Contents page 1 — “The Games industry promotes the Unimaginative” page 2 — “The System rewards destructive behavior” On a page to read
Barry Meade is the developer and co-founder of Fireproof Games, a video game Studio that is known for the hit series “The Room”. The game was created in 2012, after four years of Saving and contract work for other large-scale projects. “The Room” was, with its interactive, tactile puzzle boxes in the early days of the iPad is a revelation – the touch screen is not felt for once like a compromise. The Tablet was rather a kind of Portal to another world.
After more than twelve-million-selling games and three sequels, Barry Meade, now belongs to the elite circle of game creators, which may require for a mobile Game money. His advice to other Developers: try out New things. The game industry needs to stop copying itself. What do you mean? And why his biggest Hit has, then, three sequels? We asked Barry Meade.
TIME ONLINE: Barry, you said that the game industry love to make the same game over and over again. Is there really a difference to other media? In the film industry this happens to but also.
Barry Meade: games costs in the production less than movies, which is of course a difference. But still you can earn with Games, of course, a lot of money. Here millions and billions in profits are possible, it is clear that it makes people crazy.
TIME ONLINE: Why is this tendency to copy a Problem?
Meade: As a Creative you have to your players pack up and move. If you do something Great, then the players give you their money for it. Who copied, the makes it easy. At investors market research data to come from other successful Games well, which allegedly explain, “what people like”. In contrast, Teams would have a hard time with new ideas. In the end, our industry promotes loose so the Incidence. And since we’re in 95% of games fail, I think the complete strategy of risk avoidance is wrong. In order to convince publishers and investors, but not the players.
This article first appeared in the current issue of the magazine “WASD”, in Essays with Games. In this edition it comes to cheating in computer games. © WASD
Zeit ONLINE: In your game, The Room, especially the intuitive controls on the touch screen was new.
Meade: A bunch of lousy console ports, has driven us to the decision for this game. A console game feels great, because a good developer is using the control mechanism, so the Joypad. We wanted to implement a similar control in a mobile game.
Zeit ONLINE: But you have already made many of the points on the back, “what people like”.
Meade: As an artist, or an artist, you can interpret something new, and you can match the Old with the New marriage. Plagiarism looks maybe similar, but it is quite something else. A copy of devalues the Original, your own Interpretation raises it to a whole new Level.
TIME ONLINE: And the three sequels of The Room are not copies?
Meade: continuations are Natural. First of all, you have found, as an artist, finally something the people like and want, of course. Secondly, you can use it to pay your bills. And thirdly, you have usually many ideas, not all made it into the first game. After the first continuation, it is then only a question of whether you can come up with something New to add. One could of course argue that a continuation is the same as a clone. That would be stupid, but you could argue, of course, still.
