On a Long Journey: Official PS Blog Talks to Jenova Chen About Work on the PS3 Exclusive
Matthew Lee January 11, 2011 - 8:10 pm
Want more details about the latest title from developer thatgamecompany (fl0w, fl0wer)? Co-founder Jenova Chen has been opening up more and more about the mysterious PS3 exclusive Journey lately, where you play a lonely wanderer on a trip across the wasteland towards a shining light in the distance, and other people can join you online to help you along the way.
The official US Playstation Blog has a fairly lengthy interview with the man on how Journey plays, interesting details on how they’ve designed multiplayer and the like.
We didn’t try to redefine multiplayer, we just wanted to create a more intuitive experience. If your grandma asked, “what’s Journey?” I’d tell her “Journey is just like hiking. You go to hike a mountain, and there are other hikers you might meet and if you like them you can hike with them.” And that’s it
I’m not sure I agree with all of Jenova Chen’s reasoning – especially implying regular videogames are in some sense stunted or reductive and that we have to make things better. ‘Look at online games. How many skills are based on social elements?’ – uh, not every World of Warcraft player’s an introvert or a slave to their Guildmaster, surely?
But we definitely need more designers like him. The interview makes for a damn good read if you’re even slightly interested in how Journey’s going to turn out.
