Talking at DICE 2009, Electronic Arts John Riccitiello announced that there would be another Alice game coming from American McGee to the PC and consoles.
More details, he said, would be coming later today.
Live Blog: DICE 2009 - John Riccitiello, Electronic Arts [The Feed]
Excellent game and I'm thirlled that there will be another one
John Riccitiello is up on stage and I'm a bit late as the previous presentation ran long. I'm gonna jump right into it.
12:25 PM - EA will be announcing more details later today with American McGee and a new IP? We'll bring you more later.
On sequels, "great new games can also come" from sequels. John believes that sequels can be just as innovative as new IP's. Wait, EA was the company that launched tons of new IP's last year. Did I stumble into an Activision presentation?
What goes into titles like FIFA and Madden every year aren't just roster updates. He believes sports games can be just as innovative as well.
Conclusion: sequels are good. Analysis: the economy could send EA back to the sequel shop. He feels that companies should decide what's important, invest in that, cut the rest.
The presentation itself was short, but now he's turning it over to Q&A.
Q: Is the American McGee game another Alice game?
A: Yes. It'll be for PC & Console. Official announcement later today.
Q: Could you talk about some of the missteps in 2008 for EA?
A: Some of the new IP's didn't take off. When you miss, it's easy to point to broader economic issues, but not take a look internally. They noticed a lot of issues internal to EA, especially with how they brought new IP's to market. Secondly, the company was too big in several places. They chose to make pretty hard calls to bring costs down and revamp how they bring titles to market.
Q: What are your comments on the difference between PC and console gaming?
A: What is most interesting, when looking at NPD numbers, is that PC gaming is on a decline. PC business is a growth business, but it doesn't show up at retail. This is how Blizzard makes money with World of WarCraft. It's a small portion that shows up at retail, but the majority is subscription. New models like micro-transactions and subscriptions make this possible. John's judgment is that the PC market is actually growing faster than the console market, but in a different way.
He's also seeing convergence between different types of platforms. EA has mobile applications that enhance the experience in the full game. They are feeling more connected than ever before and this is coming across to consumers. John look forward to when Nintendo, Sony, and Microsoft open up their software backends so that developers and publishers can start direct relationships with consumers. Shout out to Gabe Newell!
Q: How are you going to experiment with new business models, but lower costs?
A: It didn't help that we invested in a tough year, but the strategy holds. We're still going to invest in smart sequels and take a look at new IP's that delight us and our consumers. They also believe in gaming as a service and direct consumer models. They put the smart projects at the top and made cuts below that line. It was tough to make cuts, but John believes they've gotten through them.
Q: What will it take for a new IP to elevate itself to the next level?
A: Successful franchises were, at some point, a new IP. What is true about almost all of them is that they started small. Call of Duty started small. Grand Theft Auto started different and much smaller. It's so easy to put a property out there, forget it, and drive it into Oblivion (another good franchise). Keep the teams together and continue to invest. They had good success with Dead Space and Spore that can be built into properties. Things like Mirror's Edge resonated with people's imaginations, but didn't perform well at market. They can learn from that and make it better. Other unnamed properties aren't worth bringing back. They can learn from what worked and keep it. See what didn't and lose it.
Wow, I was so pleased to remind myself of that game yesterday (when someone asked about gothic feel games), and a day later comes this. Excellent news.
Alice and her creepy Cheshire are back.
Electronic Arts today announced the sequel to American McGee's Alice, the mature-rated interpretation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland released on the PC nine years ago. The follow-up is being designed by McGee himself, and coded by his upstart China-based game studio, Spicy Horse. EA will publish the game for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360, but did not say when, presumably as the title remains early in development.
"This new project is a dream come true for me and the fans who’ve kept the Alice flame alive," said American McGee, designer and senior director at Spicy Horse. "EA gave us creative latitude and support on the original game which resulted in something beautiful and daring. This trip through the looking glass promises to be even more exciting."
With very little additional information being shared, there is one lone piece of art released to get the imagination going.
The original Alice, a third-person platform game with flashes of horror, was praised for its sinister theme, imaginative graphics, and trippy gameplay.
Electronic Arts is teaming up with Spicy Horse and American McGee to create a sequel to Electronic Art's PC classic from 2000.
Currently titled The Return of American McGee's Alice, the game is still in pre-production and "won't be completed for some time." The game is in development for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360.
"This new project is a dream come true for me and the fans who've kept the Alice flame alive," said American McGee, senior creative director at Spicy Horse. "EA gave us creative latitude and support on the original game which resulted in something beautiful and daring. This trip through the looking glass promises to be even more exciting."
"EA Partners is thrilled to team up with American McGee and Spicy Horse on the next installment of the Alice franchise," said David DeMartini, senior vice president and general manager of EA Partners. "American McGee's interpretation of Alice was an instant classic, and EA Partners is ready to help him bring his innovative vision for the franchise to even darker, more exciting places."
What are you hoping for from this game? A rework of the original? New ground broken? Multiplayer?
Deadly jumping jacks, a vivisected dormouse, and a suicidal Alice were the products of famed designer American McGee's first trip through the looking glass. There's no telling where his second will take us.
"We've given him a blank canvas to go where he would like," said David DeMartini, Electronic Arts Partners chief. "There is nothing set in stone and nothing has been removed either."
Writing on his personal blog today, McGee said that the sequel to American McGee's Alice, currently named The Return of American McGee's Alice, will have the same writer and executive producer as the original game.
"The original Alice was a good bit of fun - and aspects of the original are still quite compelling," he wrote. "The challenge for us - to build a great game, and a sequel worthy of the original - is real, but not daunting.
"For me, this is a dream come true."
It could be for Electronic Arts Partner label as well.
Although the current project is part of a single game contract, it doesn't mean that collaboration won't lead to other titles down the line, DeMartini said.
"We are really having him focus on this one for now," he said. "Letting him create as strong a game as he can."
But if the game does well, it could lead to future projects.
DeMartini said that there currently aren't any plans to bring the original Alice out of retirement, even as a port for the Playstation Network or Xbox Live Arcade, but that it "wasn't a bad idea."
He added that while the new Alice project, which isn't connected in anyway to the film that has been in the works for yeas, is being developed for the PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360, that doesn't mean it will never come out on the Wii.
"It is possible we would revisit that," he said.
"People loved the original game, loved the gameplay," he said. "It was highly creative and interesting."
When EA Partners started thinking about returning to Alice, they "felt that there would be no better place to turn than to the original creative force behind the first game," he said.
"The first place we turned was to American and American shared a passion for the IP and he's had eight years to think about it."
American McGee's Alice is one of my favorite games of the time, owning to fantastic design and dialogues. It's great news they will be back.
![[Prototype]](https://www.vgchartz.com/games/boxart/2846586AmericaFrontccc.jpg)
Yea it was a fantastic game! I wonder how this will turn out =)
About Us |
Terms of Use |
Privacy Policy |
Advertise |
Staff |
Contact
Display As Desktop
Display As Mobile
© 2006-2026 VGChartz Ltd. All rights reserved.
