Robin Hunicke from thatgamecompany (developing Journey) moderated, with Matt Gilgenbach (24 Caret Games with Retro/Grade), Tyler Glaiel (Eyebrow Interactive with Closure) and Rowan Parker (Q-Games with PixelJunk 4AM) on the panel to answer questions, as well.
Introduction
Robin Hunicke (thatgamecompany): We’re going to assume that everybody here thinks that video games are not just a useless waste of time. If you think games are a useless waste of time, please leave. We’re also going to assume you guys have had some kind of good experience with console games, maybe your past or your childhood, but you also probably play games on your PC. Maybe you play them on your phone. Games are part of the ecosystem of your life. You understand they’re not just for people like us, but they’re actually for everybody. People play games all over the world. All ages, races, all types of games.
It’s a super-awesome time to be a gamer. What you might not know is that the retail landscape for games has changed quite a bit in the last two years. It used to be really difficult to make a game and get it into the hands of players, but it’s really easy these days and it’s getting easier every day. Everyone on the panel here is making a game currently that will be distributed through the PlayStation Network, downloadable through the console right at home on your TV. You can download games on your phone, you can download games on your PC, you can download games on other consoles if you own them.
This makes us really happy because we are allowed to distribute content to people in a way that’s totally new and different, and this new model for distribution has led to a totally awesome explosion in the creativity that games can express. New, fun people are making games every day, and that means better, more awesome and more interesting games are being made every day. The community of game developers is growing, and we’re a fun group. We’re a little crazy. Some of us have left more stable, mature companies to jump into the fray and make crazy games. So what we’re going to do today is tell you about who each of us is, what we’re working on and take questions. And this is us. The first person who’s going to talk to you today is Matt. He’s at 24 Caret Games. He works on Retro/Grade, which is playable out at the front.
24 Caret Games - Retro/Grade
Matt Gilgenbach (24 Caret Games): Hi, Matt Gilgenbach, 24 Caret Games. We’re working on Retro/Grade, which is a new, sort of crazy, different rhythm game which is fused with a spaceship shooter. The twist, if that wasn’t a twist enough, is that time is flowing backwards. So when you begin the game, you start out fighting the final boss, then you destroy him and everything is really awesome and you get the end credits.
But then time itself starts flowing backwards because of all of the explosions. The idea of the game is that you’re traveling backwards through time, undoing your actions in order to protect the health of the space-time continuum. So you have to get in the right position and unfire your player lasers, which are timed to the beat of the original music that Pat composed for the game. You also have to avoid different types of enemy fire because, basically, if you stop the enemy’s shot before it returns to the laser that fired it, it creates a paradox that damages the health of the space-time continuum.
Robin: I’m going to interrupt you Matt and tell you you haven’t actually mentioned the one awesome thing about your game that isn’t shown in this video.
Matt: Oh yeah, you can also play it with a Rock Band or Guitar Hero controller. It works with a Dual Shock, as well.
Robin: So Retro/Grade recycles unused game guitars.
Matt: Yeah, finally you have a use for those. You can clear off the dust or pull it out from under your couch.
Robin: [Speaking to the audience] How many of you have an unused game guitar in your house? [Most of the crowd raises their hands] See, if you have a PlayStation, you just download this title and suddenly it has value again. It’s like a game that makes your crap valuable. That’s awesome, right? And look at it, it’s gorgeous. It’s so beautiful. [Speaking to Matt] You guys are doing an amazing job on it.
Matt: Thank you very much.
Robin
Eyebrow Interactive - Closure
Tyler Glaiel (Eyebrow Interactive): Closure is a puzzle platformer game where you move lights around. If you can’t see it, it physically doesn’t exist, so you can move light around to make land and walls, get rid of light on walls so you can jump through them and stuff. That’s the quick description of the game, but there are lots and lots of mechanics built on top of that. It’s probably best to display it too.
Robin: When I first met you, you had just finished the first version of this game. You were still in high school?
Tyler: No, I was in college.
Robin: Just started college?
Tyler: Yeah.
Robin: You came to show this game at the Game Developer’s Conference with your uncle who also works on the game.
Tyler: He’s doing the music for the computer version of it.
Robin: One of the youngest people to ever totally blow away the panel of judges for a session that I run called the Experimental Gameplay Workshop. We were actually so totally jealous that you had come up with such a great idea at such a young age. Why did you decide to stay indie? Because you were basically born indie, right? You didn’t know any other way.
Tyler: Well, after having seen people enjoy a game that was born from my own idea, it really wouldn’t be fun to go work for somebody else, to make somebody else’s idea. So I’m sticking with it.
Robin: So that’s what you’re going to do, and look at all these rewards. That’s really awesome. What’s been the most interesting thing about working on this current version of the game?
Tyler: Well, this is the first time I’ve actually programmed for a console so that’s kind of fun. Making levels for two years in a row gets a bit tiring, but it’s very rewarding and I finally finished making puzzles for it.
Robin: That’s awesome.
Tyler: It’s a good feeling.
Robin: Alright, so you guys should definitely check out Closure. It’s up there, as well.
thatgamecompany - Journey
Robin: So now we’re going to talk about the game I’m here with, it’s called Journey. I work at a small company in San Monica called thatgamecompany. We make what we call artistic, abstract, accessible games, which is our version of AAA. What this means is that we think a lot about what isn’t already in the landscape of games and we try to do something that’s along those lines.
Our first game was called Flow, and was all about letting the user drive their own level of difficulty in a really exploratory, immersive kind of game. Our next game was Flower, which was even lusher. We really tried to bring the environment forward. In this game, you play the dream of a flower that’s moving through this landscape and opening its blossoms. It’s totally gorgeous. I did work at tgc when Flower was made. I was a huge fan, and I got super into this game. It still makes me cry when I play it, it’s really gorgeous.
Our next game is called Journey, and I’m going to just go ahead and play the trailer.
Journey features an orchestral score written by Austin Wintory. He also worked on our game called Cloak. The point of Journey is to build an online game where people feel connection with a stranger. So it’s a game you play online when there are people, but there’s no voice chat, there’s no text chat. When we pitched this game it sounded pretty crazy and we were super thrilled to get the rights to make it. Sony’s been super supportive of making it. You can go play it, it’s just around the corner from Retro/Grade. And now we have Rowan, who’s here to talk about PixelJunk 4AM.
Q-Games - PixelJunk 4AM
Rowan Parker (Q-Games): Hi guys, my name’s Rowan. I work at a company called Q-Games in Japan. We make the PixelJunk series. So I was a designer on PixelJunk Shooter 2, and I’m currently a lead designer on PixelJunk 4AM, which we’ve got over here. The easiest way to describe 4AM is it’s less of a game and more of an instrument or an interactive audio-creation experience.
