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"I was born to make DeathSpank!"

Ron Gilbert on 3D, Monkey Island and what's next.

Wesley Yin-Poole avatar
Interview by Wesley Yin-Poole Former Editor-in-Chief
Published on
14 comments
EurogamerMost of the Kinect and Move games are casual-focused, almost mini-game orientated. How do you feel about using Kinect and Move in a more hardcore-focused game like DeathSpank? Is motion control not applicable to traditionally core-focused genres? Or, if you implement motion control from the ground up as you say, can it be?
Ron Gilbert

I think it can be. The things you mentioned - more of the casual stuff and the party games - those are the easy things to do. It's not surprising those are the first things we'd see. It's going to be when designers and developers can really start to explore those things and do exactly what you said, which is apply that stuff to more of the hardcore games. But, it's going to take a little while to figure out. Hopefully those devices are around for years to come, so people really can explore those things. I think there could be.

EurogamerWhat about 3D? Sony and Nintendo both went big on 3D at E3 2010. Is 3D just a gimmick or is it a real game changer?
Ron Gilbert

Well I didn't see the 3DS, so I can't tell you about that specifically. I know that I hate 3D movies. I find them disturbing. Although I did see a demo of somebody playing World of Warcraft in 3D, which I thought was pretty cool. So I don't know. I haven't had enough experience with it and the games to really know. I do know wearing a pair of glasses as you play a game is going to be a big problem. Maybe, down the road, when TVs can do 3D without glasses and all of those things, I think that's when you might see it become popular. But I think wearing the glasses is always going to be a problem.

EurogamerWhat do you think about LucasArts' Monkey Island 2 remake, and them messing up all of the cool original graphics?
Ron Gilbert

[Laughs] You know I think it's wonderful that they're re-releasing them - on a lot of levels. I personally don't mind the graphics. I know some people don't like them. Even if you don't like the graphics and the games, you really have to commend them for re-releasing those games 20 years later, and introducing a whole new audience to adventure games, really. I think we should all cheer those things.

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EurogamerFinally, looking to a future, DeathSpank's out soon and you've left Hothead. What will you do next?
Ron Gilbert

Right now I'm just taking a vacation.

EurogamerYou going anywhere nice?
Ron Gilbert

No, I'm just sitting round the house doing absolutely nothing, which is something I haven't done in the last two years. I'm just relaxing for a while.

EurogamerSo you don't have any plans for any future games? You haven't had any ideas you'd like to explore?
Ron Gilbert

You know I'm just having fun playing with the iPhone and the iPad games, just doing some programming stuff, but all that's just hobby stuff. So no, I don't have any hard plans yet.

EurogamerDo the iPhone and iPad intrigue you as platforms?
Ron Gilbert

Yeah, very much. I think those are absolutely wonderful platforms.

EurogamerSo maybe we'll see a Ron Gilbert game on the iPhone and iPad in the future?
Ron Gilbert

Well, you can play Monkey Island on them already.

EurogamerI was thinking more like a new original creation.
Ron Gilbert

[Laughs].

DeathSpank will be available for download beginning 13th July on the PlayStation Network for $14.99, and 14th July on Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points.

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