Mike Ball on Motion Control

Developer Roundtable: The Forthcoming Motion Control War
Four developers give their thoughts on Natal, Wii, Sony’s device, and the future of motion-controlled games.

Guest list:

• Eric Nofsinger, chief creative officer of High Voltage Software, which has embraced the idea of making traditional hardcore genres work on Wii (see: The Conduit)
• Mike Ball, chief technology ninja of Ninja Theory, one of the few teams to successfully implement a motion control feature on top of a traditional game with their long-range arrow shooting in Heavenly Sword
• Masachika Kawata, producer on Capcom’s Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, one of Wii’s most promising lightgun games.
• Josh Tsui, president of Robomodo, a new developer making Tony Hawk Ride, a game about as dependent on motion controls as you can get, since it requires players to stand on a simulated skateboard.

Read full interview

NT and Namco Bandai have three game deal

According to Gameplayer.com.au, Ninja Theory has signed a three game deal with Namco Bandai.

Quote: Namco Bandai signs Heavenly Sword developer Ninja Theory to a three game deal and Games Republic, the developer of Folklore, Genji and Dark Mist, to a two game deal.

Hopefully we’ll get the official news soon.

Ninja Theory Publisher announced!!!!!

NAMCO BANDAI GAMES AMERICA TEAMS UP WITH UK-BASED NINJA THEORY ON NEXT-GEN PROJECT

COLOGNE, Germany (Aug. 19, 2009) – Today at gamescom, NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. announced its partnership with UK-based video game developer Ninja Theory Ltd. to publish a next-generation title for the PLAYSTATION^®3 computer entertainment system and the Xbox 360^® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The title, an original new IP, will be released in 2010 and more details on the game will be divulged in the coming months.

Ninja Theory Ltd., is a video game developer based in Cambridge, UK and creators of the visually stunning, critically acclaimed PLAYSTATION 3 system exclusive title, Heavenly Sword™.

“Ninja Theory’s first title exemplified their incredible talent and ability to deliver a high-quality, cinematic and captivating gameplay experience,” said Makoto Iwai, executive vice president and chief operating officer at NAMCO BANDAI Games America Inc. “With producers from our North American office working closely with such a strong European development studio, we will be able to create a blockbuster title with strong pan-Western sensibilities and appeal for a global gaming audience.”

“This new project pushes our core strengths of rich story-telling, cutting-edge technology and exciting gameplay beyond anything we have created before,” said Nina Kristensen, co-founder and chief development ninja, Ninja Theory Ltd. “The support of NAMCO BANDAI combined with the skills and talent we have nurtured over the years means that players are going to be in for a truly deep and memorable experience.”

Source: NinjaTheory.com

Top 10 voice actors of this generation

With Lydia Baksh and Anna Torv on number 6!

I doubt you have heard of Lydia Baksh or Anna Torv, even if you have played the game they were in. Lydia Baksh was Kai in Heavenly Sword and Anna Torv was Nariko. I didn’t want to leave one of these out of the list because they both done a fantastic job, Hell all of the voice acting in Heavenly Sword is incredible. Lydia Baksh was what made Kai. Kai was a very fun character; she enjoyed playing games revolving around killing the enemy but was always very humorous.  Lydia Bakshs’ voice work made Kai even more fun than she would have been with a normal voice. She managed to convey many emotions behind Kai. You really felt for her at certain times and like I just said she added humour too. Anna Torv also did a fantastic voice job. She made Nariko the character she was. She was able to convey the anger that Nariko had against the enemy really well and you could feel genuine rage. In the fight against Whiptail, Nariko mocks Whiptail and the voice there had a very different tone but it was performed excellently and I needed to mention it here. Both actresses done a fantastic job at conveying the emotions behind their characters and helped made the game what it is. It’s just a shame they aren’t in anything else.

Increationgames.com

A Conversation with Rhianna Pratchett

Long interview with Rhianna Pratchett over at Gamasutra. Here are the parts about Heavenly Sword.

Moving to specifics a bit, the character of Kai in Heavenly Sword is unconventional and eccentric — a lot of that is conveyed through her animation and character design as well as her dialogue. Can you talk about that interplay?

RP: Kai’s visuals came first and then it was all about breathing life and motion into her avatar. We wanted her to be quite feline and playful in her movements as a contrast to the heavy brutality going on around her and her subsequent detachment from it all. That’s also a sense that she may be cavorting with, or even speaking directly to, something that can only be seen by her.

It’s always tricky when you’re dealing with a younger character (although Kai’s mental state is a fair bit younger than her physical state) that they don’t become annoying. There’s a fine line between cute and weird and just plain irritating. I think it actually helped us that we didn’t use a child actor to play her. Given that she’s actually pretty violent, it could have been… complicated.

Kai was probably the most challenging role in the game and consequently I spent quite a while talking to Lydia Basksh (the actress who both voiced and acted Kai) about the character, her past and her journey during the game.

Lydia was able to capture Kai’s layers brilliantly; her resilience, determination to hold onto lost innocence and her sheer devotion to her adopted sister, Nariko. I’ve always maintained that in some ways Heavenly Sword is a love story. It’s just not a love story about a boy and girl, but one about sibling love.

And can you talk about the storytelling functions of characters that are left-of center in game stories?

RP: What I think worked well for Heavenly Sword was that from a narrative point of view, we didn’t waste characters. We had a small cast but they were all tightly wound into each other’s lives. One of the themes of the game was about the sometimes screwed-up nature of familial relationships. Initially it was demonstrated through Nariko’s relationship with Shen, as both daughter/father and student/teacher, and her bond with Kai.

It’s then reflected and distorted in Bohan’s volatile (and equally problematic) relationship with his son Roach and the childish machinations of his generals, Whiptail and Flying Fox. In Whiptail’s case she is instrumental in sending the relationship between Nariko and Shen spinning out of control, tearing the two characters apart, whilst Flying Fox is a predominant player in Kai’s story.

I think NPCs (although Kai was a lot more than that) can be vitally important for highlighting story themes and important traits in both protagonists and antagonists. They really are the narrative pillars of a game world.

Thanks to Portent of Doom for the heads up.

A peek inside the Lives of Gaming’s Greatest

Mike Ball is mentioned with the following pictures. Good job Mr Ball, you are one of Gaming’s Greatest!

His office

Home set up

Source.

These pictures have been floating around the internet for a while, but the article was posted today. Who cares.

NT working on TWO new titles!

While searching for my daily Ninja Theory news, I came across the bit about their internship program on GamesIndustry.biz and almost got a heartattack when I read the last sentence:

“The studio is currently working on two unannounced Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 titles. “

How could I have missed that before!

Source.

EDIT: Sort of confirmed by one of the devs HERE.