Former Shiny man Perry speaks his mind in the second-part of his interview with PDF magazine Disposable Media.
“I’m one of the few developers that doesn’t have a publisher PR department breathing down their necks all the time. So when I get to do an interview, I speak my mind. I just say how I feel, the press appreciate that. And I do a ton of interviews, so the conversations I have about gaming can go just about anywhere,” Perry tells interviewer Rob Crossley in issue 9 of Disposable Media.
Perry is, of course, referring to the press’ reaction to the first part of his interview with the publication, published in Issue 8 back in July. In it, the games developer ? who has been responsible for classic titles such as Earthworm Jim and Aladdin ? suggested that gamers may be drawn away from the Nintendo Wii to the ?graphical power the [Xbox] 360 and PS3? over the next few years.
“500 interviews go by without a blip, but then if you mention something negative about Nintendo, it’s pretty impressive the passion that stirs,” Perry comments in the second part of the interview. “Do I take my comments back? Hell no. I’m in no way a Nintendo hater. I have a Wii, I bought it the second it came out, I play it often. I’ve got all their machines and tons of games. There’s just many issues with the Wii, and the fans just don’t want to hear it. I personally admire how well the Wii has done. I just find it interesting to see how people turn a blind eye to its flaws.”
Perry is adamant that the Wii isn’t as perfected as some blinkered gamers make out. “Games are all about accuracy. If you request something it better happen. The Wii controller adds some slop to the system, and that in turn goes against the golden rule that controls should be tight and perfect, something that Nintendo has lived off for years. I’m surprised how unimportant these things seem to be to people, that a slight inaccuracy is acceptable.”
Elsewhere in the interview, Perry warns against games developers getting trapped into making endless sequels. “I look at some developers who take their time, and slowly and carefully develop a game, and that means when it finally comes out people get really excited. And then on the other hand there are games like Tony Hawk’s. I mean that franchise has been milked beyond belief, it’s abusive, somebody should protect games like that from so many sequels. I’m bored of it.”
Issue 9 of Disposable Media, which is available for free download in PDF format at www.disposablemedia.co.uk/, went live on Monday 24th September, 2007, and ? as well the second-part of the exclusive interview with Dave Perry ? features extensive coverage of the recent Develop Conference & Expo which took place in Brighton, a look at Blast Arena Advance on the Game Boy Advance and freeware title Trouble Witches.