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Interview part two - THQ's Bilson on Guillermo del Toro, variety of talent, the futurity of UFC Undisputed, tons more

Part two? Office two?! But what happened in role one?! Were there machine chases? Explosions? Was an average Joe similar yous or me thrust into extraordinary circumstances and forced to shoot/box/interpretive trip the light fantastic his way out?

The suspense is probably killing yous. You lot are probably walking toward the calorie-free as nosotros speak, your pulse condign e'er fainter because you need your videogame interview fix right this very moment. Just lo and behold! There information technology is, perched upon yon Internet!

And once you're all caught up, part two's waiting for you lot after the interruption. Early reviews have declared it fifty-fifty amend than part one, and when have early on reviews e'er been wrong? Click onward to read THQ Core boss Danny Bilson's thoughts on Guillermo del Toro, the time to come of game demos, selling cut-scenes, how we should treat talent in the gaming industry, licensed games, and tons more than!

So, Guillermo del Toro. The man himself sort of blabbed and spoiled the surprise, simply I don't imagine you lot tin say much since it'south still technically unannounced. Tin you describe what it's like to work with someone like him, though? He'southward got quite the resume, after all – but not in videogames.

I think out of respect to my marketing and PR squad, nosotros have to relieve that for a separate interview. Because I'm non even officially immune to say whether nosotros are or aren't working with Guillermo. He said a few things about it already, and so it'south kind of empty-headed. I don't want to be silly nearly it. I have a lot to say to answer the question that's all really positive. What I can say is nosotros're good friends, and he'southward a big gamer. He knows games. He knows game history and he knows what works and what doesn't. He has a good sense of information technology, because he'south a fan. He'due south a proficient friend and I'm enjoying hanging out with him. Subsequently, when nosotros get more official well-nigh it, and if it goes through, and if it happens for sure – considering we're just kicking stuff around – when the PR guys say I tin can come talk about it, I'll answer all those questions.

What I tin can say is that he's a friend, and he does know games. He'southward a gamer. He'south a nifty guy.

Between Red Faction Battlegrounds and Capcom's Dead Rising: Case Nothing, practise y'all remember bite-sized appetizer games have the potential to replace costless demos altogether?

Well, Battlegrounds is a completely different game mechanic and dissimilar game. Are gratuitous demos on the fashion out? It'due south an interesting question, because I think the Dead Ascension ane was the equivalent of what would have been a demo in the sometime PC days, right? And it did really well. The question is, volition those people buy the big game, or will they say, "Well, that was cool for my 5 or ten dollars, and I'thousand good. I'd rather invest my money in something fresh." It remains to be seen.

Nosotros're gonna keep doing free demos on stuff going forward where we really want to engage players. I hateful, there will be a Homefront multiplayer demo. I believe at that place will. Then nosotros're not really... I know this will sound crazy -- but everything isn't driven [past turn a profit]. We really practice things by what nosotros recollect would be coolest and what would engage the most people. We're non counting every penny, because I don't recollect you can win like that. Yous have to build a really strong fanbase that'southward gonna exist fans of our IP and fans of our games and – if we're really lucky – fans of THQ, where they wait at our brand and say, "Wow, there's a THQ game coming out and I know how they are on quality." I think that'southward what we worry about.

I don't spend a lot of time sweating over what we're gonna charge for or not. I just want to get stuff in the virtually people's hands, and so that they'll ultimately buy the big game, the $sixty bet. That'south how we actually are gonna win. If nosotros go a lot of people caring about those games and finding enough value in them, they'll spend their hard-earned money on them.

During your GDC panel, you were talking about all the ways Red Faction'south leveraging transmedia storytelling, and about how – at the end of the day – it'south all virtually drawing a player into your world and rewarding them for it. And so you've got guys like Activision's Bobby Kotick, who want to dust off used cut-scenes, repackage them, and put them back on the shelf. Do you think that's a worst-case scenario for transmedia storytelling in games?

It'south actually about the cutting-scene. So if he can make a movie that's actually great that people are willing to pay for, that's great. The public will make up one's mind. It's the same thing I keep saying. You know, money's tight, and if people find entertainment value in it considering information technology's awesome content, then they'll pay for it. If yous just put it in the category of charging for cut-scenes, of grade it sounds bad. Just, to give him credit, if he tin can put upward a great movie experience that's worth people's money similar going to the movies, so people will pay for it. The content drives. It dictates everything.

You've opened your doors to some extremely diverse talent as of late. Tim Schafer, Tomonobu Itagaki, and del Torro stand out the most, of course. At this point in the gaming industry'due south maturation, is that the key? Is information technology sink or swim, with diversity as your Finding Nemo-branded water wings?

Admittedly. Once a technology platform is stable, it's all most the content. And people aren't gonna buy a game just because it has great graphics or neat activity. Information technology as well becomes a great feel. And where does great, inspired content come up from? It comes from inspired people. Information technology comes from talent. So I tin absolutely say that the strategy at THQ – our cadre strategy – is talent offset.

We're creating a system where we tin can attract the best talent in the world, considering nosotros're not driven past what a marketing guy says we need to make. We're absolutely driven by the inspiration of an artist. We're gonna denote another piece of talent in ii weeks that's a big game-maker. On October 19, I believe, we're gonna announce this other large game-maker joining united states of america.

It's just like the moving-picture show business concern. People are interested in seeing films fabricated by people similar Guillermo because of who they are – considering they have a consistent tape of doing inspired piece of work. Steven Spielberg, for instance, has washed that for years. Information technology'south not about technology or all of that anymore, and the platforms not gonna change next year. It'southward like, where do you lot go? Yous got to content. So you see u.s.a. building a talent roster of people nosotros're associated with who are neat entertainers. That'south who the people y'all listed are, and that's who the next guy is who y'all're gonna meet come in to THQ.

Are y'all hoping that might one day become the prevailing mentality in the gaming industry? Because, right now, at that place'south sort of a separation: in film, we've got guys like Tim Burton, who can put his name on a parcel of stale crackers or – worse – Alice in Wonderland and pack theaters for weeks. Whereas, with videogames, there are people out in that location who don't fifty-fifty know the difference betwixt a Treyarch Call of Duty and an Infinity Ward Phone call of Duty.

Right, merely it was established by Vince and Jason and their team at Infinity Ward. And that is a vision that really started on Medal of Honor: Allied Attack. I actually was effectually EA at that time. And that immersive "you in the war movie" vision was started before them, only they're really proficient at picking out cinematic moments, pacing, and all of that. So the Treyarch stuff is modeling what they did.

So I do recall it came from talent. The people don't identify that. It's about what Call of Duty means to people. And it means a great experience. Just that did come from ii actually inspired guys – maybe iii -- and their whole squad, who started at 2015 back on Centrolineal Attack. It does come up from people. A brand doesn't just come from a brand. It comes from inspired artists. That game did come up from inspired artists.

And whether it'southward Treyarch who have to find their own inspiration, they're post-obit a lead and a model that's been set up, yet they're smart enough over there that it feels like Blackness Ops gives u.s. a fresh experience in that earth. It's not just Modernistic Warfare 3 and more of the same. So information technology did come up from talent; it just got disseminated and spread around to multiple teams who are notwithstanding edifice on that unique vision.

But I guess what I was wondering was...

...Tin can you sell the name above the title? Well, Tim Schafer's one, correct?

Well, certain. Any hardcore gamer who's DNA is l pct Twitter and 50 per centum videogame blogosphere could spot Schafer in a oversupply. But what most everyone else? Isn't that sort of why Schafer's games don't dominate the charts?

It might go that way if you start putting the names above the championship. I mean, there was the old story of American McGee's Alice, which sort of came earlier it was earned in a manner. And he's gotten a lot of mileage off that, and he's making a sequel to it. I don't know if the new one says American McGee's Alice or non. Does it? I don't know. He's a skilful guy, but he'south not Spielberg. I call up the name goes above the title when it validates itself. When we know it's a marketing tool and we know people really care, then it goes up at that place and becomes its own brand in a way. But it tin't go before the content. There has to exist some content people love. Then if they associate it with that name and if it makes sense and it gets people to play it and it sells games, then you put information technology up there. And it could happen. Absolutely. Why not?

On an entirely different notation, before this year, UFC Undisputed 2010 didn't exactly take a chirapsia at retail, merely it didn't live upward to your lofty sales expectations. Why do you remember that is?

Well, because I don't think nosotros offered enough new features. It'due south fashion meliorate than the first game. It'due south tremendously meliorate, and it sold a lot of units. But we had ridiculously high expectations for information technology.

What we learned on day-one was that we weren't giving the consumers enough value for everybody to purchase it once again. The hardcore fans bought it again and could see the differences. Giving information technology some more fourth dimension to get more features in there for more than people – then that if you bought UFC 1 and 2, you accept to buy UFC 3 considering it'southward loaded upward with all kinds of new features. And also, we'll have more playability for newbie gamers. It won't only be and then hardcore, so we can get to a bigger mass audience. It will have more for all UFC fans.

But once more, it takes more time. You can't but jam it out there. Nosotros could probably sell a million-and-a-half units every year, and that's a lot of games; I never want anyone to think it'southward not a large hit, because information technology is. Just nosotros want it to exist a monster. And to be a monster, we've got to make it essential – for everybody who owned 1 or 2, when iii comes out, they accept to own it. And that takes more time and money.

I've got to become in ane minute, so give me your biggest question.

Ok, here it goes: Conspicuously, yous're heavily involved with the 3DS. What nigh the PSP2?

I can't comment on that.

I didn't think and so. Only I still have, like, twoscore seconds! Going dorsum to the UFC affair, do you think we're by the days when a license alone could sell a game? Do y'all recall the general audience'southward videogame IQ has gone up?

Admittedly. They have feel, right? Games are part of our lifestyle. Games aren't cool just because they're games. A license can't sell a game. A groovy game that's groovy without the license can be enhanced with the license. That's what I call up.

We don't accept a lot of licensed stuff in Core. We take Warhammer 40K, which nosotros honey. Information technology'south a deep IP. Information technology'south a fantastic world. We don't love it considering there'due south billions of people painting those Warhammer models all over the world; information technology's just a neat universe that we want to be in and play in. We have UFC. We accept WWE. And nosotros have one unannounced affair that I inherited that we're making really, really absurd. I can talk nearly it afterward. But we're really into original IP.

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Source: https://www.vg247.com/interview-part-two-thqs-bilson-on-guillermo-del-toro-diversity-of-talent-the-future-of-ufc-undisputed-tons-more

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