Sports Games

Having given one of the few players (according to many, the only) of this generation survival horror game, Dead Space, Glen Schofield has left his role as General Manager of Visceral Games, a subsidiary of EA, groped for a new adventure together his partner Michael Cindery. In recent days, the two have said that the project related to their action adventure CoD brand has been stopped because "too niche", which sounds suspiciously like "give priority to the DLC MW3".

Video game. it : One of the curious MW3 is his disregard for recent trends in the industry. Have you thought, maybe in the future, the implementation of support Kinect and Move?

Michael Cindery: We always look around for ideas that can improve the game play for fans of CoD, and when we try to make sense to do so. For us to say "Kinect supported" or "Move supported" only makes sense if it brings the community loves the game play to the next level. Hardware innovations that companies are doing on the PC and consoles are great, but have not been built - at least this time - in MW3 because we wanted to keep intact the core mechanics of the series.

Glen Schofield: I think we're still discussing. But I am not sure MC: It was not announced anything about it. We can not discuss it.

Video game. it : Are you working on a big title, a very strong and established IP, which most likely corresponds to a productive effort for big-budget film production. More and more we talk about how this development model is becoming unsustainable. What is your opinion about it?

Glen Schofield: I think it's really from the game. When I look at how the video game industry is now immediately think of the cinema industry. There are basically two broad categories: blockbusters famous - or those who wish to be - and productions of "indeed." And the same happens here where you see indeed games, social networking, games and so on the one hand, while there are other games where you invest much more money. I think CoD deserve what is necessary to have the best. We're talking about the greatest franchise in the world. You have to invest on, people and tools. In a commercial sense because it's worth every penny.

Video game. it: The Call of Duty franchise, the audience's expectations, the Meteoritic score, having a positive and enthusiastic reviews and sales success are undoubtedly of great responsibility. How you live it yourself in your daily life?

Glen Schofield: As for me I do not particularly care about the competition, I do not think, nor did we talk about it. Clear that if someone launches a demo to look at, but note: do not worry. My thoughts are to the Meteoritic score and, above all, the quality of the game that we developed. This in general. With regard to the pressure ... but yes, there is a lot, but we do not think every day. We do not stop to say "wow we are working on the most important title" even though he may happen to think about it. I mean do not realize how great appeal because of the daily life takes place here in the office, with everyone focused on the creation.

Michael Cindery: In general I think there are really very good development team from which it is expected to win the "championship" that is, they get the success they seek. It's a tough situation because there are always high expectations and many teams would be happy just to be able to participate in this championship. But for those who participate do not win it means you failed. And when expectations are so high you find yourself with a strong motivation. We have always been inspired to create great games and we also have the best fans in the world, who give us much support. With these elements, I believe that when you get to work you're really motivated to give the best of yourself. It pushes you forward. Looks scary ', I admit, perhaps even awe. But basically, yes you a strong motivation. Is constantly present in our daily consciousness that the audience is expecting something big.

Video game. it: Do you have plans to independently develop a new game at the end of this experience?

Glen Schofield: I wish I had time to think about it but we are so busy that all the concentration is focused on CoD. Have you seen what it's like out there (pointing to the team beyond the office window, Ed). Our focus should be on this now. For sure there will be another game for us out there. We do not know where he is now and we can not think about it.

Video game. it: Let me explain, even collaborations in the future or something of your own, self-employment?

Glen Schofield: Good question.

Michael Cindery: We believe that working on Call of Duty is a great honor for us. We are super excited! Working with Infinity Ward, developer of the best decade with real talent, is indeed a great honor. I think we all like to do something themselves, in the past we did, about the future we have not yet focused on, and now we are all focused on the present.

G: It must be said that this is the first game like Sledgehammer and while we were still putting study together, work on the game had already started. Two years have passed since then, and I can say I learned more in the last two years than in any other two in my career. Because we work on the best FPS of the world and we have learned so many things. We learned a lot about our work and also with respect to the first-person shooter, although we had also previously developed. It's a great experience. I think we can do it alone? Yes, I think. But we will see only in the future.

Video game. it: Something that you would have done differently looking back at the last two years? Not necessarily connected to Modern Warfare 3

Glen Schofield: No regrets.

Michael Cindery: Certainly not. I think when we started this study we imagined all this. Two years to create the best game of all time and in the meantime we have grown in terms of number of employees very quickly. To know we made ​​the larger branches without filling up as fast as we did. I think if it were possible to go back and change one thing, it would be the ones to take an even bigger part of this floor. We're pretty shoulder to shoulder right now as you have seen.

GS: I wanted an even bigger, but then Michael has convinced me not. So here is, I'll change partners! [Laughter]

Video game. it: From the perspective of a team working on an IP address so important and close to the players, what do you think the so-called casual gaming, the classic from 99 cents app for smart phones?

Michael Cindery : I think the gaming industry is a sector which is very interesting now, because there is the possibility of creating a blockbuster such as Call of Duty, but also whole series of experiences hit & run away to where you have to stop the ' bus with their smart phones, which are an important part of the market. It's a bit 'like when iTunes introduced the possibility of buying a single song instead of the entire album. There are times when things perfectly meet the needs of consumers. I believe the field has grown enough to enable it to reach new market segments. I also believe that there will always be big-budget blockbusters, consoles and mobile gaming as well as social and have a nice slice of their well-established.

Video game. it: Do you think you could also try that kind of business or have not yet talked about?

Michael Cindery: I do not know, good question! My personal interest is to be right here, on the console. It's where I feel I can put as much passion.

Glen Schofield: I feel as if I had that kind of games before! If you look back to PSone games, or even before the games for the Sega Mega drive console on which I worked, some casual games today remind me of some games yesterday that I developed. It could, but now my way of thinking is: "Ah, if only we had more available memory  ...". I like the power. And I want to push as hard as possible in this direction.

Video game. it: While the launch of the new generation of consoles is approaching, the current generation is better exploited. As a potential advantage of the console on which you come out? You have arrived at the limit or there is still some 'margin?

Glen Schofield: I think that there is always the margin. It's all in the hands of engineers. Have great talents can continually optimize your code while increasing the yield. I think there is always a "more".

Michael Cindery: There is always room for improvement. In the life cycle of a traditional console, at the beginning is never clear on how to optimize the software for that specific hardware. The weather in this case teaches you many things. So at the end of the cycle, you find yourself with great confidence and a massive hardware optimization work that makes new things possible. It must be said that the optimization becomes more complex. And this is the challenge. We are exploiting the potential for a lot of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, but give us more time and will surely find new "horsepower" to use.

Glen Schofield: It's a little 'how to extract the oil! One hundred years ago is pumped by hand, but now we have advanced technologies. The more time passes, the more you optimize the procedures.

Video game. it: You are compromised by the available memory, disk space or computing power of consoles?

Michael Cindery: They are all elements that go hand in hand. For us one of the basic needs is to have always at 60 frames per second video. It is the basic element of Call of Duty, and not every shooter can afford. Clearly has a cost in terms of calculation and process for both the CPU and the GPU. Sony Blue-ray has the advantage of a large capacity that proves very important for a developer, while the 360 has a reduced capacity due to the format. This year Microsoft has released a new type of disc more capacious, that helps a little, 'but it is certain that the disk space starts to have its own weight. Like other things of course. For example, limits the bandwidth of the DSL network, and more.

Glen Schofield: Clearly we're going on two discs if necessary.

Video game. it: How was working with Microsoft and Sony? We speak of a AAA title and I imagine that both are interested in some exclusive to promote the sale of the hardware.

Michael Cindery: I have no doubt about the importance of this game for two consoles. Activision and Microsoft are on good terms and in general there is a lot of collaboration with both companies.

Glen Schofield: With regard to exclusive can not say much about it because we are not involved in this kind of business. What I can say without a doubt is that we have an excellent relationship with both, and we had meetings with the Executives of both Sony and Microsoft. We met the chairman of Microsoft, as you know the company is sponsor of Call of Duty XP. But, again, is the one that the other CoD is a source of income and are really good partners.