Rampant Games - PC World Interview

Jay Barnson did another interview this week. This time for PC World. They were mostly interested in talking about the good ol' days when he was the senior programmer for SingleTrac. The interview does overlap some of the things discussed with Matt in the Matt Chat from a few days ago, but Jay goes into more detail or different stories from back then. As always it makes for a great read. Jay is always entertaining and willing to discuss his time working in the mainstream gaming industry.

On a personal note, it would have been nice of PC World to have mentioned Jay's latest project, Frayed Knights.

Here's a snippet from the interview:

In the following years, Infogrames, which later became Atari, discontinued the SingleTrac brand and ended all of the non-Sony properties the studio had worked on, while some of the Sony ones, such as Twisted Metal, exist to this day. Did you ever foresee SingleTrac's properties ending up in the way they did while you worked there?

JB: I don't really know what any of us expected at the time. The fact that so many people still remember these games a decade-and-a-half later, and that Twisted Metal is still a major Sony franchise, just amazes me. While game quality is an important ingredient, making a hit game still seems like catching lightning in a bottle. You just do the best you can and make a game that you hope doesn't suck. I think in some ways we were spoiled by the success of all four of our first games. I don't think we fully understood how rare that really is. I think we kind of assumed that it was just what happens when you make a good game.

Titles such as Twisted Metal and Warhawk continue to exist to this day, though they have undergone significant changes in the process. How do you feel about the properties you worked on all those years ago still entertaining audiences today?

JB: I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel a tiny bit of jealousy. While I was just one of many who were involved, and my contribution was relatively small in the grand scheme of things, we all felt a lot of pride and some sense of ownership in the final results. And I do get pretty nostalgic seeing Twisted Metal about to make a return on PlayStation 3. But mostly, I'm just honoured to have had a part in creating what has become a strong legacy. It's really awesome to see that legacy continue. With [Eat Sleep Play founders] David Jaffe and Scott Campbell at work on the new Twisted Metal, I feel the game is in good hands. I'm thrilled that modern audiences are able to enjoy them, and that new players can discover the series. It means a lot to me.