Sounding the Charge of Epic Games

[Montolio]

The staff at computerandvideogames.com (www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/homepage/front_homepage.php) catch up to Epic Games' Mark Rein after his visit to Xfest London. As usual, the interview brings a wealth of information (www.computerandvideogames.com/r/?page=http://www.computerandvideogames.com/interviews/interviews_story.php?id=134530) to the table and touches on all things gaming. While Mark talks about the status of Gears of War, Unreal Tournament 2007 and the on-going work in Unreal Engine 3, other topics are covered as well. Recruiting, challenges inherit in making games and industry standard engines and tools, why the Xbox 360 launch went well, what's ahead for the PS3 and Sony's proposed online service and more.

I think people are going to be pretty excited about Gears. We've tried very hard to let excitement ebb and flow naturally, without trying to over hype the game. What we want to do is not reveal a lot of details about the gameplay or the story because it's one of these intensive single-player driven stories. I think if you reveal too much about that you take away the mystery and the fun for the gamer. So we've shielded it to an extent and said, 'Here's a pretty screenshot, don't ask too many questions'.
The interview also covers multiplayer in Gears of War and all signs appear to point to it being a very good thing indeed.

[The Letter 3]

I read the article. Lots and lots said without saying anything at all. Mark is great at doing that, which is why he is a media darling for those who cover video games. Long interviews equal lots of space that can be filled.

[Sion]

All I want from Epic is for them to stop showing me pretty screens of Gears and start showing pretty screens of CliffyB...naked.

[Schnoogs]

All I want from Epic is for them to stop showing me pretty screens of Gears and start showing pretty screens of CliffyB...naked.


HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAH!

[bean19]

This guy should be studied by PR students. He is extremely positive, honest, and forthcoming without giving away any information that he shouldn't.

Some of the answers were interesting though:

1. Highlighted the importance of middleware companies using and testing their products to ensure quality. Criterion actually started as a middleware company and became a game maker. . . maybe it is just that excellence breeds excellence? If I were having to decide on what middleware to buy for my hypothetical company, I'd definitely like the middleware provider to also make games because I can't test the potential problems in a peice of middleware, but I do know when a videogame is quality or not.

2. Emphasizes the need to streamline content creation in some way and the importance of giving power to designers rather than just the engineers and coders.

3. Unreal2K7 is a playable alpha but is not yet pretty.

4. Gears of War is coming along and they are intentionally not giving away too much information to preserve the game experience for players.

5. They are impressed by the X360 because it performed even better than they expected and found the PS3 difficult to code for initially (old news, but if you see smoke over and over and over. . . )

But most interestingly. . . I think he knows exactly what the PS3 is going to offer in it's online service and that he reveals it in detail.

[Jart]

translation: It's a tech demo!

I think they have taken one too many ideas from id...

[F3nyx]

translation: It's a tech demo!

I think they have taken one too many ideas from id...You mean UT2007? Er, I think you've got it backwards actually. Tech demos are very pretty, but with lousy gameplay. According to Mark Rein, UT2007 is currently a very playable game that hasn't yet been graphically fleshed out -- in other words, the exact opposite.

[Sion]

Yeah, the development for UT2007 is very strange.

[TheKeck]

You mean UT2007? Er, I think you've got it backwards actually. Tech demos are very pretty, but with lousy gameplay. According to Mark Rein, UT2007 is currently a very playable game that hasn't yet been graphically fleshed out -- in other words, the exact opposite.

It's a gameplay demo!

[RMan]

This guy should be studied by PR students. He is extremely positive, honest, and forthcoming without giving away any information that he shouldn't.
Huh? Other than being fortunate enough to get hooked up with an up and coming developer, what should be studied about this guy? All PR guys are extremely positive, not sure how he's notably honest, and how would we know what information he should or shouldn't be giving?

[Sion]

The PR they teach you in school is easy to understand, boring to read, and fake as hell. Good PR like this guy is an art.