben Mattes, producer for the new Prince of Persia game over at Ubisoft, Mattes rejects this notion, insisting there are experiences in a single player game that you can't reliably replicate in a multiplayer context. Players still crave these distilled bouts of fun, and will continue to flock to them in the future as long as companies keep making them. Obviously, being the producer on a big budget single player title doesn't make Mattes the most unbiased source in the world, but we have to agree with him. While the greater trend is towards connectivity and multiplayer, there's always going to be a market for a well-told single player story.
Ubidays '08: Prince of Persia producer on sidekick, new prince
click to enlarge Ubisoft wasn't showing off much of its new Prince of Persia title at the Ubidays event in San Francisco earlier this month, but it did trot out producer Ben Mattes to acrobatically dodge – and sometimes answer – the queries of a room full of journalists left unsated by the beautiful, if not particularly informative, CGI teaser trailer. First, what do we call it? Though the Ubidays press materials listed the title's name as Prince of Persia Prodigy, the very same name recently trademarked by the IP-owner Jordan Mechner, Mattes wouldn't confirm that that was the final title: "I don't think we've announced the final title."If you're still unable to wrap your head around where this new prince fits into the existing franchise, Mattes wants you to forget about everything that's come before. "The Sands of Time trilogy is over. We're finished that story," he explains for what we're guessing is the hundredth time that day. "It's a new prince, with new challenges. There's no chronological connection with what's gone on in the past."%Gallery-23908%
Hollywood and Games Summit: crossing over from film to games
Click for larger version Jordan Mechner hosted a panel about talent (mostly writers and actors) crossing the "digital divide" between film and TV and video games. Sadly, they didn't drop any information about the Prince of Persia movie. For the most part, the panel covered familiar and expected territory. Yuri Lowenthal, voice of the Prince in several Prince of Persia games, said that the crossover is fairly easy for actors, although he would like for the actors to be more involved in the development process, if possible.Writer Flint Diller (The Transformers Game, Dead to Rights, and several more) said that as far as writers are concerned, you have to have a sense of humor going in with the underlying knowledge that,"This is gonna be a long, bumpy ride." He also said that you can't compare it to screenwriting, and if you try you'll find yourself very disappointed.
