GameDaily
Epic boss Michael Capps is inspired by the "renaissance" that's taking place in the casual sector. And he says the casual folks must "stop worrying about the identity crisis."
by N. Evan Van Zelfden on Friday, July 25, 2008
At the Friday keynote of Seattle's casual games conference, Gears of War boss Michael Capps spoke about all the reasons he wished he were a casual game developer. The bulk of the talk would be, Capps jokingly told the audience, "catering to you and fawning over you."
Offering his perspective from the outside looking in, Capps described the casual space as "what I think is sort of a renaissance of game development."
Epic, he says, started doing casual games, on 3.5" floppy disks "that we put in bags and sold in the malls."
"You're seeing people who weren't in games, who gave up, getting back into casual games."
But Capps has also noticed that no one seems to know what a casual game is. "There's this identity crisis I see going on," he says. Instead of asking people in the casual games industry, the Epic chief said, why not ask Epic, Valve, and id Software for their views? "I would ask AAA blockbusters what they think casual games are."
The answers, he reported, were not complimentary:
The real answer, says Capps, is that you know a casual game when you see it. But that's being in good company, because people view art as one of those things they know when they see, and being in love as another.
"I would stop worrying about the identity crisis," Capps told the audience.
He notes there's a passion and interest, and a hope for the future, "Almost like it was back in '94, '96," said Capps. "You're seeing people who weren't in games, who gave up, getting back into casual games."
When you work on a larger game, he admits, "It's really hard to stay passionate about a game for six months."
And the main thesis that Capps returns to is team size, remarking that you can do things with a 12-person team that you can't do with a 100. 12 people, he recalls, always talked about design.
But for Gears 2, he reports that there are design meetings, then leads meetings, then leads leads meetings.
Growth does have advantages. "It's really fun that you can be successful and have Lindsay Lohan come to your launch party," jokes Capps. "Okay, it wasn't that fun. But it was nice that my mom noticed I had a launch party."
Gears of War 2 Screens
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
Gears of War 2 continues the story of Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad. Locked in an increasingly desperate battle against the nightmarish Locust Horde, Gears of War 2 is an epic saga of survival, loss and retribution.
Gears of War 2 is the eagerly anticipated sequel to the 4.5 million selling blockbuster third-person tactical action game that became one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. This time, Marcus Fenix and Delta Squad are poised to deliver a bigger, badder, and more intense experience.
Microsoft/Epic Games
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Gears of War 2
- GenreAction
- Release Date11/07/2008
- PublisherMicrosoft
- DeveloperEpic Games
- ESRBM - Mature
