Interview mit Chris Charla über Death Jr.

PlaystationPortable.de: Could you shortly present your position and introduce Digital Eclipse to us?

Chris Charla: Chris Charla, I'm a Senior Producer at Backbone Entertainment, which is a new company formed from the merger of Digital Eclipse and ImaginEngine.


PlaystationPortable.de: Why did you decide to develop for Sony’s Playstation Portable?

Chris Charla: We realized the specs were much more powerful than many people were thinking, and it had some cool hardware features such as morphing and curved surfaces. Also, a new platform is a great way to launch a new character.


PlaystationPortable.de: Could you tell us a little bit about Death Jr. (Story, Charakter) and give brief overview of the most important features?

Chris Charla: Death, Jr is the son of the Grim Reaper. He's a little weird to say the least, but he has some freaky friends. (Not as freaky as the Creative Director of the game, Mike Mika, who is currently telling me a bunch of German curse words and trying to get me to include them in my answers!). Basically, he and his friends unleash an ancient evil when they are goofing around. Rather than calling in his dad, who could fix things quickly, DJ tries to fix it himself... The result is a lot of fighting against demons with your giant Scythe and lots of guns -- everything from twin pistols to a rocket launcher. The game features a lot of shooting, with a good amount of using the Scythe to kill bad guys as well. You can also use the Scythe to move around the level, for ledge grabs and to go down zip lines, etc.


PlaystationPortable.de: We heard about the comic, but is it true, that you want to bring Death Jr. to the big movie screen?

Chris Charla: Yes, in fact there is a director who has agreed to do the movie! The same person who directed Cats and Dogs, Larry Guterman.


PlaystationPortable.de: Which new elements does Death Jr. add to the handheld gaming market? What does the power of the PSP allow programmers to do?

Chris Charla: The PSP allows us to deliver a fully realized 3D world for the first time on a hand held. DJ provides a kind of gameplay that people just haven't seen on a game before. The Scythe itself, which is a weapon and a way to move around the level is another unique element. And things like morphing of the level is also new.


PlaystationPortable.de: Are you satisfied with the specifications of Sony’s Handheld?

Chris Charla: Absolutely. There is a ton you can do there -- although I do wish it had two analogs.


PlaystationPortable.de: How far is the gap between PSP and Playstation 2?

Chris Charla: Not that far! The PSP has fewer pixels, so you don't need to render as many polygons to get a high polygon to pixel ratio. The polygon to pixel ratio is the biggest way we perceive things to be smooth on screen, so a high polygon to pixel ratio is key -- The PSP has a higher potential polygon to pixel ration than a PS2.


PlaystationPortable.de: What do you think about the future of Sonys PSP?

Chris Charla: I think it's going to be super bright; we're really excited about it.


PlaystationPortable.de: Do you have any running future projects?

Chris Charla: Yes, but not that we can discuss, sorry!

PlaystationPortable.de: What do you think about the Nintendo DS? Will you also develop games for this system? Which Ideas come to developer’s minds with a touchpad and 2 screens?

Chris Charla: DS is pretty cool, and we're looking forward to it a lot. We have a lot of ideas for the touch pad, but of course, we can't say them!


PlaystationPortable.de: Who will win the long end fight in the handheld-sektor: Nintendo or Sony?

Chris Charla: That's hard to say! Nintendo are the hand-held kings, but Sony's experience with cool hardware is great too. Because the two systems are targeting different ages, I think there's a good chance that both will succeed. They aren't going to compete that much, I don't think.


PlaystationPortable.de: Which announced PSP game would you buy first, if not Death Jr.?

Chris Charla: Well, probably Metal Gear Acid.

PlaystationPortable.de: Is there anything you would like to tell our readers?

Chris Charla: Check out deathjr.com! And thanks for reading!

Thanks to Chris Charla for his support.

The Interview was held by Kevin Jensen for PlaystationPortable.de