Denis Dyack

Mr. Denis Dynack is the president of Silicon Knights and the director of their current project, "Too Human." You can read more about this anticipated game here and at silicon-knights.com. We got the opportunity to ask him a few questions about his opinions on developing games and the current "console war," with Mrs. Tracey Thompson as a go-between.

What do you think about Microsoft's XNA, and what do you see it doing for video games in general?

XNA is a great step forward to start to standardizing tools for games programming. We have compilers for programming but we don't have something similar for making games. Middleware for games is wide open and moving towards a standard feature set is a great step. In the long term hopefully it will remove the some of the technical difficulty in creating games.

Which console are you most looking forward to developing on, and why? Are you planning on developing for consoles other than the Xbox 360?

We love the 360 and think it is a great console to work on. We are also working on the PS3 and think it too is a great system. Each console has its strengths and weaknesses but, in the end, we think the average consumer will seem them as comparable. Currently the 360 is looking extremely strong. It's a great system combined with a very robust online presence. Microsoft has certainly made some good hardware decisions this generation.

What do you think of the PS3's high price point, and do you think it's justified with the lack of information we're receiving, despite being only three months from launch?

Well, a high price point can be a challenge for the casual consumer. We were hoping it would be sold for a lower price point.

Lack of information before launch is not usual for the console makers and I think Nintendo has also been as secretive with Wii. Microsoft has probably been the most open in this regard.

What do you think of the Wii and what it's bringing to the industry? Do you think the motion sensing technology is a "gimmick," another big step in gaming, or something else? What about such online features as automatic updates while in "sleep" mode?

Well I think the Wii certainly is interesting and has potential; However, I think it will be a challenge for game designers to create games for this control scheme. In the end it is comes down to games. I think concentrating on the game side of things has always been comfortable for us rather then concentrating on a controller scheme. Time will tell if gamers really like the Wii controller.

Automatic updates sound great, but I would have to see the final implementation before commenting.

Do you think micro-transactions are a step forward or step back for the industry?

I think it is a natural evolution in online distribution. Publishers are going through growing pains on what to charge right now - some overcharging while others are undercharging. I think we are going to see many evolutions for online distribution and it is likely the future of gaming retail.

With the issues many people have had with Dead Rising, purportedly due to its use of up to three of the Xbox 360's cores, are you worried about using all two or three cores in your own games?

We have not heard of these issues. I love the game. The biggest issue I heard about was the small font. We are definitely using all 3 cores and will push the 360 to its hardware limits.

Do you think there is still room for major innovations in gameplay for this next-generation of games, or will better storylines, graphics, voice work, etc. become the standard for this generation?

Yes, there will always be room for innovation in gameplay. More than anything I think we will see the evolution of genres combining the storylines, graphics, voice, gameplay into an innovation itself. We probably will move away from categories of 1st person shooter, RPGs and RTS towards content driven categories like drama, sci-fiction, horror. This is where we see the most room for innovation moving forward.

I'd like to thank Mr. Dyack for taking time out of his busy schedule to answer these qquestions, and wish him luck creating "Too Human."