About Last Night ...

Winds of Change

So we built in the Garden Builder. Every five levels, depending on how well you did - it's kind of like a Diner Dash model - if you get all five gold medals in five levels, you go to this high-res garden, and you can add new upgrades, and kinda tweak things, and get a better looking fountain, and stuff like that.

As we were making the game - it's mostly guys in our 20s - so it's really hard to figure out what women over 35 really want to get in these games. When we were making the game, it felt like a fun little diversion, but when we went to beta testers, [garden building] was pretty much their favorite part of the game.

TE: You say that casual games are a stepping stone for Yatec. Are they fun to work on, or are you guys grinding now to get to the fun stuff later?

BL: It's actually really fun. It's surprising. Except for Heather, our lead artist, it's all guys in their mid-20s. ... A lot of times we're just sitting there, like, "What is the player going to do?" It's kind of like the Wild West for us. It's just, like, games that we don't really play, so it's a new area for us to get into.

TE: As the core gaming group gets older and they start getting married and having kids, do you think the casual space is going to grow, and they'll demand different types of games?

BL: Xbox Live Arcade helps that a lot. I know guys that are younger than me and they play Zuma and ... they're excited about [Eats]. There's people looking forward to the casual games on Live Arcade more than the hardcore demos that come out there. It's driving younger players to get used to casual games. Live Arcade is really helping the demographic find casual games. I'm 25, and I'd like to think of myself as a hardcore gamer, but you're right, I don't have time to play them anymore. ... I think by the next generation, casual games won't be called casual games anymore. It'll just be people playing games.

TE: Thanks for your time, Ben.

BL: Thanks a lot!

***

When I first heard about Yatec Games and their goal of bringing the gaming industry to southern Louisiana, my first response was one of bemusement. Why in God's name would a bunch of computer geeks ever wish to move to a place that's one more natural disaster away from Beyond Thunderdome? But after speaking to Lewis, I think I know why. New Orleans and the places around it are a mass of potential, waiting to be shaped into something new. It's a blank slate waiting for new inhabitants to make their mark. Who better to build a world than the people who create them for a living?

Joe Blancato is an Associate Editor for The Escapist. He quotes Wayne's World and Dr. Strangelove more often than what can be considered normal.