Type of site Interview Archive Headquarters Los Angeles, CA Created by David Grabias | Available in English Owner Artifact | |
Slogan(s) Insights from the greatest minds in videogames | ||
The Critical Path Project (stylized CRITICAL///PATH) is a video archive of interviews with "some of the most influential designers and visionaries" in video games.
Contents
Launched on July 23, 2012, Critical Path contains over 1,000 videos of interviews with over 100 developers, conducted between 2010 and the present. According to director David Grabias, the project's goals include:
Topics covered in the interviews include violence in games, methods of storytelling, game mechanics, player interaction, psychology behind playing games, commercialism in the industry, and the future of video games, among others.
All clips on the site are available for free viewing online, and there are plans to release a full-length documentary in the future.
Interview Subjects
The site currently features video clips with interviews from the following developers, among others:
Discussion
A few quotes from the site have raised some interesting discussions between critics and fans alike. For example, Metal Gear Solid Director Hideo Kojima (famous for his cinematic narrative scenes) mentions that he's "not trying to tell a story." Sid Meier says he's "failed as a designer" when players use cheats, causing some stir with gamers when they discovered an all-powerful Sid Meier character in the latest Firaxis release, X-COM: Enemy Unknown.
One of the more interesting takeaways from the archive is the juxtaposition of differing opinions from the developers. For example, Cliff Bleszinski speaks about creating empowerment fantasies for players, while Warren Spector condemns the practice. Sid Meier says that "micromanagement is not fun" and other developers, like Fable's Peter Molyneux, Ultima's Richard Garriott, and others attempt to create games that give the player as much freedom and decision-making as possible.