Mechner, Chahi: Game Creators Must 'Draw From The Real World'

Author: by Staff

"A game should be about something, not just other games," says renowned Prince of Persia creator Jordan Mechner in a new interview. He's joined by fellow auteur and Another World creator Eric Chahi in a discussion with French developer Eric Viennot translated for today's Gamasutra feature. Among other things, the pair discuss the importance for creators of having passions outside of video games: "In all creative fields, innovation comes from combining things that haven't been put together before," says Mechner. "If you immerse yourself too single-mindedly in your chosen art form, whether it's video games, movies, comics or whatever," he continues, "your work can easily become just a reflection of what others are doing in that field, rather than breaking new ground." "Video games have to find their inspiration somewhere," agrees Chahi. "Unless you are aiming for a completely abstract game, the interactive material from which video games are formed relies on symbols, codes, behaviors, rules, perspectives, points of view and emotions, all of which stem from our experiences outside video games." "Video games, like other expressive forms, cannot exist in a vacuum, they cannot feed on themselves," he adds. "Video game creators draw from the real world, from their passions. All these inspirations brew in their subconscious until they find their definitive form, whether it ends up as something new or not." You can now read the full feature interview with Chahi and Mechner, wherein they discuss more philosophies of storytelling and creation.