Will Wright interview

A few days ago, I was able to interview Will Wright at some length about ´Spore´ and user-generated subject matter in general. The interview was conducted for the weekly technology show I work for, 3sat neues. Simply click on Will Wright to download the full 25 minute interview.

We discuss ´Spore´ and user-generated subject matter in general. We go into some depth about quality assurance, the design of the editors, the use of artificial intelligence in ´Spore´ and balancing freedom with guiding the player. We additionally discuss some of the surprisingly low ratings by a number of reviewers, particularly out here in Germany. Further, I ask Will Wright about the commercial failure of ´The Movies´ and whether that shows inherent limitations of user participation.

We go on to discuss Sporenography and whether it presents a threat to the concept of user-generated composition. Will Wright next reveals what he considers the main challenges for a possible ´Spore´ sequel (or similar game). He plus believes that that trend is not exclusive to the games medium, drawing parallels to the Web 2.0 phenomenon. Please check it out.

Other gaming-related topics

Tomorrow’s show

will plus focus on ´LittleBigPlanet´, show a feature on hobby developers in Germany, a report from that year´s ´Ars Electronica´ art and media festival, as well as a portrait of Julian Oliver, designer of the ingenious augmented reality game ´LevelHead´ (you can plus download the entire interview with him - in English - from our website).

Our studio guest that week is Benjamin Nitschke, head of ex:Dream Studios (´Arena Wars´, ´XNA Racing Game´) who talks about user-generated substance, indie development and how hobby developers can turn professional. Finally, we review Google’s Chrome browser. The show is in German. You can watch it on television at these times:

Sunday, 14th of September, 4:30pm CET (3sat)
Tuesday, 16th of September, 1:50 am CET (ZDF)
Thursday, 18th of September, 1:30 pm CET (ZDF-Infokanal)

You can additionally watch it online through our station’s Mediatheque. This direct link should go live Sunday afternoon. Soon after, you can download the entire programme through our podcast page, where you additionally find the above bonus composition.

Source: 3sat neues

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