Im Zuge unseres WiiWare Launch-Centers haben wir heute ein ganz besonderes Schmankerl für euch. Wir haben ein Interview mit Jason Hughes, Ex-Mitarbeiter von Naughty Dog, geführt und ihn über seinen noch in der Entwicklung befindlichen WiiWare-Titel Bruiser & Scratch in Case of the Puzzling Paw und noch ein paar andere Dinge ausgefragt.

Update: Die übersetzte Version befindet sich auf Seite 2.

n2g: Hi. I’m happy you could find the time to do an interview with us. But first of all, who are you and what position do you have in the development process of Bruiser & Scratch in Case of the Puzzling Paw?

Jason: Gladly.  My name is Jason Hughes.  I'm the technology guy, business developer, press liaison, president of the company, and half of the design team.  We're a small shop, so there are lots of different hats to wear--and some fit better than others.

n2g: Could you tell us a bit more about the game? What is it about and which genre does it fit to?

Jason: Well, Puzzling Paw is definitely a puzzle game.  Unlike most puzzle games, it has characters, an engaging narrative with a long story arc, and is fully 3D.  It's set in a series of fantastic locations, which we hope are a bit less cliche than the typical puzzler.

n2g: So are Bruiser and Scratch actually part of the puzzles or do they act more like avatars like in Puzzle Quest for example.

Jason: Oh, they're very much part of the game.  You see, they're trapped *in* the world and have to solve puzzles to find clues to getting out.

n2g: Will the puzzles be more like in games like Tetris or Puzzle Quest or will they be more like puzzles in typical adventure or Zelda games?

Jason: Hmm.  I'd say something like the anti-Tetris.  Tetris is all about timing, pressure, pumping music to increase tension, playing by a sense of instinct that is only sharpened through extensive and repeated failure.  Bruiser & Scratch is exactly the opposite.  The only thing in common is that the puzzles in both games are all about the placement of objects.

n2g: Will there be other playable characters apart from Bruiser and Scratch? Do you actually play both?

Jason: Yes, you do actually play both characters.  As for other playables, I don't think so.  Some of the story elements may allow for it in future releases, but I don't think we'll implement that feature in this game.

n2g: Are you using the motion controls or pointer function of the Wiimote? If yes, what do you use it for? Are there any other things you did which you couldn’t do on other consoles?

Jason: As a matter of fact, not so much.  We have a number of great gameplay ideas that would simply rock on the Wiimote, but this is not one of them.  In truth, I am very much concerned with giving the player the absolute best interface for playing any game.  In this case, the best interface is not heavily dependent on motion sensing, and I'd rather not try to force it.  Some games do, and it shows.

n2g: Bruiser and Scratch sounds more like a single player game. Will there be any multiplayer or WiiConnect24 features?

Jason: The core gameplay is a single player story mode.  However, it's the kind of puzzle game that is more thoughtful, more intellectual rather than fast action.  It can also be rather challenging, so having friends in the room to help bounce ideas off each other can really help.  So, in that sense it's a unique single player game that's best played by several people.

As far as WiiConnect24, we haven't ruled it out.  There is a feature that we're considering that might be an ideal way to bring the network into the fun.  Can't talk about it yet, but let's just say it's a possibility.

n2g: Can we expect more Bruiser & Scratch titles or will the Case of the Puzzling Paw be the only one?

Jason: If we are given a chance to make the rest of the episodes, we will do so.  The story was designed from the start to be longer than one game.  Ultimately, WiiWare customers will tell us if they want Episode 2 or not.  When they lose interest, so will we.  :-)  I, for one, would like to get the whole story out there one way or another, so I suppose it's possible we might release a different game format but continue the narrative.  My crystal ball is cloudy.

n2g: How far are you in the development process? And when do you think will the game be released?

Jason: Oh, that's a good question.  All I am willing to say is that we're working feverishly to pack as much in the game as we can and still ship in a reasonable amount of time.

n2g: Do you already know for how much you’re gonna sell the game?

Jason: No idea.  Not a clue.  Haven't the foggiest.  In fact, we might return the barter system.  I'm partial to chickens and plastic army men, but Andrew tends to prefer galleons.  By the time we're ready to ship, we'll have worked out the conversion factor into Turkish lira, just in case chickens or galleons aren't handy.

n2g: Your studio is certified for both XBLA and WiiWare (But Bruiser & Scratch is a WiiWare-only game, isn’t it?). In the past a few developers have raised their voice on how XBOX Live Arcade is “full of shit”. Do you agree? And what do you think are the pros and cons of the two services?

Jason: The current situation is that Live Arcade is dominated by publisher-driven product.  Most of the arguments I hear is that Microsoft makes more money by catering to larger publishers for multiple releases.  Maybe.  My guess is that to some extent, Microsoft doesn't know how to predict good quality product any better than the publishers that are paying to have those products made.  To some extent, their focus has been to keep product flowing because they have a captive audience willing to buy anything that is interesting and only $10.

Yes, I am disappointed that our own attempts to get on Live Arcade (with a different game) were denied.  But that left us with time to improve our technology and focus our attention on Bruiser & Scratch in Case of the Puzzling Paw, just in time to be in a smaller pool of games for WiiWare.  So, to some degree, it has worked to our advantage that Microsoft guards their service so closely.  It made for a nice contrast when we began working with Nintendo.

n2g: Did you get any special support from Nintendo?

Jason: Not special support, but we have received the same quality support that very large studios get when doing full retail games.  To me, that speaks volumes for Nintendo's desire for WiiWare developers to succeed.

n2g: Is there any particular WiiWare game you’re looking forward to?
Jason: Mmmmm.  I want to play Butterfly Garden.  And Gravitronix.  And I'm curious about quite a number of other games.  It's such an unknown quantity that I'm looking forward to launch both because I'm excited about the games and I'm looking forward to seeing how different developers chose to approach the controls.

n2g: How big is your development team?
Jason: Quite small, actually.  There are three of us working on the game--myself and two artists.  I call in some hired guns now and again for specialized needs like concept art and audio production, but the whole game is crafted by very few hands.  We want to make the best quality game possible, bring a truly challenging game to the console that doesn't rely on waggling or timing, and tell a great story in the process.  That's a tall order even for a large team.  Being small, we have to play to our strengths.  Without going into too much detail, we're choosing to break up a larger game into more bite-sized pieces partly to address WiiWare limitations, and partly because it works better for a small team.

n2g: Have you already found a publisher for Bruiser & Scratch?
Jason: Yes, we have.  We are self-publishing.  Several of the publishers we spoke with felt the game was too mentally taxing for the average Wii gamer.  Let's just say that I have greater faith in the average gamer's cognitive abilities, and I hope they prove me right by buying and enjoying it.  After all, the best way to change the minds of developers and publishers is to vote with your purchases.

n2g: Do you like your work better now that you’re not working for Naughty Dog anymore? Do you have more freedom to do the stuff you like than you had at Naughty Dog?
Jason: I don't think of Naughty Dog as being a bad experience.  Quite the contrary, I met some of the smartest people on the planet there and they taught me so much.  If I hadn't worked there, I would never have been prepared to do Steel Penny Games.  Not even close.

My work now is actually more demanding, because I'm doing everything myself.  It's a dream and a curse, having complete freedom.  Our tight schedule and limited resources requires making a lot of decisions that I haven't faced before, and each one has to be the right decision or it sets us back significantly.  I think we've done pretty well navigating the game development mine field, but we're not through just yet!

n2g: Are there actually any other projects or ideas for a game you have? If yes, could you tell us a bit more about them and are you already working on anything else than Bruiser & Scratch?
Jason: Yes, we have a *bunch* of projects we've got designed on paper.  I can't talk about them, except to say that they range from fairly casual to fairly hardcore, and are all over the map in terms of game genres.  Some, we've pitched to publishers already.  A few, we're keeping to ourselves for now.  Our focus is to ship Bruiser & Scratch before putting any serious effort into additional titles, obviously.  We do plan to stick with digital distribution channels for the time being, so expect our future games to lean somewhat toward arcade-style play. 

Thanks for talking with me.

Thanks for the interview!