So you were sucked back into game development against your will?
That’s a good choice of words. [laughter] The other word I would use is seduced. It was
just such a fun project and the team was so talented and working so hard and the poten-
tial was so clearly there from the beginning. They wanted to do something really
extraordinary. Ubisoft Montreal was not yet on the map then the way they are now, fol-
lowingSplinter CellandSands of Time. At the time this team had not yet done those
types of high-profile games but they were certainly capable of it. They just had to prove
it to the world. It was a very refreshing atmosphere; working with them was a real
pleasure.
It’s interesting thatSands of Timeis so radically different from the prior 3D
incarnation of the game,Prince of Persia 3D.
That was one of the first things that I talked about with Ubisoft when they proposed
doing a newPrince of Persiagame. Neither of us wanted to do anotherPrince of Persia
3D. So we kind of mutually reassured each other that that wasn’t what we had in mind.
The problem withPrince of Persia 3Dfrom the moment it was proposed and on through
the early stages, the obvious question to ask was, “Isn’t this justTomb Raiderwith
baggy pants and a turban?” And ultimately I think in the end it really wasTomb Raider
with baggy pants and a turban. That wasn’t enough. So forSands of Time, Ubisoft and I
basically said let’s not even look atPrince of Persia 3D. Let’s look at the original titles —
why were they fun, what aspects of that make us think that a remake now is worth
doing? What are the aspects that we want to try to capture from the original? In what
ways is this going to be a totally new and different game?Sands of Time, in many ways,
was like doing an original title. It had been so long sincePrince 1and 2 , ten years, the
expectations of what a video game should be are so different now. There was no possi-
bility of literally sticking to the rules of gameplay or the character or the story or
anything like that. We needed a new character, new story, new gameplay, new rules.
Prince of Persiaultimately represented a style of game, a kind of feeling that you
get playing it. One of the main inspirations forPrince 1,back in 1986 when I started to
program it on the Apple
II, had been the first
ten minutes ofRaiders
of the Lost Ark. The
idea of doing a game
that would have that
kind of running, jump-
ing, seat-of-your-pants
improvising these
acrobatic responses to
a dangerous environ-
ment. And then of
course the story being
a swashbuckling ad-
venture movie in the
spirit of Raiders, and
346 Chapter 18: Interview: Jordan Mechner
Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time