Arthur Parsons, Game Director at TT Games: Using an IP to it’s Best

This week’s lecture was led by Arthur Parsons, Game Director at TT Games. After giving us a brief description of what a game director does, Arthur told us of his time working in various games in the Lego world, looking primarily at the DC and Marvel iterations.

Arthur had the power during the development of these games; the power to make fans’ dreams come true. Having full reign with an intellectual property (IP) meant that Arthur could use pretty much any part of those universes to create the ideal game. He told us how he wanted to fit every tiny piece of those universes into these games. One key example he gave was the “Condiment King”, a villain that attacks people with various condiments, causing allergic reactions and anaphylactic shocks. This character wasn’t exactly known by the younger generation as he was a comic relief character from the ‘80s yet Arthur could use him, and did, for those older fans who could be playing the game with their children.

Another person who has great control over fan favourite IPs is Kevin Bruner, CEO (and ex-director) at Telltale Games. As a company that gained a huge following after using popular IPs in The Walking Dead and A Wolf Among Us, Telltale have continued to gain access to even more IPs, such as Game of Thrones, and now even Minecraft, in their signature reimagination of the ‘point and click adventure’ genre.

“Q: Game Of Thrones is on its second episode, it's an IP with a pretty rabid fanbase, how has the reaction to it been?

Kevin Bruner: It's been amazing, the fans are rabid, they really appreciate all the detail that's been put into the game, subtle references and homages. They understand content that's coming from the book and the TV show and the whole Game Of Thrones world from the audience to the creative, HBO, it's an amazing thing to step into, it's truly a phenomenon from all angles. We’re just thrilled that we're being accepted and holding our own in that world.”

By digging into the lore already laid down, Kevin helped please fulfill the wants of Game of Thrones fans, which is exactly what Arthur was doing with characters such as Condiment King; using full access to the IP as an advantage, and an near endless supply of ideas and stories.

References:

Weber, R. (2015). Telltale's new chapter: Minecraft and a top secret original IP. Available: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2015-02-10-telltales-new-chapter. Last accessed 10th May 2015.

TELLTALE GAMES. (2012) The Walking Dead. Multi-platform. California: Telltale Games

TELLTALE GAMES. (2013) A Wolf Among Us. Multi-platform. California: Telltale Games

TELLTALE GAMES. (2014) Game of Thrones. Multi-platform. California: Telltale Games

TELLTALE GAMES. (2015) Minecraft. Multi-platform. California: Telltale Games

Timm, B. and Dini, P. (1966) Condiment King. California: Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.