Interview with Jerome Saiz

by Randy Sluganski 13 October 1998

Jerome Saiz

By Randy Sluganski
October 13, 1998

Mr. Saiz is the features editor of a French PC magazine called Computer Plus. Computer Plus is a broad PC magazine aimed at newbies in computer stuff. It is the French version of a leading German computer magazine called Computer Bild.

Mr. Saiz, tell us a little about your job responsibilities.

As a features editor, I’m in charge of the whole gaming section. I choose what games we’ll review, what will be the next issue’s special (a four-page focus on one specific type of games, in every issue), and assign who’ll review such and such games, as well as writing my own reviews. A feature editor is a bit acting like an editor in chief as far as its little corner of the magazine is concerned.

What is the “State of Adventure Gaming” in France?

It’s pretty much the same as in the US. We might get slightly more adventure games than in the US because of some specific publishers like Cryo, with games like Versailles, Egypt or soon-to-be-released China. Unfortunately, even the very good publishers and best storytellers are turning toward adventure/action style. French developer Kalisto is a great example of French story-telling and adventure gaming. Dark Earth, one of their products, is set in a unique and marvelous background. The story behind it is from Multisim, a French company dedicated to real paper role-playing games (not computer RPGs). But to reach a wider audience, Dark Earth, instead of being a pure adventure game, turned out to be some kind of 3D action shooter.

Are adventure games still top priority, or have they been overshadowed by what we in the States call the “Quake Generation?”

Adventure games are not a priority anymore. Action is. Nowadays, you won’t sell a game if it’s not either a Tomb Raider clone (Fifth Element, Dark Earth …), a Command & Conquer clone or Quake-like. It’s sad to see that background and scenario is not what makes a best-selling game anymore. It’s more about what other popular games the new game relates to. Computer gaming is entering the “me-too product” era. Sad, but true.

Mr. Saiz, what companies in France are producing adventure games specifically for the European market?

As the computer gaming industry grows, we see less area-specific game producers. French companies like Kalisto or Cryo, for example, sell their games all over the world. Psygnosis has established development studios in France, UK and in the US. It’s hard to know where a game as been designed. The real hardcore gaming community is now an international one.

What do you think are the differences/similarities between the gaming communities as a whole in France and the United States?

The products being the same (Quake is Quake, wherever you’re playing it), there are not much differences between the two communities. We have the same multiplayer frenzy as US gamers experience, and we see the same trend of solo game coming back (like in Sierra’s Half-Life).

Where do you see adventure games five years from now ? Will the traditional point-and-click adventure still be with us, or will the 3D action/adventure genre be dominant?

I think the “point and click” genre is about to fade. Future adventure games will try to merge 3D action with strong scenario, investigation, looking up clues, doing some research, planning and finally performing the action. Imagine a game like Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, where instead of starting the game straight with the planning of an assault, you’d have first to investigate a terrorist threat, find clues, chase and interview suspects just like you do in Blade Runner, gather information and analyze it as you do in Spycraft, and then, only, making all the planning and carrying out the assault in the terrorist’s lair. That would be a heck of a good adventure game, wouldn’t it?

I just played this week-end the first chapter of Sierra’s Half-Life. As you know, this is a Doom-like game aimed at solo play. To enhance solo-play, it includes lots of “adventure-style” gimmick. This is the first Doom-like game that allow you to actually talk with a bunch of people (your co-workers, at the beginning), you don’t fire your weapon until you are well into the game. Overall, you’re just an ordinary guy that tries to understand what went to hell.

Thank you for your time, Mr. Saiz. I hope that all of our readers enjoyed learning about the French adventure gaming industry.