Haze Developer: "The Game Industry Underestimates You"

Gamasutra's most recent cover story is an interview with Free Radical's David Littlewood, creative lead for the upcoming PS3 shooter Haze, and they dig a little deeper than the traditional, "How awesome is your game?" "OMG so totally awesome!!" question and answer session. Instead, Littlewood shares his opinions about the role of videogames in exploring morality and examining the world around us on a deeper level.

I've always felt that creative media are at their most compelling when they actually speak to the person experiencing them about their own life, and cause them to ask questions, or look at things from a different perspective, than they'd considered before. Haze certainly isn't the first game to try and do that, but it's still definitely the exception rather than the rule. I don't think we're going to cause every gamer who plays the game to look at war and violence in games in a completely different light, but I think the game will at least create a debate about those questions amongst some of the people who play it...

The interview also touches on difficulties in balancing a game like Haze, the influence of Kojima and the Metal Gear Solid series on Free Radical's games, and problems with using subtlety in a genre more accustomed to bombast and bluster. Lastly, answering a question about why games have so far shied away from serious philosophical issues, he says gamers are plenty smart, it's just that publishers are scared-y pants:

[T]here is a preconception in many parts of the industry about the sort of experiences games can -- or even should -- provide. In some areas this is due to commercial concerns -- do gamers actually want games that deliver a political message? Well, I've always felt the industry underestimates the intelligence of the average gamer. I mean, most gamers also watch films and read books, both of which regularly deliver strong messages and emotionally intense experiences, so why not in games too?

Haze is due November 27 in North America and just days later in Europe and Australia. Currently, the game is exclusive to the Playstation 3, although there's been speculation that the game will show up on the Xbox 360 and possibly PC after the new year. The more I read about it, the more this game worms its way into my heart, and the four player co-op could be killer (assuming I find four other people who buy a copy of the game).

Spinning the Moral Compass [Gamasutra]