We've got the world debut of the trailer for EA's NERF N-Strike first-person-shooter today (check out the game's NERF-blaster-shaped add-on for the Wii controller!)
And... we've got nine answers from the developers to questions we sent them earlier this week.
- What did they learn from other first-person shooters?
- What kind of story can you write into a NERF game?
- Should I shoot the controller's actual dart-shooting add-on at my TV?
- And more...
Multiplayer: NERF toys are fun to play with in real life, but not necessarily something that would obviously be adapted into a video game. Why make a NERF game?
Jon Dean, Executive Producer of NERF 'N-Strike': Yes, NERF blasters are great fun to play with. Just about every video game developer has a few lying around, so we’re very familiar with what is so cool about them. The great thing about video games is that we can allow you to do things you can't do in the real World, including getting your hands on dozens of NERF blasters - some real, some that will be coming out next year from Hasbro and some fantasy blasters that we invented just for NERF 'N-Strike'. It takes enjoyment of NERF to a whole new level.
Multiplayer: You could have made the game just for the Wii remote or just for the Wii zapper. But you made it to be sold with a NERF gun that shoots NERF darts. How did that come about? And will I be encouraged to shoot these darts at my TV?
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Dean: While we were brainstorming ideas for NERF 'N-Strike', one of our artists, Paul Mattson, had the genius idea of going one better than a generic Wii controller – he said, 'If we’re playing a NERF game, we should be playing with a NERF blaster!' and he was right! It was so cool to then be able to work directly with the NERF design team at Hasbro to create an entirely new NERF blaster – the Switch Shot EX-3 – just to meet the needs of our video game. It's the first-ever 2-in-1 peripheral so you can use the Switch Shot as a regular NERF blaster, or pop out the top and insert your Wiimote. Hey presto! The only thing hitting your TV will be virtual darts, so don’t worry, no damage!
Multiplayer: EA Salt Lake has made a few Wii games. What lessons has the studio learned from the earlier games that have been applied to this one?
Dean: With every game, we get to know the Wii’s capabilities more and more. Accuracy of the Wiimote and super-fast gameplay have been key for us.
Multiplayer: How is EA Salt Lake's approach to Wii development different when creating from the ground up? "The Godfather" was praised for its Wii controls, but you were forced to work in an already established gameplay environment. What's different when it's Wii on day one?
Dustin Hansen, Creative Director: Knowing that we were designing for the Wii from day one made all the difference from a user control perspective. Early on we knew that we needed to rely heavily on the Wii’s DPD (Direct Pointing Device) because it was such a natural fit to the old point and fire light guns of our misspent youth. With the addition of the Switch Shot blaster, the game took on a personality that screamed for easy and intuitive controls. It became evident to us that holding the Wiimote in your hand and pulling the trigger (B button) was the core of our game mechanic so we ran with it. We defined rules based around the Wii platform that helped us maintain focus on that core fun center of the game. Adding reload, for example, had to be seamless and not pull you away from the fantasy of holding and firing a NERF blaster so we opted to shake the Switch Shot to reload. The best thing that I can say about what the Wii and the Wiimote offered us is that it just feels right – you can't argue with that.
Multiplayer: FPS-style gameplay is really popular with older gamers but clearly a challenge to implement in games for younger players because of content and ratings issues. When we interviewed John Riccitiello at E3 he described the game as a rare E10-rated shooter. Is that the goal here: to take the best of FPS gameplay but present it to a younger audience? If so, what are those core FPS gameplay elements that you think are interesting to bring to kids' games? Which FPSes did you learn from?
Let’s face it, the game mechanics of FPS games are fun regardless of your age, it’s just that a lot of the FPS content is pretty mature in nature.
Hansen: Our initial goal was to make something fun (we like the word fun around here) that would celebrate, not simulate, the NERF blasting experience for an audience that is younger than the typical gaming hard-core. In the end we found that that first person perspective was the most engaging way to accomplish that goal. Let's face it, the game mechanics of FPS games are fun regardless of your age, it’s just that a lot of the FPS content is pretty mature in nature – so realizing that gave us a great starting point. We opted to keep human to human violence out of this game; it just didn't seem to fit and our play test groups loved the fictional bad guys in our game which just happen to be an army of robots armed to the nuts and bolts with foam projectiles. NERF 'N-Strike' ended up not as a typical FPS – it has some old-school rail-shooting as well as some puzzles, alongside which we employed time tested techniques that make FPS games fun; it's twitchy, surprising, suspenseful, fast paced, intense, immediate, and Nerfy (we like that word too, second only to fun).
Multiplayer: This is clearly aimed at a younger audience, but the Wii has managed to cross surprising demographic boundaries. Can NERF 'N-Strike' do the same? Would a hardcore gamer enjoy it? What about my mom?
A hardcore gamer probably won’t get as much out of mission mode as a younger player will, but they’ll still have a total blast playing against their friends in multiplayer mode.
Dean: We set out to design a really fun and credible video game for an audience that doesn’t have many games aimed at it – guys aged 8+. It was important to us that they loved it, and they certainly seem to. A hardcore gamer probably won’t get as much out of mission mode as a younger player will, but they’ll still have a total blast playing against their friends in multiplayer mode. And this game may just be the one that persuades Mom to finally go and buy a NERF Vulcan…
Multiplayer: Who are the characters in this game? (Does the NERF franchise even have characters?)
Hansen: We created some very cool characters that appear for the first time in NERF 'N-Strike' – they evolved throughout the course of the project. Shane is the first character that you meet in the game. He is a blaster wielding, arcade game pro that is up for any challenge. If there was an X games for NERF dart shooting, Shane would be the cover boy. Nobody can beat him in a duel and he knows it. You get challenged by the NERF 'N-Strike' Elite, including Komodo - a traditionally trained martial arts expert that is influenced by spaghetti westerns. He is part Bruce Lee and part Clint Eastwood and all attitude. Jackal is a brainy guy who happens to be the son of two secret NERF 'N-Strike' agents. And everyone wants to challenge Raven, a 'don’t mess with me' girl that seems to have an edge on every guy that comes her way. There is also a rough and tumble bruiser named Tango that was raised by a tough military dad. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget the bad guy. I can’t tell you much about him or I would ruin the story. All I will say is that he is metallic, smart and a bit off his rocker, and his name is B.O.B. (by the way - this is a homage to Bob Brown, inventor of many classic NERF blasters at Hasbro).
Multiplayer: What's the story of the game?
Hansen: Help Shane (the character you play) become the best of the best – a member of the NERF 'N-Strike' Elite!
Foam darts fly and huge explosions shake the ground as you help Shane reach his goal of becoming one of the 'N-Strike' Elite.
The story picks up Shane in the arcade putting on quite a show as he blasts his way through a notorious stand up coin-op machine called 'Dawn of the Machines'. As Shane and his friends make their way out of the arcade, B.O.B. an orb shaped robot identifies Shane as the perfect candidate for his needs. B.O.B. follows Shane home and recruits him to compete against other N-Strike Elite Strikers to discover who the best of the best is. Shane, wanting to prove he is the best, is introduced to the other characters and pitted against them in a series of frantic, fast-paced challenges. In each of these 'simulations' you’re up against the smart A.I. of fast and aggressive robots customized with the latest NERF blasting technology. Foam darts fly and huge explosions shake the ground as you help Shane reach his goal of becoming one of the 'N-Strike' Elite. A word of advice however, not everyone that asks for trust should be granted it. No more spoilers from me, you will have to play the game to hear the rest of the story.
Multiplayer: Can you even conceive of a crazy contraption that would map a NERF gun onto an Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 controller? What would it look like?
Dean: Yes, but that’s all I’ll say right now!
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Related Posts:
Exclusive ‘NERF N-Strike’ Trailer - Game Shoots Real And Virtual Foam Darts
‘Nerf N-Strike’ Produces Greatest Wiimote Add-On Ever?
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