Todd Howard on the Hot Seat

[Brother None]

Todd Howard is popular these days, now on IGN's Hot Seat.<blockquote>IGN: What are the last five songs you listened to?

Todd Howard: "Maybe", "I Don't Want to Set the World of Fire", both from the Ink Spots, "Anything Goes" – Cole Porter, "Butcher Pete" – Roy Brown. All from Fallout 3. The 5th, I don't know the name of, it's from my 5-year-old's summer camp CD, but the refrain is "Wam! Bam! Jesus Loves me - Shazam!" I couldn't make that up if I tried.</blockquote>Link: IGN Hot Seat: Todd Howard.

Spotted on BethBlog.

 

[shorrtybearr]

why do IGN do this? Hes not a celebrity & i dont want to get know him, im not fu*king dating the guy! i dont care where he likes to go or what he envies. Hell i dont care what 99% of the so-called celebrities do, say, wear or get caught doing in a carpark.

Talk about the game when your in the public eye, save the hobbies and interest talk for your friends and families.

 

[Per]

If they ask him the questions you can't blame him for answering.

 

[Bofast]

IGN: What's it like there?

Todd Howard: Picture corn. Now picture corn everywhere.

That's actually a decent piece of humour

Honestly, though, what's up with the comments on IGN? Are they having "Fanboy day" or something?
This is about as interesting as the latest celebrity scandal... not interesting, that is.

 

[Pope Viper]

Todd Howard is the new Britney Spears.

 

[The Dutch Ghost]

If he sings "Hit me baby one more time" I will gladly do it.

 

[Pope Viper]

Wonder when the pictures of him stepping out of a car with his wing-wang hanging out will appear.

 

[Polynikes]

That poor child.

 

[shihonage]

I thought a developer was supposed to become a celebrity after the game is released, if it's any good.

Not _before_ it is released.

 

[horse]

if the games gonna be as generic as this guy, were screwed.

hehe @ "that poor child"

 

[Dracon M'Alkir]

I'm guessing Pete Hines got fired.

Todd Howard: Local blackout in our area a few days ago. Building dark; stop lights out. Jeff Gardiner, one of our producers, drove a few of us to Starbucks. He drives through a non-working stoplight the same time as a truck. About 10 inches from our deaths,

Hmm [!]

 

[Captain Iraq]

I highly doubt that Jesus loves Todd.

 

[Brother None]

Todd Howard: Local blackout in our area a few days ago. Building dark; stop lights out. Jeff Gardiner, one of our producers, drove a few of us to Starbucks. He drives through a non-working stoplight the same time as a truck. About 10 inches from our deaths,

Hmm [!]

Hmmm what?

 

[Eyenixon]

I highly doubt that Jesus loves Todd.

Jesus loves Todd just like he loves you.
Jesus loves us all.

Shh, go to sleep. It's alright.

Shh...

 

[Cimmerian Nights]

IGN: What are the last five songs you listened to?

Todd Howard: "Maybe", "I Don't Want to Set the World of Fire", both from the Ink Spots, "Anything Goes" – Cole Porter, "Butcher Pete" – Roy Brown. All from Fallout 3. The 5th, I don't know the name of, it's from my 5-year-old's summer camp CD, but the refrain is "Wam! Bam! Jesus Loves me - Shazam!" I couldn't make that up if I tried.

His level of aesthetic appreciation and artisitic depth is really reassuring.

I learned enough about Todd in the "you dork go back to the chess club" interview, that I don't really feel the need to crawl in his skin. Go to about 2:00 for it
[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=m3WQZXiYLbg[/youtube]

He's about as edgy as a glass of warm milk and cookies, he can't possibly bring the requisite rugged credibility to the table that a game like Fallout demands.

 

[Lingwei]

Howard has an impressive track record of pushing gaming into territory that few other designers would dare to go. Where most designers tend to think in terms of simplicity and economy, Howard's games have been defined by a staggering sense of scale and immersion that few others can match.

It's like Bizarro world.

 

[Kyuu]

Howard has an impressive track record of pushing gaming into territory that few other designers would dare to go. Where most designers tend to think in terms of simplicity and economy, Howard's games have been defined by a staggering sense of scale and immersion that few others can match.

Whoever wrote that needs a lobotomy. Urgently. S/he is going to hurt him/herself.

He's about as edgy as a glass of warm milk and cookies, he can't possibly bring the requisite rugged credibility to the table that a game like Fallout demands.

While I would agree that Todd Howard is certainly not the ideal candidate for the lead of a Fallout game, I don't think "edginess" or "rugged credibility" is really the problem. More like bad taste and not knowing good game design if it was shoved down his gullet.

 

[Ranne]

Where most designers tend to think in terms of simplicity and economy, Howard's games have been defined by a staggering sense of scale and immersion that few others can match.

Wow.
Just... Wow....

Howard began his professional life in gaming at Bethesda Softworks in 1994, a time when games still shipped on floppy disks and first person shooters were controlled with arrow keys.

It was the dark age of mankind, the time when the dinosaurs still roamed the Earth, the time when Lincoln, Genghis Khan and Henry the Fifth were all busy hunting mammoths and taming fire...

Sid Meier founded MicroProse in 1982. John Romero made his first game in 1984. 14 years is not bad at all, but it's certainly nothing groundbreaking and most certainly not that far from today to be mentioned in such a revering manner. And what's with the floppy reference? They used CD-Roms in early 90s, you know. I still have a dusty copy of Myst lying around, in case anyone doubts that.

IGN: What's a place in the world that you love going to?
Todd Howard: My bed. Awesome.

...
Totally, dude.

IGN: What's the last book you read?
Todd Howard: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
IGN: What did you think of it?
Todd Howard: I was pretty impressed, actually.

IGN: When was the last time you laughed?
Todd Howard: I just saw the Ben Stiller/Tropic Thunder viral video with Robert Downey and Jack Black. Genius.

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1588444&vid=237158
Genius. At least now we know where the inspiration for toilet drinking came from.

 

[ivpiter]

IGN: What game that you have worked on do you feel didn't get a fair shake?

Todd Howard: Terminator: Future Shock, way ahead of its time... That game ruled, and some of the reviews still piss me off.

The man can hold a grudge.

No wonder Emil (I think it was Emil) mentioned F:3 as the spiritual successor to T:FS. Don't let the Todd think you don't like his design.

 

[Anani Masu]

I do kinda like the direction they're heading with the old music they've selected. In "Anything Goes" it talks about how times have changed and how the world is a madhouse and how, as the title suggests, anything goes. Thats a pretty accurate assessment of the state of fallout's world but it's also pretty funny because instead of death, mutation and cannibalism the song is about the horrors of women wearing revealing clothes, people using profanity and sleeping around.