Nick Bruty (Giants) Interview

Kabuto’s character will be too busily involved in the ongoing Giants saga for a solo career. Although it would be fun to see him square up against a few big names – Godzilla, Kong, Thatcher – but Kabuto’s got too much skill for them, a pugilist at heart I think he would give them all a right good thumping.

There are five Meccs in Giants. Where did you draw inspiration from to create these characters?

We didn’t want your typically serious army tough guys. We wanted guys like us, who like to drink beer and have a laugh. To add some lovable charm we decide to make them cockneys. Of course as the worlds leading cockney, we thought it would be great to have Michael Caine be the voice for Baz. (No, we didn’t get him) So we checked out a favorite old movie called The Italian Job starring Mr Caine and a bunch of hapless cockneys trying to nick some gold in Italy. We instantly knew that was the relationship we wanted to have for the Meccs.

If there are no sequel plans, what are the chances we’ll see some mission packs?

We are not announcing our long term plans yet but we are far from finished with the Giants universe.

Long days and even longer nights associated with game development are a draining experience. What is your drink of choice to maintain alertness?

A nice large cold Asahi beer with slices of pickled ginger on the side to deliver a nice refreshing kick at about 8pm when you know you’re in for a long night. Available in the local Sushi bar behind our office.

How did you maintain control over a project as big as Giants?

We had to learn to manage it along the way. In the beginning there were just too many unkown elements to completely comprehend what was in store for us. In retrospect I’m not sure if Giants would have existed in its current state if we knew exactly how much time and effort it would take.

Was Giants a tough sell? Did you go from publisher to publisher only to get rejected again and again?

While Planet Moon is a new company we have all been around for quite some time and had just finished MDK for Interplay. The relationship just extended to cover Giants as well which made life easier for us as we had a bit of trouble trying to explain what the hell Giants was all about without being able to show anything.

Did you play many games while Giants was under development?

Not as many as I would like, the hours we had to work didn’t leave much room for play. The ones I made an exception for were Zelda, Starcraft and Tribes. Looking back now I think Giants has something in common with all 3.

Does Planet Moon have any plans to make or port games for Microsoft’s X-Box?

Uh uh, no announcements yet.

What exactly do you do in your capacity as Co-Art Director? Take us through your typical day.

With a company of just 8 people Co-Art Director is just one of my titles, I’m also a designer and President thrown in for good measure. At this moment in time we are dealing with new schedules, looking for new office space, upgrading equipment etc which is a chore but fairly soon we will be knee deep back in development hell/bliss.

What should we expect next from Planet Moon?

I think Giants represents Planet moon well in the style of game we like to make. We will always try to keep things fresh and catch people off guard. It was difficult to know how far we could take things, especially the cutscenes. But it all went down so well that you will see us take everything a step further.

There’s a lot of anticipation for Team Fortress 2 and Halo. Are there any projects in the industry that you’re keeping your eye on?

So many of these big projects have been in development for so long (probably going through some of the same headaches we did) that I’m not sure what’s new and fresh on the horizon. One forthcoming game that hasn’t had the same attention yet is Toby Gards Galleon from Confounding Factor. Also curious about Republic which is still a year away.

Canadian Trivia Question: Which prominent Canadian actor appeared in The Sound of Music?

I know this one because Tim and I just got back from Salzburg in Austria where The Sound of Music was based, unfortunately we just missed the tour. It’s everyone’s good chum, Christopher Plummer.

Correct!