Where do you see Radar Group and the Electronic Gaming Industry in 5 years?
Will Kerslake - A massive amount can happen in five years in this industry. The last five years have seen an explosion in innovation of the player interface, changing how we think about interacting with games. We’ve got the Wii controller, touch screens and living rooms filled with guitars and drum kits. The next five years will likely bring along some other big innovation we can’t predict yet. That’s a big reason that I like Radar’s smaller structure and collaborative approach. It will allow us to rapidly adapt to changes in the industry as well as spot and incubate independent teams with innovative concepts.
Raphael van Lierop - In 5 years, I hope we will have firmly established ourselves as the premiere creative partner for developers and publishers in the game industry. I also believe that we will have proven our cross-media approach to IP development can be successful, as we see multiple Radar co-creations find new life, and thrive, in other media.
Scott Miller - In five years this industry needs to grow a sack and stop retailers from reselling games, at least with 2-3 months of a game's initial release. Resells are hurting everyone except Gamestop. Gamers might think they're benefiting too, but only on the short run. In the long run, developers are losing so much in revenues that they cannot build up the reserves needed for creative and financial independence.
How have you learned from your experience in the electronic games industry and how are you applying those experiences to managing/working for Radar Group?
Raphael van Lierop - At Relic Entertainment, I worked as all levels of producer and learned a huge amount about game development, project planning and organization, and team leadership. These skills were invaluable to my work as creative director at 3D Realms, where I took on a more creative-focused role in collaborating with Recoil Games in the creation of Earth No More. At Radar, I am able to utilize my combined production and creative direction experience in supporting our development partners in the creation of their games, as well as to build infrastructure internally at Radar so that we can provide value in terms of the creative guidance and experience we can bring to our studio partners. Game development is a complex effort with a huge amount of moving pieces – being able to see and manage the needs and demands of partners on all sides of the equation is a pivotal part of successfully bridging the gaps in the traditional developer/publisher relationship.
Given the opportunity to create a game about your life what category would it fall under (shooter, rpg, adventure, sim, puzzle, strategy)?
Raphael van Lierop - It would be a shooter. It would feature a scientist…a physicist probably…with glasses. He shows up to work one day, and somehow – through no fault of his own of course – causes an inter-dimensional rift in space/time that allows aliens to invade our plane of existence. And all I would have to fight them was a lousy crowbar.
Will Kerslake - Umm… Microsoft Office. I spend an average day spending 8-12 hours staring at Word, Excel, or some Wiki page. I can’t imagine anyone would actually want to play that.
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