Interviews

INTERVIEW
WITH NEAL WISER, PRESIDENT OF THE ULTRAPRIME NETWORK

Developers
of The
Evolvers

January
6, 2003
By:
Harriet Gurganus

I was very pleased
to have the opportunity to interview Neal Wiser, the driving force
behind this unique game. The Evolvers is a massively multiplayer
science fiction online game that will be available in 2004. But there
is more, much more. When The Evolvers comes to fruition you
will be able to play the game and influence a TV show of the same
title. This is a thrill that none of us have had before and personally,
I am eager to give it a try.

A special thank
you is due to Doug Mealy, OMPR, for helping me to put this together
with such ease.

1. According to your website,
the UltraPrime Network development team consists of “experienced
entertainment professionals with extensive motion picture, television,
gaming and Internet credentials”. Tell us more about the individuals
who are part of the team, their areas of expertise and which members
take the lead in this somewhat unique endeavor.

[Neal
Wiser] I’m very fortunate to have been able to recruit a very
talented staff to help produce the TV series, although it’s
a little early to define their specific duties since the series
won’t go into production for some time. We’re also exploring
launching the franchise with a feature film, so that’s going
to have an affect as well. But they’re a great crew and I’m
lucky to have them to take a lead in the TV series. Since I’m
going to be deeply involved in the development and production of
the franchise as a whole, I need people I can trust who will help
realize my vision.

2. Have members of the
team been involved in the development of previous games or television
shows? Are they titles that we might recognize? What are they?

[Neal
Wiser] Most of the team comes from Hollywood and have worked as
writers, producers and special effects artists on everything from
Star Trek: The Next Generation, Twilight Zone, and Farscape to Cast
Away, the Fifth Element and Hollow Man. They are a great and talented
group and they bring tremendous skills and experience to the franchise.

3. Explain the philosophy
that you call Maximum Engagement. Why is it significant?

[Neal Wiser] Maximum Engagement came from the realization that the
old way of doing business, of force-feeding a passive audience only
what the suits want to give them, is no longer viable. Today’s
audiences have more choices than ever and they want a more meaningful
experience, one in which they feel that they have a true stake.
The way to do that is to get them involved, empower them and let
them participate in ways that are meaningful to them. At UltraPrime,
we want to push the limits of that involvement and engage the audience
to the max; hence, Maximum Engagement.

4. What made you decide
to develop a massively multiplayer online interactive game (MMOG)/television
franchise? Define exactly how you are using the word franchise so
that the Just Adventure readers will have a better understanding of
the concepts involved here.

[Neal
Wiser] Video games really frustrated me as a kid. I could never
play the way I wanted to. Then I would turn on the TV and see that
the games I played had nothing to do with the TV shows they were
based on. I felt like I wasn’t really participating and I
felt cheated. When the internet went main stream, I immediately
recognized its potential as a tool to connect people and get them
involved in a show. When I started working on making that happen,
I needed a vehicle and “The Evolvers” story was a perfect
fit.

As
for what I mean by “franchise,” it refers to all of
the elements of “The Evolvers” brand; the TV series,
the game, books and comics, even a feature film we’re developing.
For example, Star Wars is a franchise because it encompasses multiple
iterations of the story on different platforms. However, the way
that we’re doing it, it’s all being developed together.
We’re not licensing out elements to the highest bidder. Everything
works seamlessly together.

5. Watching television
is passive entertainment. What makes you think that a passive couch
potato will want to watch a TV series and play a game at the same
time?

[Neal Wiser]
Some will, some won’t and some will go back and forth. I recognized
this from the outset. As a result, both the game and the TV series
will be able to stand on their own. So the audience can play the
game and ignore the TV series, or the viewers of the series can
ignore the game without getting lost. I don’t think they’ll
want to do that, but they have that option.

6. Are you the first developer
to design an online television game? Why did you decide to do this?

[Neal Wiser]
I’m the first to take it to such an extreme. Others have done
some simple things like playing along with a game show contestant,
but no one has ever tried to do anything this complicated before,
and that was one of my original intentions. When I started this,
I wanted to do something original, something that’s never
been done before. I love a good challenge and I sure gave myself
one. Fortunately, everything I developed, all the different aspects
of the project, all fell into place. It’s been an amazing
experience.

7. How will the game and
the TV interface? Will a set-top type of box be required? Will the
standard TV require internal modification in order to enable this
technology? Will the mechanics of the game be hard to learn? How will
what we play on our computer impact a live television show? Is this
similar to iTV? Will this be an expensive undertaking for the average
gamer over and above their usual monthly Internet charge?

[Neal Wiser]
We’re using a 2-Screen interactive TV strategy. 2-Screen works
when players who want to participate in the show play the game on
their PCs while watching the show on TV. The players can participate
in different ways through a variety of strategies which govern their
interaction on different levels. The game will be subscription based,
but we haven’t set a price yet. Whatever it is, it will be
competitive with what’s out at the time and we’re going
to offer a lot of incentives. Actually, I’m hoping to offer
the game client for free, but we’ll see what happens.

8. If thousands of people
are playing the online game, does everyone get to affect the TV show
or is there some filtering mechanism which determines who gets to
interact and who doesn’t? How will all of this work with a predetermined
script?

[Neal Wiser]
You just want me to give away all my secrets, don’t you? ;).

9. Can we only play the
game while the TV show is on air? What about the other 23/7?

[Neal Wiser]
No, the game is the center of the franchise’ universe and
will be available 24/7/365. The TV series will act like a brief,
weekly window into events in the game’s universe and will
help to drive certain game storylines and missions.

10. Will broadband Internet
access be necessary?

[Neal Wiser]
I hope not, but it will certainly help. We are going to make provisions
for dial-up users. After all, they are an important part of the
audience, but by the time the game launches this should be even
less of an issue.

11. Do you plan to branch
out to other gaming platforms? Which ones?

[Neal Wiser] Yes, I’m hoping to see different “flavors”
of The Evolvers on all of the various platforms, whatever
they may be.

12. I know a number of
gamers who aren’t interested in playing online games. Why do you think
that this model will be any different? How do you see this multifaceted
entertainment concept progressing in the short term? In the long term?

[Neal Wiser]
I think that the opportunity to participate in the TV series, to
become part of history is going to be a compelling draw for anyone,
but if they don’t want to play the online game, that’s
fine. Hopefully they’ll still enjoy the TV series and the
console versions. And if by some cruel and unusual twist of fate
they don’t like “The Evolvers” at all, we’ve
got other things in the works that they may prefer instead.

13. What language(s) will
the game/TV show be available in?

[Neal Wiser]
The game will initially be available in English, Spanish, Japanese,
Korean and maybe a few others. We’re still looking at that.
The TV series will most likely be subtitled or dubbed into the local
language when it’s distributed internationally. That part
isn’t my call.

14. I read that your headquarters
is in Philadelphia and that you are opening offices in New York and
Los Angeles. New York and LA are the entertainment capitals of the
US. Tell us about the advantages that locating in these cities will
provide?

[Neal Wiser]
Access to the amazing talent pools there and many, many other resources
that we’ll need. Fortunately, our home office in Philly is
only about one and ½ hours from New York, so access is easy
– I’m there at least once a week.

15. I understand that The
Evolvers is a science fiction game. Without giving away too much,
can you give us information regarding the storyline? What about the
cast or is it too early to answer that question?

[Neal Wiser] The Evolvers takes place in a post-Singularity
universe where the distinction between reality and virtual reality
is blurred. The Singularity part refers to the Technological Singularity
which comes from Vernor Vinge who proposed that the rate of technological
change will accelerate so fast that it will exceed our comprehension
and ability to control. When you apply Artificial Intelligence and
nanotechnology into the mix, it gets real interesting and weird.
I’m also a fan of the space opera, so you’ve got a lot
of interesting aliens, too. Think of it as The Matrix meets Star
Wars.

As for casting,
we’ve got some people in mind, but who knows. Casting depends
on a lot of factors including the actor’s availability and
fees and their chemistry with the other cast members. We’ll
see what happens.

16. When do expect that
the game and the TV show to be ready for watchers and players? Suppose
some of us just want to watch the show but not play the game. Will
this be possible?

[Neal Wiser]
We’re targeting Beta to begin in Q2, ’04 with the game
and TV series going live in Q3 or Q4. As for watching the show and
not playing the game; like I said, each element can stand on its
own, but the players will probably understand a few things a little
better than the casual TV viewer.

17. Is there anything else
that you would like the Just Adventure audience to know?

[Neal Wiser] Just to let everyone know that they can visit our website
(www.ultraprime.com)
for updates regarding developer selection, our Beta test and other
news. Also, comments are always welcomed and don’t forget
to sign up for our Mailing List.