TGS 07: Eye Of Judgement Producer Interview
Earlier today I got the chance to sit down with Eye of Judgement assistant producer Yusuke Watanabe for a chance to pick the brains of the man behind the camera above the mat below the cards on which is imprinted the bar-code style technology that drives Eye. For all the genuinely funny teasing that the PS3's upcoming real-time, real-life, online trading card game has received, I'm really, really looking forward to it. In fact, I think most of the joshing that Eye's gotten is a relatively good thing - the game is a total stretch of the imagination, a true innovation (whether good or bad) in game design and play, and the most creative use of a camera peripheral since they shoved that fiber optic tube up my Nanna's tuchas.
Given all of that newness-of-concept, plus how difficult it is to appreciate how the game flows until you actually play it, there are really only two possible reactions before release: laughing or ignoring. Laughing is definitely the better of the two, and Eye is a game that lends itself to gamers with a sense of humor, since it's wacky. It's also really fun. Take a gander at Watanabe-san's answers - they might surprise you.
Eye of Judgement's a pretty whimsical concept. What made you decide to use an original IP on such a daring product, rather than use one of the many popular established franchises?
I get this question quite often, but I feel that it’s very important that the technology is accepted and presented to a wide audience. And by using an existing IP, as you said, there are lots of them, but it would be another Pokemon game or Yu-Gi-Oh! game. By using the new technology I think that I can bring out the technology more to the audience.
But I understand that there are a lot of expectations about using an existing IP, so maybe in the future that would be a possibility – bringing in an existing IP, once the technology is understood.
(Make the jump for more.)
We’ve seen the elemental-based battles and the card animations – what are the origins or influences behind this brand-new world?
Myself, as a creator, I love the tabletop RPGs with the small miniature metal figures, like Warhammer. They’re all very small and detailed. In thinking about what should come alive out of these cards, I felt it would be interesting if these small figures came alive on the cards and moved and interacted with you. So a lot of these creatures are quite small upon the screen, but they’re very detailed and precise.
In fact, that’s one of the things I’ve noticed – in a very complimentary way I described the card animations as resembling Final Fantasy summons. The game uses a five-element system, and the neutral element that you call “biolith” is flat-out awesome, both as a word and as a concept. Where did it come from?
To explain a little about the background, the world, and the story of Eye of Judgement, this whole world starts out when gods created the world and the lands and the people who inhabit the lands. But the people forgot about the gods that exist and they got tired of living in the land, and so they came and battled with the gods in order for them to conquer the heavens. But in order to fight against the gods, the humans created bioliths. So these bioliths were created to fight the gods and conquer heaven.
In the war against the gods, the bioliths die out – but after decades and years, they somehow mysteriously come back to life again. So the lords and the gods give you, as the player, the mission to fight against the gods. And that’s where the story of the game begins.
I know the game ships with 30 cards and will sell in booster packs that total over 100 cards, but are there any preliminary plans to expand the game beyond the existing cards and game mechanics?
For this first set, we’re working with Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast, and they’ll be releasing booster packs and theme packs right from the start. I understand, as you were mentioning, that the next expansions and updates, I believe that it’s our obligation as a trading card game that we do release those. I understand that and I do have those planned. We don’t have the specific details yet, but I understand that the constant and periodical releases are very important.
I’ve heard about the booster packs, but can you elaborate upon the theme decks?
There will be five themed decks based on the five elements, and each of the decks will have one element as a main feature and will be structured around a certain element.
If you can’t tell, you’ve already got one dedicated customer! Thanks so much!
tiny dancer
Posted to Hot Stuff, Video Games on 20 September 2007
· Comments (7)
Other stuff like this: eye of judgement, playstation eye, ps3, sony, tgs, tgs 07, tokyo game show, trading cards
Oh yahh i saw that on G4 TV the game looks like fun! just couldt tell if the animations are stills or or they active.
Can you put him in a suitcase and bring him home for us? He's friggin Hot
Oh yahh i saw that on G4 TV the game looks like fun! just couldt tell if the animations are stills or or they active.
"Given all of that newness-of-concept, plus how difficult it is to appreciate how the game flows until you actually play it, there are really only two possible reactions before release: laughing or ignoring."
Um... wrong, there's also the reaction of being totally stoked for it, which I am. This game looks rad, and the fact that it's essentially free with the camera makes it a no-brainer.
That guy has some meat on him yummorzzzz. I agree bring him to the US
This might seem like a dumb question, but is this game playable by yourself?
The concept seems fun and interesting, but not everyone has friends they can invite over to play.
Spaz: As should be self-evident, I'm stoked for it too. But I'm giggling at the same time, because the concept is such a tickle.
Nexus: You can play vs the CPU, vs a friend in the same room with you, or online - but I haven't seen how the online component works yet. I'm curious to see how the social component and/or matching-up works.