Nolan North On What Goes Into Making A Video Game

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Nolan North, the voice of soon-to-be iconic Uncharted protagonist Nathan Drake, has been part of three highly progressive, critically acclaimed games this generation.

And in his new book, the Uncharted: Drake's Journal, he explores the behind-the-scenes details from the recent entry, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception. This was the subject of a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, where North said his goal with the journal was to "highlight what we do and how we do it." But the best part was the following Q&A portion:

THR: What do you think Hollywood might learn about how games are made from this book?

North: There was a time when all the actors were saying, 'We should get residuals on videogames.' I just kept going, 'You don’t have any idea what goes into making a game, do you?'"

Man, I've been wanting to say that to the Hollywood bigwigs for years. As for the general question concerning how Naughty Dog approaches each project, North made it plain that even the studio bosses work just as hard as everyone else:

"The co-presidents, Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra, work just as hard as their employees do. There’s no real management structure. Their big quote is, 'Go make it awesome.' They just trust in their employees. That collaboration, that self-motivated attention to detail, is what it is. That spills over onto the mo-cap stage, so now every actor’s thinking, “I’ve got to step up my game. They’re working hard, and I’ve got to keep making it the best it can be.” It ends up being this brilliant game."

North is great. We hope to talk to him early in the new year, which should allow us to start 2012 with a bang. ;)

Related Game(s): Uncharted 3

Tags: uncharted 3, drakes deception, nolan north, uncharted series

12/31/2011 10:25:19 AM Ben Dutka

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