Gearbox Software Interview Feature

TVG recently took the opportunity to sit down with Randy Pitchford, President and Senior Game Designer at Gearbox Software. <br /> <br /> Gearbox came into fame with the release of the excellent Counter Strike add-on for Half Life. Since then they've worked on many Half Life variations, including the defunct Dreamcast version, the Blue Shift add-on and the PS2 conversion, which is what we talked about. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Can you tell us a little about the 2-Player mode; Decay?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> Decay is an all-new cooperative Half-Life game designed exclusively for the PlayStation 2. Decay puts players into the roles of Dr.Colette Green and Dr. Gina Cross who must team up in a series of missions to seal a rift between Earth and the alien invaders home world. The game is designed to be played cooperatively, but one player can switch back and forth between the characters as needed to complete the challenges that require them to work together. Decay’s story line progresses simultaneously to the events of the original game – in fact, there are several places where the plots cross over and reference each other. <br /> <br /> <br /> <b>Q: What was developing for the PS2 like?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> The PlayStation 2 is a very powerful machine that required a lot of custom code in order to leverage its strengths efectively. Ultimately, we’re very proud of the performance and solidity of the game on the PS2 and look forward to being able to bring this game to so many console gamers who many not yet have had a chance to experience Half-Life. I’m looking forward to applying what we’ve learned by working with the PS2 to the games we make on the future on any platform. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Where can you see the Half Life franchise going?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> Right now, Gearbox is developing Counter-Strike : Condition Zero for the PC. We haven’t yet decided whether it makes sense to bring the game to other platforms, but we’re keeping our options open. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Can you please tell us a little about PS2 development, you’ve seemed to have nailed it when a lot of others are struggling.</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> What makes the PlayStation 2 such a complex piece of hardware is that it has four different programmable processors that each can be utlilized in many different ways and each understand different languages. But, we’ve got some smart people at Gearbox and they took the right amount of time in pre-production to test some different approaches and settle on the path that brought us to where we are now. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Did you look into creating PS2 Half Life with online play?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> Yes we did. Unfortunately, the PS2 will not yet offer any on-line connectivity before we launch. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Will Gearbox Software be taking the Half-Life franchise to other <br /> machines?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> It’s possible that we’ll bring Half-Life to other <br /> systems, but no plans have been made for this as yet. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Can you see yourselves working outside of the Half Life franchise?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> We have been doing a couple of things in the background that we’ll probably be ready to discuss publically soon. In the mean time, we’ve been heavily focused on our work with HL PS2 and Counter-Strike : Condition Zero. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Most of your members seem to have been well travelled throughout the games industry. Why do you think developers change their position so <br /> frequently, and can you give us the juicy details of any conflicts you may <br /> have been in?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> As in any industry, workers tend to keep moving until they find the place that is best for them. Gearbox is proud of the team <br /> we've built. We take our time when hiring, we work well together and we've never had an employee quit. <br /> <br /> <b>Q: Does anyone want a game of Opposing Force some time?</b> <br /> <br /> <b>Randy Pitchford :</b> Gearbox has a public server running 24/7. Just about every day after 5pm CST, Gearbox developers jump in and play. You’ll notice them because their pings reveal them to be right next to the server :) <br /> <br /> TVG would like to thank Randy for his time, and wish Gearbox all the best for future Half Life expansions and whatever new projects they move on to.