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LucasArts' Darrell Rodriguez

The company president on Monkey Island, new IP and the importance of story

Phil Elliott avatar
Feature by Phil Elliott Contributor
Published on
GamesIndustry.biz It's been a big challenge to bring new IP to market successfully - what sort of lessons have you learned from observing the challenges faced by other companies?
Darrell Rodriguez

You weigh out all the different opportunities and go in with open eyes. But you build the game to quality and something you're absolutely passionate about.

GamesIndustry.biz The release schedule offers more variety now - is that something that's here to stay? Christmas will always be important, but there's no good reason why games can't be released year-round.
Darrell Rodriguez

If you look back on the film industry in the seventies, and the summer blockbusters - like Jaws - that's the evolution that the videogames industry is heading for. You see a lot of people moving to the Spring, and I think that is important for the industry.

Christmas will continue to be extremely important, but I think you'll see more and more titles coming out in Spring, and in other parts of the year.

GamesIndustry.biz InstantAction is one of your partners for Monkey Island 2 Special Edition (and we'll have a full interview with Louis Castle shortly), but the ubiquity of where the game can now sit... in theory you could play the game within the GamesIndustry.biz environment...
Darrell Rodriguez

Come on!

GamesIndustry.biz Well, maybe that would be odd... but what does that say about games in society - people expect to see them anywhere and everywhere.
Darrell Rodriguez

That's right, and that's the goal - we need to address how people are consuming products. People want accessibility, they want chunkability, they want social games. I think they also want the big blockbuster experience as well, so we'll do it all.

GamesIndustry.biz And there are interesting business model options there too.
Darrell Rodriguez

To demo it, to rent it, to buy it - from multiple websites or media - it's very cool. Whether it's on the LucasArts homepage, or on Facebook, or embedded in a press release, or on GamesIndustry.biz...

GamesIndustry.biz Keep trying... Another platform again that's been relevant to you is the iPhone - it's an Apple product, so it was fair to expect a level of success, but it's really capturing the imagination of games people.
Darrell Rodriguez

Yes - it speaks, again, to how people want their products - accessibility. It's an exciting product, and somewhere we need to be, so that's why we're on there with Monkey Island.

I don't know that it took us by surprise necessarily, but I think it's important to the industry at large.

GamesIndustry.biz And talking of "large", do you have any plans for the iPad?
Darrell Rodriguez

Nice link... It is a platform we'll definitely watch. I'm excited about it, and I'll probably get one personally - but we'll watch and consider.

GamesIndustry.biz In the industry's early days, the number of platforms was immense - but then the home console space settled down to the point where we had (excluding mobile) six or so main platforms. But with Facebook, MySpace, iPhone, iPad... it's creeping up again. It brings challenges to ensure games are suitable in their environment.
Darrell Rodriguez

It is something that you deal with when you programme and build games, sure - but you also need to understand those platforms and build games that work on them as well. It's something we're definitely cognisant of, and strive to do.

GamesIndustry.biz When you approach a title, and think about how it's going to make its way out into the game space, do you try as many as possible, or prefer to see what's successful and then add to the portfolio as appropriate?
Darrell Rodriguez

We saw a great success with Monkey Island 1 on iPhone and XBLA, and that encouraged us to expand our platforms even further. That's how we make our decisions - there's success with one, then we leap off onto another.

GamesIndustry.biz And the challenge for any new IP is to again look at what's appropriate?
Darrell Rodriguez

Absolutely.

GamesIndustry.biz It's an interesting time for story and character - we've just had Heavy Rain, while Alan Wake is due soon - are we seeing a watershed for the industry with respect to an ability to consistently appeal to a wider band of emotions, other than just adrenaline?
Darrell Rodriguez

I think that story and character will ultimately win out. That's why we're completely focused on it, it's why LucasArts has always been focused on it - and why the LucasFilm company, with Star Wars and Clone Wars and all that we do - is always about story and character.

It's extremely important for us, and yes - potentially an evolution for the industry.

Darrell Rodriguez is president of LucasArts. Interview by Phil Elliott.

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