You know, it’s pretty easy to take the piss out of J.J. Abrams with his lens flare and Lost being all weird for the sake of it, but I actually genuinely like his movies. Yes, even Mission Impossible III. Super 8 was really good! I’m interested in Abrams and I think news that he’s going to expand into video games is positive. In this interview with Gamasutra, he discusses his ideas about games and where he’d like to take the work his production company Bad Robot does.
I like where he’s headed…
“I’ve been inspired by some games like Journey, which was incredible,” he said. “It was just crazy emotional, wildly beautiful. A true experience. I love that game. I love Limbo, the mood of it. I just thought it was genius. It took the whole side-scrolling thing and took the level of moodiness and tone in a way that it all worked as a whole. Everything from the music to the sound effects, the whole visual desaturated look of it. I loved it.
“It’s hard not to look at what people are doing with the graphics of stuff like Call of Duty or Dead Space. You can’t help but be blown away by what’s possible. But to me, as much as the visuals will continue to improve … the sense of being in a place. It’s insane what’s possible if we all just extrapolate where it’s going. In no time, it’s going to be photorealistic to the point of preposterousness. At that point, it’s irrelevant.
“So I’m not looking at the graphical stuff. That’s going to happen anyway. What I think is critical is gameplay and the emotional connection to the characters.”
JJ also discusses the problems of story and narrative in the game space, comparing it the differences between movies and television and the importance of tailoring a story to the medium that story is being told in. He seems pretty savvy, and genuine in his interest in video games. Now, just don’t mess up Star Wars and we can stay friends.
Q&A: Director J.J. Abrams might have what it takes to make it in video games [Gamasutra]
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