the interview:
Wednesday 24th December 2003
INTERVIEW: PETER MOLYNEUX
The UK development legend speaks exclusively on the past, present and future of gaming
11:54 Peter Molyneux, legend in the videogame industry and Lionhead Studios chief is, as we all know, a man keen to push the boundaries of gaming and develop groundbreaking technology. Pass an eye over the titles he is, or has been, involved with - Black & White, Populous and RPG Fable, for example and it's obvious that a key desire for Molyneux is to introduce increasingly heavy doses of reality into virtual worlds.
We recently caught up with Molyneux to chat about the videogame highlights and lowlights of 2003, the future of the sim and strategy genres and what for him will be the hot games of 2004.
Has 2003 been a good year for videogames, in your opinion? What have been some of your own personal highlights of the year?
Molyneux: 2003 was always going to be a rather difficult year because the excitement surrounding the new consoles has faded, and for many development studios it was all about either releasing your first next-generation console game or coming close to completing it.
For me, 2003 has been a year of a lot of very, very hard work, but I'm proud to say that Lionhead will see the release of three to four games next year and they're all looking as amazing as anything I could have imagined - 2003 also saw Lionhead expand to 210 people.
Looking at the flip-side of the coin, what for you have been the low-points in the videogame world in 2003?
Molyneux: The demise of so many independent development studios. I've seen a lot of friends go through some really awful times, and I'm just grateful that I haven't been in their shoes.
What games have you/seen played in recent times that you would say have pushed the boundaries of the videogame world?
Molyneux: Max Payne 2 - for its gritty film noir storyline and integrated gameplay set in a realistic New York City
Advance Wars 2 on GBA. Although this is a handheld game, the sheer enjoyment of playing a strategy game on handheld and the wonderful pick-up-and-play design means it can compete with any of the high-tech strategy titles.
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - it's visual feast, cutting-edge animation and incredible environments has rarely been see before, but shows everyone what next-generation games can be.
How difficult is it as a developer to remain unique (in terms of games) or come up with unique ideas for games?
Molyneux: It is very difficult to come up with new concepts as you have got to have the track record to back it up - it's ironic, because both publishers and consumers are crying out for original IP.
But on the other hand, it's understandable that few companies are prepared to take the risk on new concepts when it can cost millions of pounds and take years of hard work to make an unproven concept.
In which key area or areas would you most like to see the strategy/sim genre progress over the next couple of years?
Molyneux: I'd like to see advances in AI which would create a virtual world for players that was totally believable. This would be a huge leap forward for the strategy/sim genre.
Where do you see graphical technology taking us, in terms changes/advancements it will allow developers bring to the strategy/sim genre?
Molyneux: Graphics technology seems to be advancing minute by minute. Some amazing advances are predicted on the PC by the graphics cards manufactures, and those that are promised by the next next-generation of consoles will enable us to create virtual world that are indistinguishable from the real world. And when applied to all genres of games this will just create an even richer gaming experience
If you could wave a magic wand and create your dream game right now, what would that game be?
Molyneux: It would be a game where you get to meet a person who becomes your best fiend but ultimately turns out to be an AI character.
Finally, what games are you looking forward to in 2004?
Molyneux: Ico 2, Halo 2 and anything original.
Stuart Bishop
(source:
http://www.computerandvideogames.com )
