Muckraker Posts: 268 Joined: 11 Aug 2008 | Every Prince of Persia Needs a Lady
Producer Ben Mattes discusses the Prince's new companion, Elika, and the secret to creating great female leads.
It's at San Francisco's Ana Mandara restaurant that Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes and I stumble upon the secret to creating a universally appealing female lead in video games. In the latest installment of the timeless, Arabian action series, the Prince is joined by a magical princess named Elika, who shares a common strand with other leading greats such as Alyx Vance of Half-Life 2 and Jade of Ubisoft's own Beyond Good & Evil.
The ambiguous tan.
"She's international" laughs Mattes, rolling his wrists for emphasis. "Elika was designed so that, regardless of your culture or nationality or whatever, everybody on the planet will look at her and say, 'She's pretty.'"
The look of Elika, unsurprisingly, was focused upon heavily during the development of Prince of Persia due to the male dominated nature of action titles, but was also intended as a tip of the hat to female gamers and those who wouldn't typically be interested in these types of games. The role of Elika is an extremely valuable one as she accompanies the Prince throughout the entirety of the game and she isn't content with settling as the Cortana-esque, omnipresent tutorial. As a powerful sorceress who aids the Prince in combat, acrobatics and general death prevention, keeping her from stealing the spotlight proved to be a delicate balancing act for Mattes and his team.
"There's this fine line where she has to be strong yet sexy; autonomous but have a certain amount of dependency on the Prince so that the player still feels like a hero," explains Mattes. "It was also really important to us that she not be treated like a sex symbol or a romantic interest. She has her own ideals and her own goals."
After journeying through the first major region in the new Prince of Persia, it's difficult to imagine life without her. Having experienced the previous trilogy, Elika's inclusion to the series is very much appreciated as she provides the Prince with a handful of new maneuvers including the ability to leap farther, run straight up walls and of course, powerful attacks. The presence of Elika also helps to reintroduce the light hearted side of the Prince as the two combine their efforts, leading to Elika catching a piggy-back ride off the hero as he climbs walls.
To which the Prince buckles and cries, "You're a lot heavier than you look."
While Elika isn't playable character in the console versions of Prince of Persia (much to the chagrin of those always on the hunt for more co-op gaming), she is, however, playable on the mobile version, developed by GameLoft. Available on a vast majority of US carriers, the mobile edition of Prince of Persia is quite enjoyable in its own right, featuring the same sword slashing action and smooth, platform mechanics as big brother console. On the mobile edition, Elika plays less of a role during regular gameplay, but comes under player command when its time to solve puzzles, giving her at least a small taste of the spotlight she deserves.
Compared to previous Prince of Persia titles, the hype for this latest adventure is decidedly low key, as Ubisoft and Mattes seem content with letting the game speak for itself. Should the sales match the level of quality being shown in previews, it looks to be another smash hit for the French publisher. Which of course, begs the question: is this the start of another trilogy? Mattes chuckles at the suggestion.
"We sure hope so."
Permalink |
Pulitzer Laureate Posts: 780 Joined: 7 Jun 2008 | I don't think Alyx Vance's tan is ambiguous at all. I mean, her father is Eli Vance, who is unabashedly black.
I don't understand this. Shouldn't she be Persian? I mean, that's a no-brainer, right? Eh, I suppose it doesn't matter. I'll just pretend they meant for her to be Persian.
Kudos to Ubisoft for developing a "normal" woman as a sidekick. What would really be shocking if someone developed a normal woman as the primary character. |
On the Record Posts: 5967 Joined: 7 Feb 2008 | She could be classically persian... she doesn't look un-persian.
Anyway... game...looks...so...good. |
Paperboy Posts: 14 Joined: 19 Oct 2008 | HobbesMkii:
I don't understand this. Shouldn't she be Persian?
Well, historically the Aryans are descended from Persians, so that she has some Westernized features isn't too bothersome. Besides, doesn't this game take place NOT in historical Persian and instead in a storybook fantasy world? |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 3664 Joined: 21 Jan 2008 | Regardless of Elika, this game seems to have everything to make successful bearer of the title Prince of Persia. Hopefully, this game ends up living up to the Sands of Time trilogy. |
Muckraker Posts: 235 Joined: 6 Feb 2008 | I don't consider this game to be a true PoP game. It's simply too alien to the PoP storyline. |
Paperboy Posts: 42 Joined: 24 Feb 2008 | You mean the one where the prince rescues the princess? Ôo
Besides that i somehow to get a tired feeling in my guts when anyone says the word triologie to a game, even if that game looks great and isn't out yet.
Couldn't they just say "we hope to make other games of that kind?".
Triologie seems to be so used up these days.
Best example is Mass Effect, which was a great game, but has rigth now not a single "want" feel hocked in to me. |
Artist Posts: 192 Joined: 24 Jun 2008 | She looks like Natalie Portman to me... |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1424 Joined: 2 Mar 2008 | Chaos Marine:
I don't consider this game to be a true PoP game. It's simply too alien to the PoP storyline.
The story was "You have an hour to save a princess from a Vizier (SP?). Go." So, by your standards, the "Sands of Time" trilogy aren't PoP games. You should watch the interviews with ben Mattes, and then read the official graphic novel. It explains, quite well, "There are many Princes of Persia, each with a adtory to be told." |
Anonymous Source Posts: 1 Joined: 15 Nov 2008 | "Ethnic Ambiguous" was the 'hot' terminology used when I first heard it!
She sounds like a relatively solid character, but the "There's this fine line where she has to be strong yet sexy" bit bugs me a smidge. Why does she *have* to be sexy? Was the Prince designed around the same standards? |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 1376 Joined: 17 May 2008 | .tiff:
"Ethnic Ambiguous" was the 'hot' terminology used when I first heard it!
She sounds like a relatively solid character, but the "There's this fine line where she has to be strong yet sexy" bit bugs me a smidge. Why does she *have* to be sexy? Was the Prince designed around the same standards?
Would it have been the same if the Prince was a normal joe?
And to answer your question:
Yes, 'Sexy' does sell. |
Gone Gonzo Posts: 4164 Joined: 6 Sep 2008 | Yes, the prince was designed around the same standards.
Infact, ever notice the Prince from SoT looks kinda like... well, Prince? |
Muckraker Posts: 235 Joined: 6 Feb 2008 | What I meant, and my apologies if I didn't get this through on my original post, was that the game looks too far removed from the PoP series. You look at any screen shot in the previous games and you'll see some kind of location that could be believable as a real world location. This one? When was there ever a civilisation in the past that built spherical structures with fans? Seriously? |
Every Prince of Persia Needs a Lady
Producer Ben Mattes discusses the Prince's new companion, Elika, and the secret to creating great female leads.
It's at San Francisco's Ana Mandara restaurant that Prince of Persia producer Ben Mattes and I stumble upon the secret to creating a universally appealing female lead in video games. In the latest installment of the timeless, Arabian action series, the Prince is joined by a magical princess named Elika, who shares a common strand with other leading greats such as Alyx Vance of Half-Life 2 and Jade of Ubisoft's own Beyond Good & Evil.
The ambiguous tan.
"She's international" laughs Mattes, rolling his wrists for emphasis. "Elika was designed so that, regardless of your culture or nationality or whatever, everybody on the planet will look at her and say, 'She's pretty.'"
The look of Elika, unsurprisingly, was focused upon heavily during the development of Prince of Persia due to the male dominated nature of action titles, but was also intended as a tip of the hat to female gamers and those who wouldn't typically be interested in these types of games. The role of Elika is an extremely valuable one as she accompanies the Prince throughout the entirety of the game and she isn't content with settling as the Cortana-esque, omnipresent tutorial. As a powerful sorceress who aids the Prince in combat, acrobatics and general death prevention, keeping her from stealing the spotlight proved to be a delicate balancing act for Mattes and his team.
"There's this fine line where she has to be strong yet sexy; autonomous but have a certain amount of dependency on the Prince so that the player still feels like a hero," explains Mattes. "It was also really important to us that she not be treated like a sex symbol or a romantic interest. She has her own ideals and her own goals."
After journeying through the first major region in the new Prince of Persia, it's difficult to imagine life without her. Having experienced the previous trilogy, Elika's inclusion to the series is very much appreciated as she provides the Prince with a handful of new maneuvers including the ability to leap farther, run straight up walls and of course, powerful attacks. The presence of Elika also helps to reintroduce the light hearted side of the Prince as the two combine their efforts, leading to Elika catching a piggy-back ride off the hero as he climbs walls.
To which the Prince buckles and cries, "You're a lot heavier than you look."
While Elika isn't playable character in the console versions of Prince of Persia (much to the chagrin of those always on the hunt for more co-op gaming), she is, however, playable on the mobile version, developed by GameLoft. Available on a vast majority of US carriers, the mobile edition of Prince of Persia is quite enjoyable in its own right, featuring the same sword slashing action and smooth, platform mechanics as big brother console. On the mobile edition, Elika plays less of a role during regular gameplay, but comes under player command when its time to solve puzzles, giving her at least a small taste of the spotlight she deserves.
Compared to previous Prince of Persia titles, the hype for this latest adventure is decidedly low key, as Ubisoft and Mattes seem content with letting the game speak for itself. Should the sales match the level of quality being shown in previews, it looks to be another smash hit for the French publisher. Which of course, begs the question: is this the start of another trilogy? Mattes chuckles at the suggestion.
"We sure hope so."
Permalink