Schafer And PSN/XBLA: A Match Made In Creative Heaven

Brutal Legend

Industry legend Tim Schafer is known for making unique, charming, and wonderfully appealing titles. ...considering his style, wouldn't he be a perfect fit in the world of downloadable digital games?

In talking to Eurogamer, Schafer hinted that his next project might not be a "big monstrosity" like last year's Brutal Legend; instead, he's "very interested" in the idea of a downloadable experience. When asked about the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live, he replied:

"Those could be a way of getting creative ideas out there without risking $30 million on them. When you risk $30 million on something, publishers want to mitigate their risk. If anything is in your game that might alienate a single customer, they have to take it out. That's something that's really hard to work with."

Then, Schafer said the games his team were currently working on could be categorized as "new and different" but if any of them turn out to be PSN/XBLA games, they won't "look cheap." He says that because they already have the Brutal Legend engine, they can just tweak and alter it for a smaller game. "We can have all the shaders, effects and tech we built for a bigger game in a smaller game," he said.

Based on what we've seen on the PSN already - Flower, echochrome, Wipeout HD, Shatter, Joe Danger, etc. - the service is definitely a haven for originality, and someone like Schafer could really prosper. His games never have had mass market appeal but because they had bigger budgets, they kinda all needed that. This way, they still won't have the aforementioned appeal but they also won't require it, either, and he can really flex his considerable creative muscle.

Tags: tim schafer, games, psn, downloadable

7/14/2010 10:34:42 AM Ben Dutka

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