Interview with Marwan Abderrazzaq

Marwan Abderrazzaq is a name that is not easily forgotten.  And if you know this name, you must love him because to know him is to love him. He is an industry veteran who has worked at some of the top publishers and developers in the US from coast to coast and plenty across the pound in the UK.  From Hasbro to EA to The Collective, and has built a legion of fans and if you meet him, you’ll become a fan yourself.

Right now, Marwan has just finished up Mark Ecko’s, Getting Up: Content Under Pressure which has been getting much love from us and many other videogame magazines.  He’s here to talk about his new game.

This feature interview is with Marwan Abderrazzaq.

Marwan, tell us a little bit about the story and motive behind GU:CUP:

Getting Up is the story of Trane – a kid from the City of New Radius and his journey as a graffiti artist from “Toy” to Legend. Trane starts out as kid who doesn’t care too much about anything but himself, but turns into an urban hero fighting against an oppressive city government, and uses graffiti to get his message across – and that is a message of freedom.

How do you think the public responds to a game that is based on graffiti? Do you think the hot coffee mod has made it more difficult for companies to make games based on questionable content?

I can tell you that early on at E3 and just over the course of developing this game – the response has been tremendous. As the game came together – people understood what we were doing and they appreciated the uniqueness of what GU has to offer. There is simply no other game out there like GU. I also believe that we captured the culture of graffiti and have honored the artists that have given graffiti its unique voice and made it a wonderful expression of art. It was important to us to make this a game – but also respect the culture of graffiti.

As far the whole “coffee mod” think. I don’t pay too much attention to that. I think its nonsense that the government is paying that much attention to such a thing. I will say that our industry needs to continue to focus on making great games that entertain and capture audiences the world over.

So, how many people worked on this team and how long did it take to develop?

I would say including the Ecko Team and all the fantastic 3rd party production houses like Attitude Studios in Paris that contributed to this project – there were well over 130 talented individuals that came together to bring Getting Up to life and this was over the course of 24 months.

What platforms (PS2, Xbox 360?) will it be available for?

GU is currently available on PS2, Xbox and PC.

What are some of the unique features that can be found in GU:CUP?

Some of the more unique things are of course our graffiti system. While it’s multi-layered it is also very intuitive and fun to play. There’s a sketch layer that comes up that allows you to see where to place your tag and with that there’s an under layer to give the actual spray mechanic a realistic look and feel. There’s also a drip aspect to the piece that forces users to apply the paint in a smart way.

Our Navigation system is also unique. Players will have an entire city to navigate by way of pipes, poles, ladders, fences, ledges, etc. The entire city of New Radius is one big jungle gym and once players start exploring it – they will have a blast playing it.

All of our gameplay mechanics are wrapped in the culture of graffiti and that is what I think gives GU it’s unique play and it’s vibrant look.

Can you explain a little about the fighting system and what games it might compete with?

One of the strongest things The Collective is known for is our ability to make strong combat games and GU is an excellent combat game. Trane is able to use incredible combos and “insult” moves to fight the enemies of New Radius. His Improvised weapons that he picks up along the way are also a blast and lend themselves perfectly to Trane. It’s important to note that Trane never carries or shoots a gun in gameplay and he doesn’t need to because his combat abilities allow him to take on even the meanest of characters.

And one last question, have you ever had Mochi Ice Cream?

Not yet old boy – but soon – real soon! = o)

Well, the last question was definitely an inside joke between Marwan and I, and I’ll have to explain it later.  Right now, we want to wish Marwan the best of luck with the new game but we here at Gamelord.org are not worried since the game is awesome!

See you later, Marwan, and THANKS!!!

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