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MI6 chatted to Steve Ettinger from "Griptonite" this
week, about miniaturizing Bond and his Aston Martin
for "Everything or Nothing" - the latest
Bond outing on GameBoy Advanced...
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Interview - Steve Ettinger
(Part 2)
15th November 2003
MI6 chatted to Steve Ettinger from "Griptonite" this
week, about miniaturizing Bond and his Aston Martin for "Everything
or Nothing" - the latest Bond outing on GameBoy Advanced...
Improving Bond..
Above: Cover art GBA
UK
- MI6 GBA Price: £24.99
USA
- MI6 GBA Price: $29.99
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Visually, what improvements will we see over previous
Gameboy Advance games in "Everything or Nothing"?
Visually, this is hands down one of the best games we've
ever seen. (We're not just saying that!) We are really pushing
what is possible on the GBA. Every object, every wall, every
texture, every NPC was fully rendered in 3D before being
imported for use in our game. It's like doing the work of
two games for one, because you are first building these
pieces in 3D (using Maya in our case), and then exporting
them and cleaning them up, and sizing and lighting them
for use in a 2D-isometric game. It's a lot of work. But
this was one of the most important stylistic choices for
us to make. We didn't want another title on the platform
with saturated colors, and cartoony people standing under
cartoony trees. Bond belongs in a real-world environment,
and we took great pains to portray his world in a visual
style that we think gamers will love.
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How easy is it for someone who has never played a GameBoy
Advance game before to pick the game up and start to play "Everything
or Nothing"? What features have you included to help first
timers?
There is enough tutorial help in the game so that an 8 yr. old
could jump in and start playing, and we made sure to ramp things
slowly so that gamers would have a positive experience from the
get-go. But we would not say that this is an easy game. If it's
challenge you're looking for, you won't be disappointed! (Play
it on the hardest difficulty, and then we'll see who's really
a super-spy!)
Why did you choose to integrate RPG features into the
game? How will this affect the replay value?
We wanted to be really careful about this. Depending on
how successful you are on missions, you get 'Style Points'
that you can spend in the Q-Lab. One distinction we were
careful to make is that you are never upgrading Bond himself.
It's not like, 'Hey I just slayed this dragon, now James
Bond has +1 accuracy'; no way! Bond is Bond. He's the man.
These are items that Q developed that can help even the
world's greatest secret agent. You can buy stronger body-armour,
weighted handles, extra med-kits, and so forth. There is
even one item, a nanotech device, which actually features
nanobots, which heal your bodily damage over time. Very
cool.
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Above: The original Game Boy Advance |
Above: Aston Martin Vanquish |
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Did you relate to any of the movies, or previous Bond
games when trying to create a convincing Bond style atmosphere
in "Everything or Nothing"?
How can you not relate to the movies!? We have all of them
here on DVD, and you can be sure they all made the rounds!
As far as previous games, there have
been a lot of great Bond games over the years, and we looked
at all of them, but really this game is something completely
different. The thing we all have in common is that we are
all delivering Bond, so you know you're gonna get gadgets
and girls and guns, but I think the game-play of this particular
title is very different from what has come before.
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Finally, what are you most proud of with the game? What do
you think Bond fans will enjoy the most?
Overall, our feeling is that while it was sometimes difficult
to achieve a good balance between all of the various game modes
required (stealth, shooter, and adventure), we're pleased with
the result and we hope that the Bond fans world-wide have a great
time with this game. Visually, the game is stunning, and game-play
wise, rappelling is fun; stealth is fun; using Bond's weapons
and gadgets is fun; driving is fun - we hope that everyone enjoys
all aspects of the game, and that they enjoy the opportunity to
"be Bond"!
Many thanks to Steve Ettinger. "Everything
or Nothing" for GBA will go on sale in the USA on Friday
21st November 2003.
Images courtesy EA and Amazon Associates.
Related Articles
MI6 "Everything or Nothing"
Coverage
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Game Data - Game Boy Advance
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Game Boy Advance Preview
Interview:
Steve Ettinger GBA "Everything
or Nothing" (Part 1)
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