Media Consumption: The Chronicles of Spellborn's Erik 't Sas

For this week’s Media Consumption, a column that looks at the media and art diets of our favourite industry personalities, we spoke to Erik ‘t Sas, producer for Spellborn International’s MMO The Chronicles of Spellborn. ‘t Sas comments that the team are currently “smack in the middle of the release for The Chronicles of Spellborn, with all the challenges an MMORPG launch has to offer”, though he adds that “it may sound weird, but despite the pressure, I think it’s one of the coolest phases of the project”. “The game is really coming together,” he continues. “We’re working on the final details prior to release and looking at the planning for the first post-release period. What will happen after the release depends largely on how well the game is received and played, of course, but thankfully that doesn’t stop the flow of ideas, which are channelled into designs for expansions.” Gamasutra caught up with ‘t Sas via email to ask about his current tastes in terms of his media diet. Sounds: The music I listen to depends completely on the mood I’m in and varies from classical music and movie soundtracks to all types of metal and industrial music. Right now, my favorites are Prokofiev (various pieces), James Newton Howard’s Waterworld, Atlantis and Devils Advocate, Meshuggah, Dark Tranquillity’s Character and Front Line Assembly (Hard Wired being the fave album). Guess that indicates I’m having quite some mood swings lately … Moving Pictures: Usually anything science-fiction, fantasy or horror works for me, but I guess the real hook for me in any movie is being transported into another world, perspective or reality. Amongst my all-time favorites in that category are Aliens by James Cameron, Day of the Dead by George Romero, Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, directed by Irvin Kershner, story by George Lucas and Raise the Red Lantern by Su Tong and Ni Zhen. The last movie I saw and enjoyed was Beowulf & Grendel. Not that it was a particularly good movie, but it was the first time since forever that I’ve had time to watch anything. That tends to make things stand out. Words: Same thing as with movies, as long as it takes me somewhere, I’m on board. This usually means historic novels (alternative history), science fiction and fantasy. Right now I’m re-reading A Game of Thrones from the series A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin because it is one of the few fantasy books that I can’t get enough of. Also on the to-read list are works by Larry Niven, most notably Integral Trees and Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman. Games: All time favorites are the BioWare/Black Isle games Baldur’s Gate and Fallout RPGs, but I’ve also always very much enjoyed FPS mayhem like Quake, Counter Strike and Day of Defeat. Lately I’ve been mostly playing MMOGs, most recently this is EVE Online, which is the ideal game for me right now because you can play it without actually spending a lot of time on it. Whenever I get the chance, I switch on a console or handheld and play stuff like Dead Rising (I am a horror fan, what can I tell you?) or Zelda, Dynasty Warriors, whatever I’m in the mood for.