Nintendo Difference's Interview on Skylanders with game's Executive Producer

Nintendo-Differences interviews about Skylanders with the game's associate producer is revealed:

http://www.nintendo-difference.com/dossier22916-interview-spyro-avec-jared-yeager.htm#chap_0

Here's some of the Q&A from the interview:

ND: Do you feel that this is a natural evolution of the franchise Spyro?

JY: I think it's good change from the gameplay blending the worlds of toys and video game that we seek, and Spyro is a perfect choice for it. When people ask what a Skylander, we reply that it is a legendary hero, a champion in the world of Skyland. As we have seen through the Spyro games, he has earned his stripes as a legendary champion and earned the rank of Skylander among the 32 champions who represent the cream, the leaders of Skyland. It is well known and is the standard for heroism. So it's a natural evolution of the franchise.

ND: What was the first idea, the combination of toys and video game, or use of the Spyro franchise?

JY: It was really done in tandem. Make the game was a nice union of creativity in our studios Toys for Bob, and work with our other Internet group, Red Octane, who had already made ​​devices in the past for DJ Hero and Guitar Hero. So we had the right people behind the technology, and good people behind the creativity. We started by telling us "Ok, let's find the best ideas we may have for toys, characters, and what their capabilities are in the game world" and then we use technology to see if we could bring life to these toys. Many people think it can not be done, but hey, let's try! Maybe you make a mistake along the way, but see if something is possible, that is the real spirit to advance in the industry. Such developments, the evolution of games and toys, that is why we entered the industry. It is an exciting race ahead for each of these two worlds.

ND: Is this game is aimed at a younger audience, or is it that players who grew up with Spyro also find themselves in the game? 

JY: I think so. I love playing this game, though of course I'm on the side of the publisher. Have the pleasure of your toys to life and freedom of choice through what you can do in the game, I think these are things that speak to everyone. I think for everyone, you, myself, especially children, we are told all the time what we should do, where we must do, when, why, how. Even in games, often we are told "You will use this character in this level now," "Now you play a side-scroller, you will use this character and you have to do it that way." What we do and what I think happens Skylanders to do is give you some power over the choice. You know what? This level is filled with water? I did not use a water character. I'll use a character who can fly, and fly just above the water. Or I'll use this monster lava and jump on these islands. It's just a matter of saying "You know what? Go and play! . This is what the games were at the beginning, it was only freedom of expression and fun. Sometimes people forget that freedom may just invent what you want to do when you want to do. It's like giving the power to your imagination and take a step back, I love that feeling of freedom. It provides excellent replayability, as each character is unique. So you can play at one level, such as a water level with a character on the mainland, Eruptor example, running from island to island. You'll quickly understand how it works and you could get rid of your enemies head on. Maybe then you'll want to replay that level with Gill Grunt. Now you swim in water, you sneak behind your enemies because you can leave the water and shoot them with your harpoon before using your jet pack water before joining the new wave. You can use the water to have unlimited ammo, since it is owned water and that it is fueling his jet pack and a water pistol. You adopt a completely different strategy and can explore new paths in the level, then you almost feel like playing a different game.

ND: Are you asking questions of children to have ideas?

JY: Probably, you ensure that you are still on track to please everyone. Toys for Bob has conducted numerous iterations with many ideas for different characters before stopping at this group of 32 characters. So, you know, that kind of position, you use every tool in your arsenal to explore your imagination and that of the whole world to see what you could find.

ND: Can we expect more adventures of Spyro mature in the near future?

JY: You know, you approach the next step smartly, and you do what you think is good for the history of the characters, the gameplay and the hearing of the game you do not do something just because you can. You can already see what we have done with many other games within Activision. I do not think of giving your more mature Spyro because we can be a good thing because it will not work in the universe, the s-t-y-l-e, the gameplay, the audience that we seek to achieve . We're always seeking new ways to play, that's how we got this game is just unique compared to what has already been done. We really take our time to what is the next step, and as regards the direction of the franchise, I can not say anything yet. We always try to overcome the obstacles on this game, we're just the alpha phase of the project and we are aiming for release this fall. There is much work to do during this time. When we come to the conclusion that we look to the future, then of course we can give more details on this.

ND: Is there something you would say to fans of Spyro French, to conclude this interview?

JY: If there was one thing I could say would be that I can not wait for everyone to finally get his hands on the game, just like you today. Beyond this, besides the revelation of character that we showed today, there are many things we will reveal, during and after E3, approaching the exit of the game is just so much more I wish I could tell you everything now. I'm really excited about this game It awakens the child in me, and I'm really looking forward to see more people play. It's been almost 10 years I worked in the industry and saw many people in the control groups and I have seen people light up playing some games. I had never seen people like this, with a smile to the face while playing the game for today, look at all these people press play duel, and when the battle ended , see the rush to change character as quickly as possible. I can not wait to see what kind of reaction massively and watch everyone enjoy this game This is why I got into the industry initially. It will be so rewarding to see everyone have fun playing when the game is out,

I do not think of giving your more mature Spyro because we can be a good thing because it will not work in the universe, the **** the gameplay,
sapphire24

lol sorry about that, The word censored out is 'style'. I don't know why Gamespot would censor that word out when it's not even a bad word.

And Spyro was designed by the character designer of Shrek, actually. 

To Lowndes: What the heck? The Spyro in the picture you posed looks better, while his in-game model looks so... deformed! I mean, I'm not bashing Skylanders but c'mon! Well, perhaps this is a sign they're re-designing Spyro a little? If so, GOOD!

However, not to judge Skylanders already, but in the trailer, the gameplay looks different from the Spyro games we've got. This game couldn't possibly be a main part of the franchise, a spin off's better. Still, perhaps I'm talking too soon.

Also, just in case people  think I hate Spyro's Adventure: I do NOT hate it! How could I?, it isn't even released yet. I'm just really underwhelmed by how Spyro looks in Skylanders, I mean, DotD Spyro was probably Spyro's best design, different but damn good! And then, we get Skylanders Spyro. That was just a disappointment for me. The gameplay looks fine to me, concept's great as well, it's only Spyro's design I have problems with, hopefully you'll understand.

And Spyro was designed by the character designer of Shrek, actually. 

sapphire24

Whoa, wait lowndes... I somewhat agree. BUT here is the stitch: When i first saw Toothless i thought there was no way i would ever see this movie. His character model seemed just too.... different. However it grew on me. That movie taught me that it isnt about the character models, the scenes, the backgrounds, and so on, but how truly great the story and morals are behind them. I still agree Spyro could look better for this next game, but it's not going to stop me from at least playing it. After all, if i never would have caught a glimpse of HYTYD on the net, it never would have become my favorite movie.

^ Well, that REALLY makes me think... I used to say that this version of Spyro would never grow on me, I tried to like his design, but I couldn't. However, now that you've said this, I think I once again, overreacted.

But what did you expect? Dawn of the Dragon Spyro really WOWED me, I thought that his design in the next game would surprise us, and it did-just not in a good way. What I'm trying to say is, perhaps this design of Spyro isn't as bad as I think. It's just, he doesn't remind me of the Spyro I used to know; every single game had designs of Spyro, and they stayed true to his character. Yes, this also counts for the LoS trilogy, you could reconize Spyro, not because he was purple but because of the way he looked.

This Spyro, just look it him! He looks like he was trying to be PS1 Spyro, and ended up as something demonic instead. Yet those drawings of Skylanders Spyro capture the way Spyro's supposed to be! How the hell could they not work it into Skylanders itself? I mean, unless they re-design Spyro, there'll be a WAVE OF RAGING SPYRO FANS!!!

I was angry too when I saw Spyro's design in Skylanders, I was incredibly disappointed, underwhelmed and wanted to return to DotD Spyro. Yet I knew I couldn't. There'd be a better design of Spyro in the future, but all of his designs were great in their own right. Flawed? Yes. Bad? No. I do not believe in perfection, and as long as I know the developers are doing their best on the designs, I'm good.

Lookie here, a wall of text! 

you know, here is the other thing;

Most of us are old enough to have seen the evolution from crappy graphics on old Nintendo systems to the photorealistic quality we see on our next gen counsols. We grew up thinking that every game must be better than the last. Believe it or not however, we probably had just as much fun if not more fun on the older systems with worse graphics. Now that skylanders has somewhat reverted back to its older style and is less graphics intence, we think of it as garbage. It really goes back to the whole toothless thing i was talking about on another topic: If you break them down, games are really more about the story and mechanics and not so much as the graphics and special effects. Granted they do help with sales, but are not necessary to win the hearts and minds of the audience.

The short version: We've been spoiled by high-end graphics and characters, that we don't even bother to look at what else is behind the picture!

I can't tell you how many blogs I wrote concerning how everyone judges a game by it's looks. But this is a differnet circumstance all together: people are judging on what Spyro looks like, not what the game looks like. This is not even remotely anything like Spyro. Spyro is a poke-y light hearted dragon with a mild attitude...this thing...yeah. It's like giving Link a voice over, or giving Mario a gun - see, you just can't monkey ith stuff like this and think gamers will not react.

The toy-and-game thing is also up for debate. This could be EXPENSIVE. I mean there's 32 of them; if the price of each were $5 you'd have to pay $160 to complete your collection. And I highly doubt they would be that cheap (this is ACTIVISION we're talking about here) so I'm guessing they'll be in the $10 range. The damge? $320! These gadgets don't sell cheap. You have to wonder what ever happened to unlocking characters. Next thing you know they'll force you to pay in order to complete a game 100%! Oh wait...they already did that.