Gamepad Interviews Nick Harper, Creative Director at Ubisoft

Posted By: GamePad
March 12th, 2007

YTV.com's Gamepad got the chance to interview Nick Harper, a creative director with Ubisoft! Ubisoft is soon to release TMNT (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) for the Wii! Check out what Nick has to say about being a game designer, playing video games and the future of gaming!!



What video games inspired you as a child?
As a kid we didn't really have game consoles like we do today. I had a home computer and on it I played games like Jet Pac and Atic Atac. They were made by the company that's today known as Rare, who make games like Viva Pinata and Perfect Dark. In the arcades I was addicted to Scramble and Pac Man and also a game called Camelot - but basically I'd play any game I could get my hands on!

What did you take in school?
I was a nerd at school. I took math. And physics. And further math actually! I was into science a lot. Although I did play on the lacrosse team, too!

What were some of the most memorable video games that you've played growing up and that you currently play?
By far the biggest game that sticks in my mind is playing Super Mario 64 on the Nintendo 64. I was working for a gaming magazine at the time and so we received review copies before anyone else. The fluidity of the character movement and the reaction of Mario in the game world were amazing. Before that I remember playing Wipeout on a PlayStation. I think that was the first time I went "wow" as I saw how amazing 3D graphics were going to be. Oh, and Bomberman on the SNES. The multiplayer experience is probably one of the best games I've ever played and still play today!

How do you come up with a concept for a video game?
The inspiration can really come from anywhere. Just from daydreaming, or watching people walking about on the street, or listening to music - anywhere really. The game I'm working on right now is closely linked to a certain sport, so I tried to put myself in the shoes of those athletes - what goes through their heads when they are winning and under pressure. And from that I started thinking about seeing the world in a different way, kind of like how Neo sees the Matrix when he's fully powered up. So as you can see that inspiration popped in my head from a daydream mainly!

Here at Ubisoft we have a very scientific approach to concepting games. It is our belief that videogames are, and will become the most powerful form of entertainment over the next ten years and so we are trying to create games that, while of course really fun to play, have some importance in the lives of the people who play them. Unfortunately the process is so super top secret that I'm not allowed to say any more than that.

What kind of software do you develop video games on?
As a game designer I user things like Microsoft PowerPoint to create presentations, Word to write documents and I'm a big fan of Adobe Illustrator because I like to present my ideas using diagrams. The artists use Adobe Photoshop to make textures and also 3DS Max, which is a 3D modeling package.
The programmers all program in C++ and we also have in-house tools that have been made specifically for our games.

Which platform on the market today has the brightest future?
Well I'm a big Nintendo fan so I think the Wii has massive potential. There's a huge buzz about it right now and I've never seen a machine bring so many different generations together to play. I still play Wii bowling at lunch with some friends. I don't think I could play it any other way now! The only problem I have with the machine is that it's not really High Definition enabled and if the HD revolution sweeps the world then the Wii may look a bit last gen compared to PS3 and Xbox 360. Plus it's going to take some time making sure we use the Wii remote properly and not just for the sake of it. But for sure the Nintendo games will be amazing - they always are!

What is it about each different platform that you enjoy designing for?
The PS3 and Xbox 360 are fairly similar for a designer - they have amazing power so where in the past we were limited by technology that's less the case now. Of course we are still limited by time and resources so it's not as black and white as you may believe! Then the Wii is really interesting because for years we've been using the same sort of interface and now we have something innovative to experiment with.



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