Feature

NG-Gamer:
First of all, can you say who you are and what you do for the people who don´t know you.

Allison Berryman:
I'm the Community Manager here at Gearbox. I am the main administrator on our official community forums (http://gbxforums.gearboxsoftware.com/), I update the website with news and announcements, make mailing list updates, answer external e-mails, make announcements to news sites, and generally find ways to promote developer-community interaction to expand our community (like organizing IRC chats and other events).

NG-Gamer:
Congratulations on Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood. We reviewed the game and gave it a score of 90% which was well deserved. The game was again an improvement to the awesome Brothers in Arms: Road To Hill 30.

Allison Berryman:
Thank you! We're very happy with the scores we've seen - I've read almost every review out there. It's really good to know that there's a receptive audience to what Gearbox is doing. We have a great community with all kinds of people - from World War II buffs to people who were introduced to the stories from the war by the game. It's great that people recognize that we're pushing the video game medium forward by recreating history and involving storytelling and tactics in the FPS genre.

NG-Gamer:
It´s 2006, happy new year by the way... the Xbox 360 has made its entrance in the world of videogames and the Nintendo Revolution and the PlayStation 3 are expected to launch somewhere in 2006. What are your predictions on the battle between the next-generation consoles?

Allison Berryman:
Personally, I think all the consoles are going to have different and exciting things to offer - I'm really psyched to see what developers do with the new
technology. The 360 has a strong online presence that offers console gamers more play options, the PS3 has very powerful hardware and Sony's traditionally great third-party support, and the Revolution is going to make developers and gamers alike rethink the way they approach video games. I'm really excited for all of them, being a really avid gamer - this year sure is going to put a dent in my savings!

NG-Gamer:
Do you have plans for the next-generation consoles? If so, for which consoles is Gearbox currently developing?

Allison Berryman:
Gearbox has games in development for the PS3 and the Xbox 360. At the Tokyo Game Show, Sony announced that Brothers in Arms 3 will be coming to the Playstation 3. We're using the Unreal 3 engine - it's definitely going to be a next-generation title (there's a press release here: http://www.gearboxsoftware.com/index.php?p=pr&pr=9)..

NG-Gamer:
Nintendo is doing what they´re good at with the Nintendo Revolution - innovation. The unique Revolution controller seems to be something to look forward to. How do you think about this statement?

Allison Berryman:
I'm intrigued by the Revolution controller - I've read all I can about it, and I'm really interested to see what it can do. What is most interesting to me is
that this design - much like the DS did - is asking developers to innovate, as well. With hardware like this, game companies are going to have to really think about how best to utilize it and still make a fun game. I'm sure there will be many great games that are fun and unique experiences for gamers to play and for the developers to make.

NG-Gamer:
We all know that Brothers in Arms 3 is being developed. What can you tell us about this third installment in the Brothers in Arms franchise, except for the fact that is in development?

Allison Berryman:
Unfortunately, I can't tell you anything new quite yet! The Unreal 3 engine is very powerful and we're doing some very impressive things with the technology. I'm very excited and we're eager to share more details, but it's not quite time yet.

NG-Gamer:
Will Brothers in Arms 3 feature Matt Baker, the main character of Brothers in Arms: Road To Hill 30, or Joe Hartsock, the main character of Brothers in Arms: Earned in Blood again? Or will there be new characters introduced to the game?

Allison Berryman:
Another subject that I can't really talk about yet! Do you want to get me in trouble? ;p New details will start coming out soon. Visiting our site periodically (http://www.gearboxsoftware.com) is a great way to stay on top of any news and announcements that come straight from us!

NG-Gamer:
What will be the biggest difference between Brothers in Arms 3 and its predecessors - BiA: RTH30 and BiA: EiB - besides the improved graphics?

Allison Berryman:
You're brutal! :)

NG-Gamer:
Authenticity seems to be one of the elements that are very important to Gearbox and one of the elements that´s been given a lot of attention. Why do you think authenticity is important?

Allison Berryman:
We're exploring a really fascinating and unique area in gaming - using the medium to retell a true historical event. We have the power to recreate moments in history and offer the player a chance to experience something he or she never could in real life. We're combining all this information and chronicling history in a new way.
This is very powerful stuff. There are several other games that use historical settings, and they're fun games, but we wanted to put the power of the video game medium to use. By using authentic military tactics and recreating actual areas and telling a true story, we're doing something special. We're honoring the men who fought by telling a story of bravery, camaraderie, loss and the horror of war; we're offering this experience to people everywhere who may not know anything about WWII. By being authentic, we not only approach the FPS genre from a unique angle, but we help involve the player in history and use the power of the medium to accurately recreate experiences.

NG-Gamer:
Although Brothers in Arms is a great franchise, the competition is tougher than ever. There is the Medal Of Honor franchise which is trying to make a comeback with their new game after it became just a brainless shooter in a warthemed setting. There is the fantastic Call of Duty franchise, which recently introduced Call of Duty 2 that did a great job. There is also another war themed game in the making that seems to have the potential to become something big, I´m talking about The Outfit. How do you
feel about all this competition? Can you cope with the competition?

Allison Berryman:
There certainly are a good number of war-themed games, and there are a lot of them that are fun to play. None of them, however, offer the realism and
authenticity that Brothers in Arms offers. None really offer true squad tactics, and I don't believe any have done the extensive amount of research on weapons, battlegrounds, and historical narrative that Gearbox has done. None of them tell a story and involve the player in the history and true events like Brothers in Arms can. I get e-mails almost every day from fans telling us how much they appreciate the historical realism and story that we tell - people saying that they've played other WWII games and have never been so
involved as they were in Brothers in Arms. The competition is great - it shows that a LOT of people really care about the subject matter. I think BiA3 will more than speak for itself against the competition when it arrives, though ;p

NG-Gamer:
Although Gearbox has done things with games as Half-Life and Halo, they are mainly known for their Brothers in Arms games - war themed tactical shooters. I can imagine that some people start wondering if Gearbox can do something else besides that... How do you comment on this?

Allison Berryman:
Gearbox is a company with very diverse interests - we've also worked on the Tony Hawk franchise before. We're most definitely continuing the Brothers in Arms franchise (of course!), but that doesn't mean it's the only thing we'll ever do. We have people who work here who have had all sorts of experience in the game development world - across many genres.

We're always looking toward the future, and we feel that it holds great things for us.

NG-Gamer:
Online gaming is becoming more and more important in the gamesindustry of today. What is your opinion on online gaming and do you think that it could become more important than the single player modes with fantastic storylines and intense game-experiences?!

Allison Berryman:
Personally, I seriously doubt that the single-player experience will ever lose ground in the industry. I think that improved environments for online gaming
definitely expand the boundaries of gaming as we know it. Online gaming with PCs has been around for a very long time now, and we still see excellent single-player focused titles for the PC - but many games offer expanded content through playing online. Consoles are making the online move as well, and I think that it enhances play very well. Obviously, there are wildly successful multiplayer games out there that offer no single player, and
vice versa. I think we'll continue to see the options for online play expand and that having some sort of multiplayer option will become more ubiquitous, but there will always be a large place for well-crafted single-player experiences.

NG-Gamer:
What will Geabox bring us in the future?

Allison Berryman:
You can continue to expect excellence out of Gearbox - we always strive to look ahead and make great game play experiences. Keep your eyes peeled - we've got great things coming :)