Grabbed By The Ghoulies Tepid Seat

by Lerako on Apr 26th, 2010

Topics include... finding a game to suit the name, accessibility and the demographic issue, the control system, switching over to Xbox and the stuff that didn't make the cut.

Interview with Viva Piñata Voice Actress and Animator, Louise Ridgeway

by Lerako on Mar 9th, 2006

When Rare animator and voice actor Louise Ridgeway stepped into the sound booth to record her part as Leafos in Viva Piñata™, she imagined reading a bedtime story to her nine-year-old daughter. The result was a warm, loving performance that stole the hearts of Piñata fans everywhere, not to mention the rest of the game […]

Interview with Viva Piñata Tester, David Wong

by Lerako on Mar 8th, 2006

As the lead tester for Viva Piñata™, David Wong plays games for a living. Seriously. Fortunately, we got him to put down his controller long enough to answer some questions, and discovered that being a tester isn’t all fun and games. Read on as David reveals the secrets of good game testing, how testers affect […]

Interview with Viva Piñata Senior Concept Artist, Ryan Stevenson

by Lerako on Mar 7th, 2006

The Viva Piñata® art team received a special honor recently when Rare Artist Ryan Stevenson’s piece, “Piñata Cascade,” was selected for inclusion in the prestigious Into the Pixel (ITP) art exhibit. Into the Pixel is the world’s only juried art exhibition in which experts from renowned museums and galleries, like the Los Angeles County Museum […]

Interview with Viva Piñata Lead Artist, Ed Bryan

by Lerako on Mar 6th, 2006

The look of the game is important. What sort of atmosphere were you trying to create? It was important to create a distinct look to the animals that populate the island. Using Piñatas as our inspiration gave us a way of presenting many different species of animals, but still tie them together with a single […]

Interview with Viva Piñata Composer, Grant Kirkhope

by Lerako on Mar 5th, 2006

Viva Piñata™ composer Grant Kirkhope was charged with giving each Piñata their own voice (or honk, or chirp, or howl) and musical theme. Find out how he did it, and why no real-life animals were harmed in the making of this video game. What piece of music in Viva Piñata are you most proud of? […]

Kameo: Elements of Power Interview: Writer Chris Allcock

by Lerako on Feb 10th, 2006

Chris Allcock wrote the script for Kameo™: Element of Power™. Without further ado, we’ll let him speak for himself, as his own eloquence and wordsmithing talent shows through in his interview as much as it does in Kameo.

Perfect Dark Zero Interview: Lead Tester Rick Lockyear

by Lerako on Feb 10th, 2006

No game is worth the code it takes to write it without a team of trusty testers to back it up. Rick Lockyear, lead tester for PDZ, talks about what it's like to coordinate such a crucial task and how the science and art of game testing has changed.