Father's Day Week: Obsidian's Chris Jones

[funcroc]

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=14250

 

Father's Day Week: Hothead's Matheson, Obsidian's Jones

Gamasutra is posting mini-Q&As with game developers who play games with their kids, leading up to this Sunday's Father's Day.

 

In this second installment, we talk to Hothead Games' Ash Matheson (Penny Arcade Adventures), and Obsidian Entertainment's Chris Jones (Neverwinter Nights 2) about how being a father has changed the way they do business and make games......

 

Chris Jones

Father to Lauren, 9, Gavin, 7, Nathan, 3, and Ian, 1

(Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, Obsidian Entertainment)

 

I think having children has made me more open to playing games that I might not have ever considered playing in the past. Sometimes, I will just pick up one of the Game Boys lying around and play whatever happens to be plugged into it, and I'm often surprised at how much fun some of those games can be (or just how bad I think they are, yet my kids still seem to enjoy them).

 

It's also really interesting to watch my kids play console games on our TV and see what is intuitive to them and what they get stuck on. There is a lot you can learn about accessibility and game design by watching kids play games and paying attention to which games they keep wanting to go back to and which ones they give up on quickly.

 

It can sometimes be a little frustrating making games that are not appropriate for my kids to play. My oldest son is at the age where he is really getting into games and thinks that what his daddy does at work is cool, but unfortunately, the games I work on are inappropriate and often too complicated or text-heavy for him and his friends to play. I imagine it must be very satisfying for the parents out there that get to work on games that they can enjoy playing with their kids.

 

Currently Playing

Games have become a nice way to spend time together as a family, and my oldest son

[LadyCrimson]

Interesting. I'd imagine it's a bit like being a film director who makes movies that his children aren't allowed to watch, yet.

[mkreku]

Are you talking about pr0n movies again?

[LadyCrimson]

... no?

[metadigital]

Guitars are tools of the devil!