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I first heard about Legacy Interactive back when I was a poor starving freelance (Rather than a poor starving Managing Editor). I read a post on Kotaku about a House M.D game and my first thought was “what a stupid idea.” I’m sure I wasn’t the only one that thought that on hearing that announcement. What about that particular TV show could be successfully transformed into a game?
Nothing. It was an obvious cash sell-out for silly people who knew no better.
As time went by though and I found out more about House M.D, there was something that was just right about it. The mini-games seemed fun and the attention to detail blew me away. Graphically, I could barely tell if I was looking at a photograph and I couldn’t help but think that this could be some elaborate ruse by the developer to trick me into liking the game.
If so, well played.
Charleyy had a similar experience when she played Immortal Lovers, a game that looked so Twilight that Stephanie Meyer probably contacted her lawyers. Imagine my surprise when our most outspoken writer wrote a glowing review, praising the graphics and entertaining story line.
Legacy have been around a lot longer than they have been on my radar. Founded in 1998 by Ariella Lehrer, for me and probably hundreds of others they seem to have come from nowhere. With that said, their publishing might is undeniable, giving casual gamers everything they could possibly want in one place and a little extra for good measure.
We’re very honoured to have this interview, perhaps because as casual gaming becomes more popular – it’s an industry that’s just going to grow exponentially – Legacy will be the one to watch.
With special thanks to Lisa Haasbroek
Could you tell us a little about Legacy Interactive and how it became the respected casual developer it is today?
Legacy Interactive has been making games since 1998, which was just shortly after casual games moved online, and before the big casual game boom. Since then, Legacy has introduced several entirely new interactive genres, like TV drama games and medical and vet simulations, and in the process created best-selling games such as Law & Order, Pet Pals: Animal Doctor, and Emergency Room. We try to keep in touch with what our customers really want in their games, which is why the Legacy Games portal includes space for customer reviews, ratings, forums, and lots of space for feedback. It’s the customers who inspire us to make better and better games.
How do you feel developing for the casual audience differs from developing for a more core audience?
The great thing about making casual games is that they can reach a really wide audience. We make games that are designed to appeal to everyone, regardless of age or gender, including hard core gamers. This is also more challenging, from a development perspective, since you need to account
for a wide variety of different skill levels. Casual games need to be challenging enough to keep experienced gamers engaged, yet simple enough for inexperienced players to pick up easily. That’s really what makes a great casual game — it’s easy to learn, yet tough to master.
Do you feel that video game journalists on the whole give fair coverage and scores to casual games?
Wow, tough question. There are many great gaming sites that feature casual games, like Gamezebo, Casual Game Play, Just Adventure, Gameboomers, and more blogs than I can count.
Of course, it would be great to get more coverage on core sites alongside the big hard core game titles. But, as the audience for casual games continues to grow, it makes business sense for these sites to also give more coverage to casual games.
What is most important to you when developing a game based on a popular tv show or film that so many people love?
Fans of popular series like House, M.D. are rabidly passionate about the characters, so it was critically important to us to keep true to the feel of the show. We’ve spent a lot of time speaking with both the fans and the television networks to insure that the game feels like you’re actually playing through 5 episodes of the series.
What other great games do you have in the pipeline?
Aside from House, M.D., which will be released in September for PC and Nintendo DS, we have Criminal Minds scheduled for release sometime in November 2010, for PC and MAC. It’s based on the popular Criminal Minds series, which makes for suspenseful gaming. Then we’ve got Ghost Whisperer: Shadowlands, which is scheduled for release sometime in December 2010, also for PC and MAC. We’ll be releasing more info on these games as the release dates draw closer.
Disaster Hero is a neat upcoming “serious” game for kids, produced in conjunction with The American College of Emergency Physicians, and funded by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security. It’s designed to teach children and their families how to prepare for all types of hazards or emergencies, like tornadoes, earthquakes, and other natural disasters. It’s both really fun, and really informative, so it’s a great learning tool. The release date is TBA, but you can expect it sometime next year.
How did ‘Disaster Hero’ come about? Were you approached to develop the game
or was it your idea?
The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) was awarded a grant from the Department of Homeland Security/FEMA to develop an online game to teach kids about disaster preparedness. ACEP asked multiple companies to come up with ideas about what the game would be, and ultimately they liked our idea best and chose us to work on the project with them.
How do you feel Facebook and games like Farmville have affected your business?
It’s surprising how many new gamers come to Legacy after getting hooked on social games like Country Story or Farmville! Legacy Games actually keeps track of the most popular Facebook games, and we try to list them on our site along with player reviews. It’s just another great way to connect with new casual gamers.
Will we ever see any Legacy games on XBLA or PSN?
It’s definitely a possibility, although we have no upcoming releases for those platforms at the
moment. Legacy Interactive publishes games across platforms, so we’d never rule out a particular platform if it fit our release.
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