Mirror's Edge Devs Aiming For That Whedon Nerd Cred
EA's upcoming parkour-action game Mirror's Edge isn't just bright colors and jumping off of buildings like an idiot. It's also got some deep thoughts and interesting themes behind it. Unfortunately, it sounds like most of those ideas and themes come from somewhere else. In an interview with Gamasutra, Senior Producer Owen O'Brian explains:
[T]o be very honest, I'm a big Joss Whedon fan, and a lot of the things in the story of the game came from Firefly and Serenity. I was listening to this director's commentary, and... the basis of Firefly and Serenity is, you can't force other people to live by your system, even if your system is better. These people want to live on the edge of that society.Again, in Serenity, The Operative actually says, "This is not an evil empire. We just don't understand why you don't want to be part of our happy club." Obviously, they take it too far, and similarly, that's kind of what happens in our game as well: the mayor of the city decides to take things a step too far.
I guess if you're looking for gamers to get behind an untested property, stealing from finding inspiration in the Whedonverse is definitely one way to do it. On the other hand, if the game fails to match Whedon's characterization and ear for dialog after invoking his name, they could find themselves in trouble. Hopefully they will forge their own path and keep the fanboyism to a minim... wait, the main character's name is Faith? Good luck, guys!
EA's O'Brien: Mirror's Edge Takes Whedonesque Cues On Dystopia [Gamasutra]
Dawdle
Posted to Video Games on 7 June 2008
· Comments (6)
Other stuff like this: dice, ea, fanboys, firefly, joss whedon, mirror's edge, ps3, serenity, xbox 360
Name: Dave
Your post seems overly aggressive. It's not like this game is a ripoff of serenity. Drawing on the themes of another work is a perfectly reasonable part of the creative process.
If it was a bunch of cowboys flying around in space living on the edge of society, then it'd be a bit questionable maybe, but really, all creative works are derivative on some level.
Get of your high horse.
er, "off your high horse."
Anyway, it's cool that he's giving us this view into the process.
Sorry if I offended. My salty blog post doesn't mean I've written off the game, and from the clips I've seen it's got a lot of potential. I just think they should tread lightly, or else the name check comes off less like deference and more like marketing to a specific audience.
With O'Brian's comments, and the protagonist being a hyper-athletic young woman fighting some kind of authority, I could see how someone might now say "It's like Buffy crossed with Firefly!" which would probably be a giant disservice to the game.
I dunno, from what you said dawdle, it *does* sound like Firefly and Buffy. With jumping. Lots of jumping. I totally see it.
i'm all for whedon-esque touches, but couldn't they at least named her Hope? I mean seriously guys.
Only on the internets can we take sage advice from tentacle sex.