Interviews

Cliff Bleszinski On Gears 2, Re-Enacting The Miller Lite Catfight With Ted Price

October 10, 2008

What’s your schedule been like recently with the whirlwind of publicity?
Cliff Bleszinski: I just did the European press tour, which was very productive and very cool. But at the same time I caught the flu at the tail end of that, which sucked. I wanted to go out and have curry in London and I wasn’t able to. Now I go to Australia in a week and then I go to LA and I’m sure we’re going to have something going on November 7th.

Now that Gears 2 is done, what’s next?
Cliff Bleszinski: I can tell you the next few years of my life are pretty much spoken for but I can’t really talk about anything I’m actually working on.

Will you be taking a vacation?
Cliff Bleszinski: I have a travel agent currently working on someplace with a beach so I can sit on the beach with the girlfriend drinking margaritas. It’s important as a game developer, especially if you’re going to have an extended career, to pace yourself and not get burnt out. I’ve been doing this since I was 17 and I’m not going to be exactly sleeping under my desk any more because I plan on doing this for years to come and I don’t want to die by the age of 35.

What are your thoughts on the new trend that we’ve seen with Spore and now LittleBigPlanet in empowering gamers with the tools to create their own levels and interactive experiences?
Cliff Bleszinski: It’s a really exciting trend and I wish it were around when I was a younger, aspiring game developer. It would have given me more outlets through which to exercise a lot of my creative ambition. Back in the day, it was hard to find video game construction kits, so I had to code everything. To be able to buy a really cool platformer like LittleBigPlanet and then be able to build with it is really exciting. It’s a continuation of the Web 2.0 phenomenon of user empowerment. If only 5% of people actually contribute, but there are millions upon millions of people doing it, then ultimately there’s going to be a lot of really cool content that ends up being self-regulated through ratings systems and things like that. I think it’s a good trend and I hope it continues in the more serious shooter space in the near future.

Do you have any data that tracks the number of girls who play Gears?
Cliff Bleszinski: I don’t have any numbers, but my gut tells me more girls play Gears than any other shooter. Maybe it’s the MySpace friend requests I get. Maybe it’s anecdotal evidence. There’s something about the pacing of Gears and the beautiful world that draws in a female audience. I’m hoping that will just continue with Dom and his Maria arc in Gears 2.

When it comes to game creators, who do you look up to?
Cliff Bleszinski: It will always be Miyamoto-san. He always has these cool sensibilities as far as what fun is. I have a lot of respect for Jaffe. I don’t think he gets the credit he deserves. If you look at his resume, he’s done some outstanding titles. I think he just blogs a little too often. I don’t need to know that Sarah Palin gave you a stiffy, dude. Come on.

–John Gaudiosi
Photo credit: Cliff Bleszinski / Spong