TFN interview with Simon Jeffrey

[Guest Darth_Simpson]

http://www.theforce.net/games/

 

A small part of the interview with Simon Jeffrey has been posted on TFN. Here is what it said :

 

Joshua Griffin: Everyone here is excited about Episode II, and we're anxiously awaiting the first word on Episode II titles coming in 2002. Has development started and is there an early indication of what we can expect? Will they hit the streets at the same time as the movie?

 

Simon Jeffrey: Development has started on a couple of titles. I can't give anything away right now other than to say that we learned a lot last year with Episode I.

 

There will be less Episode II games, and the games themselves will be based around events or characters from the movie and expanding outward, rather then retelling the movie (or a part of the movie) in interactive form. We've taken a really hard look at what we think people will take away from the movie, and what they will want to explore further for themselves in a game environment.

 

And a comment on the cancellation of Obi-Wan, with plenty more when the review goes live Monday and Tuesday:

 

Joshua Griffin: We know some of the reasons for cancelling the PC version of Obi-Wan, could you elaborate on the decision-making process for our visitors? Many are concerned about the cancellation of such an exciting project and would be very interested in hearing a more detailed explanation that a press release can afford.

 

Simon Jeffrey: Unfortunately I can't go into too much detail at this point, as there are still some issues which need finalizing with Obi Wan. I can say that Obi Wan was not the game that many fans seemed to believe it was. The decision to make it a console game was largely taken because it was already half way there in terms of what the game had evolved into. The initial design was huge, and some features worked really well, others didn't. For instance, the glyph system combined with mouse-look was proving too problematic for a workable camera - and playability really suffered as a result. We want to make a fun game, and sadly, the glyph system wasn't fun. I am full of admiration and respect for the team that has put so much into this game - they have created some truly remarkable stuff that we are still planning to feature in the final game - but sadly it won't be a PC game.

 

I also think it's really important for people to know that the Obi Wan team is fully behind the decision to move to console. The decision was not made one by a bunch of management suits peering at their spreadsheets. It was made after weeks of collaborative work between the team, the design directors, and management. I'd go so far as to say that the whole company was involved - we had one of our infamous pizza orgies for the game back in September when around 75 people from the company at large spent time playing the game and providing feedback.

 

We have a new director on the team, and they are motivated and energized to build a really cool game.

 

The full interview will be posted next week.

 

 

[Guest Darth_Simpson]

Here is the last bit of the CNET interview as well!

GC: What about more games based on the original trilogy?

 

S. J.: As long as there is an interest in people wanting classic Star Wars games, then we will build classic Star Wars games. In fact, the announcement we are making in a couple of weeks time is centered around the classic Star Wars universe.

http://www.gamecenter.com/News/Item/Cont/0,4,0-5063_2,00.html?st.gc.gn.more