In an ocean of causal games, it’s hard to find ones that appeal to both gamers and non gamers. PopCap has won the hearts of many with titles like Bejeweled, Plants vs. Zombies, and Peggle. Garth Chouteau VP of Public Relations, took some time to answer some questions with us about their games.
Jaccob Clark | Justpushstart | Asks: Peggle Extreme features characters from the hit game Team Fortress 2 and is free to play on Steam. Did Valve approach you about making levels based on their games?
Garth Chouteau | VP of Public Relations | Answers: When Peggle was nearly finished the Peggle dev team sent an early build to a couple of friends over at Valve… they were in the throes of finishing up TF 2 at the time… about a day after they got Peggle, they emailed back saying “we cannot stop playing this $@$&!ing game — tell us how to overcome the final challenge (750k points on one level) so we can get back to finishing our own game!” After that, it didn’t take much brainstorming to come up with the Peggle Extreme concept =)
JPS: Compared to a lot of other casual game developers you have developed games not only for PC but now for download on Wii,Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Was the move to consoles because of player demand?
Garth Chouteau: We’re all about making our games available in as many appropriate places as possible, and console gamers are just as rabid about our games as ‘casual’ gamers. It’s about making each game as fun as possible on each platform, and taking the time to adapt rather than just port a game. When we first introduced Bejeweled, Zuma and Heavy Weapon on XBLA about five years ago, we were hopeful they’d be well received. They were, and we’ve been adapting our games to Xbox 360, PlayStation 2 and 3, and Wii ever since, with great results.
JPS: A lot of hardcore gamers have this view that casual games are shallow and easy. Is PopCap trying to change the way hardcore gamers view casual games?
Garth Chouteau: Well, we don’t set out to convince anyone of anything, really – we just try to make each game as fun as it can possibly be. Turns out that if you build enough depth, humor, and strategy into an approachable, family-friendly game like Plants vs. Zombies or Zuma’s Revenge, hardcore gamers will not only embrace it, they’ll engage with it in a ‘hardcore’ way that is really amazing to see… I think if you’d asked the developers of Peggle or Plants vs. Zombies “how far can someone go in this game in terms of upper echelon achievement/performance?” they’d have said “oh, someone will score 3 million on one level in Peggle eventually,” and “well, someone will probably figure out how to get 50 flags into Endless Survival mode in PvZ at some point.” Within a short period of each of those games hitting the market, TWO different people had achieved 18 million+ point shots in Peggle and several people had shambled past 80 flags in the Endless Survival mode of PvZ…!
JPS: Your games have a unique sense of style and art. Can you tell us a little more about the art direction of your games?
Garth Chouteau: Our artists have both a lot of fun and a lot of challenge to their jobs. They have pretty free rein to experiment with different styles and looks, and obviously the subject matter is pretty whimsical stuff. On the other hand, it’s a fine line between family-friendly and ‘My Little Pony’ or Beanie Babies, lol… When Peggle came together and included skateboarding chipmunks, altruistic unicorns and googly-eyed lobsters in front of a rainbow-and-sunshine filled backdrop, there were some who said we’d gone too far… we said ‘not far enough!’ and added an electrically-charged, sultry pink squid character to Peggle Nights, lol.
JPS: What is the hardest part about developing a good casual game for consumers?
Garth Chouteau: There are plenty of hard things about making a GOOD casual game. From our point of view, the biggest single challenge is finding that balance between family-friendliness and core gaming goodness that makes our games appeal to both you, your mom, your grandfather, your niece, even your dog. We want everyone in the family duking it out for access to the PC or the Xbox or the iPad or whatever else in your house is capable of playing games :)
