Spencer says if there ”isn’t risk in Natal” then he’s got no idea what’s giving him restless nights. The whole project is ”fraught with risk.”
”I don’t agree at all. This picks up the discussion about Natal very well, because if there isn’t risk in Natal then I don’t know what’s keeping me up at night,” Spencer tells Eurogamer in an interview, talking about Sony and their first-party risk addiction.
”We’re trying something completely new where there’s no device in your hand. We’re trying to build a set of new games, new experiences that will have the same quality metrics of our past games, but really entice both existing 360 customers and new people. It’s a huge challenge, a huge investment and it’s fraught with risk.”
The MGS boss also mentioned what it was like to work with Lionhead Studios’ Peter Molyneux, who is now Microsoft’s creative director for Europe.
”Haha! Working with Peter is amazing, he’s a very creative, inspirational person. Sometimes it’s like riding a bull with no saddle, and sometimes it’s like reading a great novel, but it’s a fun experience,” revealed studio head Spencer.
”You don’t want to rein those people in - that’s what the job’s about, right? If we can have your creatives really thinking outside of the box, coming up with the things that other studios other publishers wouldn’t do, that’s our job.”
”We want to paint the face of our platforms with a very creative brush. People like Peter are instrumental in that,” he added. Microsoft seems comfortable with their risk taking and Project Natal is due out in the shops this ”holiday 2010”; with Sony’s own ‘Motion Controller’ for PlayStation 3 joining the launch window.
