Outsourcing, culture and long-term talent advantage

Denis Dyack is a legend in the industry and one of the few devs who has been exposed to both the Japanese and Western way of designing games. He is the man behind Legacy Of Kain and Eternal Darkness. I spoke with him in 2023 and he returns to promote his new game Deadhaus Sonata

#nintendo #legacyofkain #epicgames

My first interview with him is here https://youtu.be/Txt85DT68rQ

WEBSITE - https://deadhaussonata.com/

TWITTER - @DDyack

TWITTER - @DeadhausGame

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Intro

00:00 - Whats Changed In 3 Years Regarding Deadhaus Sonata

05:02 - Deterministic Systems/Quantum Theory

12:00 - Why Taking A Break Benefited The Project/Celestial Clock

14:50 - Weather Physics/Zelda: BOTW/History

20:20 - The Game Will Live Forever/Stop Killing Games

25:20 - The Different Engines Used For Deadhaus Sonata/Unreal Engine 5

27:40 - Why Unreal 5 Games Are Badly Optimised/The Industry Is In Dire Straits

34:20 - GTA 6’s Impact On The Industry/AAA Games Are Too Big In Size

37:29 - Denis’s Thoughts On Resident Evil/Pitching A Game To Nintendo

42:00 - Western Publishers Only Care About Graphics

44:00 - Embracers Demise/Why Pitching Games Now Is So Hard

47:28 - Game Devs Are Terrified Of Nintendo Treehouse

51:20 - How Marketing Teams Look At Games/Lack Of Innovation

53:50 - Getting Investment For Games/Denis Couldnt Get Funding

58:30 - U.S. Culture/Talent/ Japan’s Advantage Over The Rest Of World In Game Development

1:01:50 - Darwinism/People Misunderstand AI

1:12:20 -Technology Doesnt Save Time

1:19:30 - Why Nintendo Will Easily Survive The Dire Times InThe Industry

1:22:15 - AI In Games Can Beneift Gamers

1:24:20 - Prophecy Of Tothe

1:28:09 - Silicon Knights Demise Deeply Hurt Denis/Society Is Crumbling

1:29:30 - Making Up With Epic & Tim After The Lawsuit

1:32:10 - Working With Tanabe/Friendship With Iwata

1:35:00 - Exploitation In The West/Denis Is A Japanese Developer

1:38:00 - Why Miyamoto/Kojima Are One Of A Kind

1:41:11 - Denis Was Crushed When Miyamoto Wasnt Impressed By Realistic Graphics

1:44:10 - Denis Changed Deadhaus Sonata Art From Realistic To Stylized

1:46:15 - Criticism Of Game Trailers/CGI Trailers

1:48:48 - Q+A - Who Came Up With TV Change Effect In Eternal Darkness

1:50:30 - Q+A - What Would A Hyperthetical Sequel To Legacy Of Kain Be

1:57:53 - Q+A - Nintendo’s Approach To Marketing On Eternal Darkness

2:00:02 - Eternal Darkness On NSO/Possible Remake And Sequel

2:02:10 - Worldbuilding In Legacy Of Kain & Eternal Darkness/Narrative Games

2:07:41 - Q+A - Adding Transitions In Eternal Darkness Because The Gamecube Loaded Too Fast

2:10:00 - Consoles Are All The Same Now/AAA Is Now A Bad Moniker

2:13:45 - Closing Comments