jaime-griesemer
Latest
Halo 4 bringing the Battle Rifle back, introducing unlockable abilities in progression system
Few fictional weapons can drum up their own cult following. The cadence and rat-tat-tat ruthlessness of Halo's Battle Rifle is unmistakable no matter which side of the barrel you're on. It's a death sentence in the right hands, punctuated by an ellipsis of bullets ... and painfully described in overwrought, armament love letters built on phrases like "ellipsis of bullets." As far as iconic Halo bits and pieces go, the Battle Rifle seems almost as inextricable as Master Chief.And yet the cyborg with humanity at heart skipped enough games for Microsoft to make a big deal out of his return in Halo 4. The new (ish) franchise custodians at 343 Industries are in a tight spot, where they have to shape a message not only around what's new, but what's coming back. The Battle Rifle's return is an easy way to establish the latter, then, especially to those fans who couldn't wrap their heads around the weapon's disappearance in the first place.Speaking to Joystiq in an interview last year, former Bungie game designer Jaime Griesemer saw the weapon as a piece of deadly nostalgia. "It's not just a weapon, it's the weapon," he said. "For a skilled player, they spend most of their time using that one weapon. If you never miss, it's the most effective tool in the toolbox. So for them, Halo 3 is the Battle Rifle. All their Halo emotion and experience is tied up in it. So it isn't surprising to me when people react that way."How daunting must it be to work in a space where a video game gun can reach beloved status? It's no wonder Microsoft is being sensitive and cryptic about Halo 4, which introduces what could be the biggest, most widespread (and controversial) change to the multiplayer in years. According to 343, Halo 4 will add customizable loadouts and abilities that are unlocked through a progression system.%Gallery-149446%
Sony acquires inFamous dev Sucker Punch Productions
Having spent over ten years working on PlayStation-exclusive franchises like Sly Cooper and inFamous, Sucker Punch Productions is now becoming a Sony-owned developer. Sony announced the acquisition of the Bellevue, Washington-based studio this morning, formally adding it to the ranks of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios. According to Sucker Punch Managing Partner Brian Fleming, "the relationship with SCE has provided us the flexibility and trust to take creative risks and invent new properties." Among the studio's known properties, inFamous 2 is notable for having been one of the top selling games in June. The next Sucker Punch project has not been announced, but we do know of another "acquisition" that may play a role in it: the studio was recently joined by former Halo designer Jaime Griesemer.
Half-Minute Halo: An Interview with Jaime Griesemer
"In Halo 1, there was maybe 30 seconds of fun that happened over and over and over and over again. And so, if you can get 30 seconds of fun, you can pretty much stretch that out to be an entire game." Or maybe even five games. The succinct secret to Halo's success, that half minute of fun, has long been a mantra repeated by developer Bungie, repurposed by game critics, and presumably whispered by Master Chief himself before he tosses a plasma grenade into a gathering of grunts. It's inoffensive, catchy and it sounds about right. Doesn't it? "Yeah, it's probably the most famous thing I ever said," says game designer Jaime Griesemer. "For some reason it really resonated with the community and got quoted and repeated to the point where I would hear it from people that didn't realize where it had come from in the first place! Especially with journalists." Like many of you, Griesemer has heard the phrase on podcasts (yes, including The Joystiq Podcast) and read it in several articles, such as Clive Thompson's examination of Halo 3 playtesting in Wired. "Some of the guys at Bungie were calling me 'Mr. Thirty Seconds' for a while ... heh." If only we had paid attention to Mr. Thirty Seconds for about, oh, 30 seconds longer.
