Interviews// Bethesda Softworks Peter Hines

SPOnG: So, how far into development are you since you announced the game in 2004?

Pete Hines: Well, the announcement [in late 2004] was just to let people know that we had the license and that we'd acquired the rights - the IP - from Interplay. We're good ways into development, but it will probably be a while longer before we decide to show folks what we're up to. We tend not to reveal anything about our game until we can show folks 'this is what it looks like' and 'this is what it plays like'.

SPOnG: So presumably you'll be attending the new slimmed-down E3 this year?

Pete Hines: Yeah, I'm sure we will.

SPOnG: Will we see anything on Fallout 3 there?

Pete Hines: That's TBD (To Be Discussed)!

SPOnG: One of the things that crops up a lot in reviews and discussions of about Fallout is that a lot of the fans like the about Fallout humour. What does this mean to you?

Pete Hines: Well, Todd Howard (Executive Producer at Bethesda) has talked a little about this. We're not big fans of jokes… developers that try to tell jokes, it tends not to work very well. You know, the humour in Fallout 3 is that you can get a weapon and blow a guy to a bloody mess, then when you pull up your interface, you see a little smiling cartoon character holding his thumb up. Like that's funny… funny not in terms of jokes or winks at the camera and such…

SPOnG: So, more like Terminator style humour?

Pete Hines: Yeah, exactly, that sort of stuff. It's just on how you present the game and the content and the setting.

SPOnG: And the setting is East Coast USA right?

Pete Hines: I dunno if we've said, have we? There's a lot of rumour and speculation swirling about out there! [laughs]

SPOnG: Is it fair to say it will be released on PC, PS3 and 360?

Pete Hines: No, not fair to say. We haven't announced any platforms yet.

SPOnG: Next up, to say a little bit about the current state of the PC market, what's the feeling at Bethesda about Microsoft's Vista and the whole 'Games for Windows' initiative?

Pete Hines: I certainly think they are the right guys to lead that charge, they are in the best position versus any other company. Whether or not it's going to be an answer or simply a step in the right direction remains to be seen, but I certainly think Microsoft has realised that that market has gone neglected for far too long. So, the fact that 'Games for Windows' is actively setting out to standardise that market and bring it back to the forefront is clearly a good thing.

SPOnG: Moving on to Wii and handhelds. What are the plans in those areas?

Pete Hines: Yeah, we're doing a number of things. We announced Oblivion for PSP a while back, although we haven't said and won't be saying too much about it anytime soon.

Wii is a different enough console so you have to focus on it specifically for the kind of hardware and experience it’s offering, so no announced plans or anything in the works right now for Wii. We just did a DS and a PSP version for Star Trek too… We do have a lot of folks at Bethesda who have bought Wiis though!


Don't forget to read the second part of our interview with Pete right here - when we talk in-depth about Shivering Isle.