Interviews

RUNAWAY - JA CHATS WITH PENDULO ABOUT THIS ELUSIVE GAME
By Randy Sluganski

We recently spoke with Rafael Latiegui of Pendulo Studios regarding the recent announcement that the much anticipated Runaway was about to be released in North America by Tri-Synergy. Since JA first posted a review of Runaway: A Road Adventure, interest in this game has generated interest from around the world. This is truly one of those rare games that may transcend beyond the core adventure community and become a mainstream success.

Besides Runaway, Pendulo also developed the wonderful Hollywood Monsters another great game that has never reached a North American audience.

JA - Do you have a firm date for the North American release of Runaway?

About mid-August. I’m not sure of the exact date, but it will probably be the second week of that month.

JA - What has held up the release of Runaway so far?

Well, Runaway has not been published in the US, but it has been in 15 other countries, in 8 or 9 languages. English-speaking markets work in a totally different way than other countries do, and when publishing a game like Runaway, it is very important for the quality of the localization to be excellent, as is ensuring that the direction the developers and publishers wish to go in is the same.

JA - Do you foresee any problems in North America with gamers protesting the content (transvestites, drug use) of Runaway?

Nobody in Germany, Spain, Italy, France, Holland, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Austria, Switzerland, Norway or Sweden, the countries where the game has already come out, have complained about the game’s contents. It should be no different in other countries.

JA - Any chance that we may ever see an English release of Hollywood Monsters?

It is possible, but for the time being, it is just that, a possibility. Right now, we are trying to concentrate on the versions of Runaway that will be coming out shortly in USA, Poland, Hungary and other locations.

JA - If Runaway is successful, is it possible we may be treated to a sequel?

Yes, but it certainly depends on the game’s sales. We have a lot of ideas to use if we want to continue Brian and Gina’s adventures, but the decision won’t be made until we see how well the game is received in English-speaking markets.

JA - Can you tell us a little about the graphics engine used for Runaway?

From the beginning, we have had a very clear idea of how we wanted Runaway to look graphically, so we started to work from square one in order to achieve that aspect. We wanted to avoid the cold, realistic look of 3D and come closer to a sort of warm-looking cartoon. The integration of 2D with 3D was one of the most complicated parts, but we are completely satisfied with the final results.

JA – What prompted you to choose TriSynergy as your distributor in North America?

The answer is very simple: they believe in our product. From the very outset, they seemed enthusiastic, and we have lots of confidence in them. Plus, TriSynergy has a background of having very effectively distributed such excellent adventures as The Longest Journey in the American market, which, quite frankly, is difficult for adventure games.

JA - Did you have problems finding a distributor in North America, and if so do you think that publishers were scared by the use of drugs and transvestites in the game?

It is true that this is the only place where we have come across a few distributors who felt very concerned about the fact that there were drag queens in the game. It seemed as if that facet of the game made them far more uncomfortable that any of the games in which people constantly kill each other.

JA - Can you tell us a little about what other games influenced Runaway?

Though we really love games like the first two editions of the Monkey Island saga, I think you can find a lot more of an influence from movies in Runaway. From Pulp Fiction to Close Encounters of a Third Kind, or Risky Business and Perdita Durango.