Nikole: So to start out, why don't you introduce yourself:
Luc: Oh my god that is always the most annoying part haha, I just like to say hey I'm Luc, I do erm interactive fairytales lol
Nikole: How long have you been making games?Luc: God I would say maybe since 16 but most of them ended up vaporware
Nikole: Growing up, were you a gamer? Did you always know this was what you wanted to do?
Luc: Growing up I used to write stories in books and I wanted to be a film director or an actor, but well I started playing video games I saw games as a new way to actually put out my stories, and now it's become the biggest market in the entertainment industry so I mean why not just do games instead of films? everyone wants to go into the film industry so there is no place left, while in this industry there is loads of place for me :D
Nikole: The style of your games are very beautiful and unique. Where does the inspiration come from?
Luc: I guess I have a obsession for neon lights and shiny things that's why lol. No this may sound completely retarded lol but I get alot of inspiration from my life and the women that were in it, yes I know it's got nothing to do and they don't look weird like the style in my games lol. This just all comes to me randomly these ideas.
Nikole: Tell us about Eternity's Child, or at least what you can tell us, I assume it's very hush hush?
Luc: Well Eternity's Child is quite simple it's a interactive fairytale, the gameplay is well 2D platformer mixed with shooting elements. You control Angel with the nunchuck and aim with the winged heart, and his female friend attacks for him, yes Angel is a kind of looser lol. Oh yes and wiiware for only 500 points ;) come on that's a bargain! I like to do cheap games so as many people can play them.
Nikole: There is a new character, an unnamed wing girl, that you can play as at the same time as the other main character Angel, how does that work?
Luc: Well it's quite simple, Angel with the nunchuck's analog stick, A to jump, B to shoot, and aim with the wiimote. The unnamed female character (musn't give out all info yet lol) follows Angel. However 2 players can play this game, the second player only uses the wiimote however. I guess I need to explore co operative play in the sequel.
Nikole: How long does it take to make a game like this?Luc: I would say Eternity's Child wiiware only really started development in January, so well it takes around 3 months. And also the wiiware version is brand new, the XNA version was not ported to it at all.
Nikole: What made you decided to make the change and switch from XNA to WiiWare?
Luc: It was this simple, Microsoft didn't want Eternity's Child lol. They said that would not want it at all, so well now the game has really evolved and if they saw it now I think they would want it, but hey it's too late now.
Nikole: When does Eternity's Child come out, I read that it would come sometime in Q2, but dates change so much these days?
Luc: Well EC will be 100% finished this month, after well it's up to my publisher, so if it's late you must go and stalk them lol.
Nikole: There has been a quite a bit of buzz about Manufactured Beauty a lot lately. It's going to be more of an adult game, right? What makes it more for adults?
Luc: Well I don't think parents will want their Kids to play with Mr Cuddles, a drug addicted alcoholic mechanical rabbit. lol I mean Manufactured Beauty is clearly going to show the disgusting side of humanity, and how fucked up the whole entertainment industry is. Show that all these celebrities are just created products without a soul. Mr Cuddles is really based off me and one period of my life, so it's not glamorizing drugs or alcohol at all, but it's showing that you think you can escape your life by doing that but it only makes things worse.
Nikole: Are there in video games that you admire, or in some way take inspiration from?Luc: Not really, I must admit that I'm a big nintendo fanboy though, I only play Nintendo games. I'm not interested in games where you play a bald guy on steroids that is shooting hamsters from mars.
Nikole:I've been reading about a game of yours for the DS that is about a young boy during the Holocaust. The game seems like a great idea and I really like the concept, but some people have been trashing the idea in forums. How do you deal with the negativity out there? Has negative comments ever affected the way you make games?
Luc: Well some negative comments are good, for example people said Angel didn't fit with the backgrounds before, so he was redesigned to fit in with the game, so negative comments do help. However for the DS game Imagination Is The Only Escape, well what is worse? A game that tries to raise awareness where you play a young child trying to escape the horrors of war threw his imagination, or a game where you play a mass murderer. The weirdest thing is, the people that find this game sick aren't Jewish or German... hmmmmm so I mean I don't care about what they think. They can stick with their mindless entertainment if they want to.
Nikole: You mentioned to me that you are your own PR guy. How much of this game is completely done by you? I know you have the backing of Alten8, but are these games 'yours', are they your babies?
Luc: Well I'm just the director, story writer, character designer, world designer, concept artist, I have a whole great team, I mean without them I would of never managed to accomplish these things, it takes teamwork to get somewhere. I prefer to deal with PR myself because that way nothing is censured and I can be real, not some company bullshit that never answers questions the right way. These games are really my babies, they are a part of me, it's the only way to express myself, singers write lyrics, I create interactive fairytales, every game has a part of me in it, and a aspect of my life.
Thank you so much Luc for the interview. Eternity's Child is due Q2 this year on WiiWare. I'm sure we can expect great things from him in the future.
