Do you hope to one day get rid of the cut-scenes entirely?
Oh absolutely. The
more we can create a
seamless experience
where the story
unfolds through the
gameplay, the more
convincing that world
becomes. When you
bring the story out of
the cut-scenes and into
the gameplay, the
gameplay then
becomes more cine-
matic. In Sands of
Time, the camera is not
just glued behind the
prince’s head, follow-
ing him around.
Sometimes you enter a room and the camera takes a cinematic approach, showing you
the environment, emphasizing certain features, directing your attention to certain
clues. During gameplay, the camera will cut from one angle to another for a dramatic
introduction of enemies, to show the prince unsheathe his sword to fight, to show what
Farah’s doing. As the game camera becomes smarter and freer, that allows you to do
things in the game that previously you could only have done in cut-scenes.
Do you think you will ever manage to work on another game other than a new
Prince of Persia?
Much as I enjoyed working onSands of Time, I don’t foresee repeating that level of per-
sonal involvement in aPrince of Persiagame. This was a special situation because it was
really essential both for Ubisoft and myself to get the series off to the strongest start
possible. It was such a long gap betweenPrince 2andSands of Time— ten years — that
it didn’t feel like doing a sequel, it felt like an original title. Now thatSandsis done,
there’s a lot of great talent at Ubisoft Montreal and they are very good at building on
their franchises and taking them in new directions. I’m excited to see what Ubisoft will
do withPrincebut for my next game, I’m most interested in exploring original ideas and
new directions.
That’s not to say I’m done withPrince of Persiabecause my current project is writ-
ing the screenplay for thePrince of Persiamovie, which Jerry Bruckheimer is
producing for Disney. John August and I are executive producers on the project.
Do you find that your game designs change much over the course of a project?
WithKaratekaandPrince of PersiaI had the luxury of letting the game evolve over
time, since it was just me in a room with a computer, with no budget and no corporate
bottom line. I thoughtPrince of Persiawould take a year and it ended up taking three,
350 Chapter 18: Interview: Jordan Mechner
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time