I think games offer a unique opportunity as a medium to
create experiences that only really exist between
the player and the work itself, and the game itself.
For instance, in Flower, we have a very minimalistic story.
To really invite the player to bring their own experience and
therefore their own interpretation from the game.
I think of the game process, the way we make games,
it's a lot about planting little seeds and then seeing which
ones grow, because you have to have a lot of people think about
the idea and work on the idea for to it really thrive.
The design process helps us take this big concept and
shape it and mold it.
Every stage in the design process, we hone in on
the core value, the core thing, the one piece of meaning that
we really need to communicate through this work of art.
Really, the question of: Are people going to like this?
Are players going to enjoy this? Is the message you are going to be
communicating through the game. We play test
through very many times throughout the
experience of development to get a sense of that.
I always feel like we really never know until the game
is just out there.
The simple games give you a complete experience without
really causing you to be completely submerged
in the environment. There's a lot of superb games that
are out there right now that I love that are not anything
like a simple game.
A great example of that would be Uncharted 2.
It's like playing a movie. It's what we used to dream about
20 years ago becoming a reality. It's not quite there yet,
it's not really a movie, you can tell you're playing
a computer game.
But it's getting so close now where you get actual emotional
involvement with the characters and where the way the plot is
developing really matters to you. It's not just a
convenient framework to have a game on, but
where the storyline itself matters.
I guess what is really unique about games is
the fact that they put you in the shoes
of the main character, and you make
choices that will have consequences ultimately.
So, with Heavy Rain I was looking for a way to
make the player play the story.
That was the main challenge.
From a conceptual point of view, to make
this story fully interactive.
"Did you suspect anyone after he disappeared?"
“I meet a lot of pretty shady characters in my line of work."
The game could behave like a mirror that you
give to the player.
There are some moral choices at some points,
some things, where you really wonder, “What should I do?”
The answer is not obvious.
“Don't touch me!”
Storytelling is such an important way of self-expression
culturally that it makes sense that it shows up
in every art form that we have,
including games.
“Now don't jump to conclusions, Elena.”
“I'm sorry. Am I sensing some history here?”
“Oh, Elena Fisher. Last year's model.”
“That's cute.”
I've been thinking a lot about romance and flirting.
The first game that sort of started that whole trend
came out years ago and it was
Knights of the Old Republic.
It's a spacer RPG set in Star Wars. So you're like
running around and shooting aliens and then
all of a sudden, your sort of NPC character whose
your companion. And there's one moment in the game when
he says, “I'm all ears, beautiful.”
That was the moment when I was like,
“He's flirting with me!”
I felt those sorts of feelings that you feel
"Does he like me? Did he mean that? Does he think
I'm beautiful? What's going on?” It was like I was responding
to this character like it was a real person.
Because really what's happening when you fall in
love with somebody is you're trying to get to
know this other person. But this other being is
so complex and so beautiful...
...you'll never really fully understand their system.
And yet, it's so delightful to constantly try. And in a way,
I feel like that matches perhaps to interaction
with a game system.
You constantly want to go back into it and explore and
discover new things about them that
you didn't know existed.