Film Director Duncan Jones is an Ultima Fan
Retro Gamer (UK) recently interviewed film director Duncan Jones, who crafted the excellent Moon and the not-quite-as-excellent Source Code. The director, who happens to be David Bowie’s son, gave a most satisfying answer — involving Ultima 3 — when asked about computer games:
A great film (and book), High Fidelity, was famous for its lists of “Top Fives.” What are your “Top Five” classic video games?
Totally unfair, as I have FAR more than a top five. In fact I KNOW this is not a top five list, its just 5 treasured gaming memories, but it’s the best I can do.
The game that first tapped my imagination like nothing I had experiences before was Richard Garriot’s “Exodus – Ultima 3,” on the Commodore 64. That was the game that first motivated me to buy a ring binder and a stack of graph paper, to draw pixel accurate maps and lists of reagent costs. After that game, I was Lord British’s subject, and Origin Software was my church. The cloth maps, the “relic” inside… marketing? Maybe… but inspired. Garriot was a genius.
He returns to the theme a bit later in the interview:
Beyond the obvious, what do you think is the biggest difference between today’s great games and the great games of yesteryear?
Humour and surprise. Like the Spanish inquisition! Old games used to be less corporate… they were less afraid, less rigid. OK, so sometimes they got the play balance wrong…maybe you occasionally had to really struggle to get past a section that a modern game would be designed to let you succeed at, but that was the point! You felt a real sense of accomplishment. Also, because they were being made by small teams of really passionate people, and not by squadrons of corporate producers, they had a whimsy to them that we have really lost. And it really is a loss. That whimsy is something I really do miss. Come back Origin & Sierra… come back Cinemaware and Lucasarts. We need you now more than ever.
If you had a crack at making your own game what kind of game would it be?
Probably something retro! Seriously. I think I would try to distill the best memories I have in games into a small, tightly made package that could be played on an iPad, phone or browser… and if that went well, I would go for a great big fuck off RPG sprawler, like Richard Garriot used to make!
More like him, please!
You know, with gaming becoming such a widespread entertainment medium now, it might just be high time for some of the more inventive Hollywood personalities to take a hint from Steven Speilberg and George Lucas and cross over from making films into making games. Methinks Jones might do well at such an endeavour.
What a great read. My favorite part was “and if that went well, I would go for a great big fuck off RPG sprawler, like Richard Garriot used to make!”
“Fuck off” is a great way to put it, as my interpretation of that is to make a game that gives no apologies, not out of arrogance, but out of faith in the designer’s clarity of vision. In other words, if you can’t handle this, then by all means fire up FarmVille or Angry Birds.
What a cool guy, although I think he may have been confusing Ultima III and IV as I don’t remember reagents in III.
Figured you’d like this fella, Sanctimonia. He kind of has your way of putting things.
You figured correctly. 😉
Crap, I just looked at the Moon game mock-up. Sierra would dig it, perhaps ala a new Space Quest.
Moon was a great film. I watched it with Maria and we both loved it. Very 2001 A Space Odyssey, but a little more poignant and with a lot less masturbatory tendencies and unintelligible coherence.
Speaking of 2001, check out Dead Space Extraction for Wii if you want a monolithic experience. Solid game too.
Since I actually have that console (I tend to eschew anything with a controller), I will check that out. I have heard good things about it.
I quite agree, by the way, about Moon. Phenomenal bit of filmmaking. Source Code wasn’t quite as good.
I didn’t see Source Code, although the previews didn’t seem to have much to do with C, C++ or any other language I knew of. I don’t like movies with inflammatory or inaccurate titles in general.
Glad you have a Wii. I love mine to death. I talked about jailbreaking it before on Aiera. I’m somewhere near the poorer end of the “middle class” so I have to choose my battles with regard to keeping up with technology. No excuse for lawlessness, but in my position I need to do what I can to keep abreast and push forward.
Dead Space Extraction is an “on-rails” shooter that is very cinematic. Time Crisis has nothing on it as far as presentation/story/mood go. You can blast off arms, heads, etc. It’s also psychologically dishonest and keeps you confused about what’s really going on in the beginning. They mess with you a bit, which is nice.
I have a lot of games, but have only played a few. Some of the nicer ones I’ve played are DSE, Punch Out!, New Super Mario Bros., Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Endless Ocean 2, Lost in Shadow and PC Engine, NES and SNES emulators. There are many I want to play but haven’t yet due to time.
Is it just me, or is the Wii the best used console for less than $100 with some used peripherals? I got four PS2 knockoff controllers for $25 and four PS2 to Gamecube adapter cables for $15 on eBay (all new). They work in all the emulators so four people can play at once in Bomberman on TG-16 or any other multiplayer game. Three Wiimotes and a charger too…
I like the Wii, in general, and that is a hell of a deal on it.
I still need to crack into Epic Mickey at some point, but…well…if I see Dead Space in a store for a good price, I’ll be sure to grab it.
Just don’t whip the lash too wildly; you might put someone’s eye out. General, not specific, advice. And now for something completely different.
Hopefully Garriott’s spokesperson will get back and approve the announcement. Otherwise it will be guerrilla warfare. Darth Vader says, “Garriott… THIS is your source code!!!” Garriott will pause for a moment, then realizing that it IS his code, will say, “Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo” and with reluctant gratitude and a touch of hubris embrace the find.
Jones must be misremembering; there were no reagents in Ultima III, nor did the game box contain a trinket.
I dig this guy. Moon was a fantastic film. Seriously, Sam Rockwell acting opposite of Sam Rockwell? You can’t lose.
As for Source Code, I stay away from films that have anything to do with computers. You end up with a bunch of embarrassing scenes of actors furiously typing away on a keyboard while their computer screen reads “HACKING SUCCESSFUL” in size 50 red font.
Source Code, for the record, had more to do with time travel than it did computers. In fact, I can’t really fathom why they named the movie that.