Secret Level Creator and Executive Producer on the Episode They Can't Believe They Got to Do

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Gory scary Pac-Man. A communicative of a life successful Exodus. A gladiator-esque showdown successful Unreal Tournament. Kratos, Jin Sakai, nan Helldivers, and much successful a PlayStation collision course. Oh, and Keanu Reeves — did we mention Keanu Reeves?

All of that and much is packed into 15 short episodes of Secret Level Season 1, a video crippled adjustment anthology from creator Tim Miller and executive producer/supervising head Dave Wilson that premieres connected Prime Video connected December 10. Among nan different games it covers are The Outer Worlds, Sifu, Warhammer 40K, Spelunky, Mega Man, Dungeons & Dragons, and the now-shuttered Concord, ranging successful genres from drama to escapade to straight-up horror.

It's rather nan undertaking, but luckily, Miller and Wilson person worked connected a akin postulation of stories earlier pinch animated Netflix anthology Love, Death, and Robots. But this task is simply a spot different — arsenic nan duo points retired successful nan beneath Q&A, they were dealing wrong established universes pinch crippled publishers that person nan imaginable to beryllium protective complete their IP (except, apparently, for Bandai Namco, who was down for some beautiful weird worldly pinch Pac-Man).

IGN precocious sat down pinch Wilson and Miller for conscionable nether 10 minutes, but we covered a astonishing magnitude of crushed astir really this postulation of video crippled shorts came to life. The filmmakers talk really they managed to dengap "risk-averse behavior" successful favour of "risk-forward" behavior, what they could do pinch early seasons, nan bagian they can't judge they comberan to do, and why they dream that Kratos cameo isn't excessively disappointing for God of War fans.

(Warning: The beneath contains immoderate crippled specifications for a fewer episodes, but nary outright spoilers).

undefinedSecret Level premieres connected Prime Video connected December 10.

I deliberation what benignant of makes it specified a thrust is this really divers database of games. You person upcoming games for illustration Exodus, and past you person games that don't beryllium anymore for illustration Unreal Tournament and Concord. I'm judge there's a agelong reply to this, but really did this really divers database of games travel together for you guys?

Dave Wilson: You want nan short reply to nan analyzable process?

Yes, springiness maine nan one-tenth reply of really this came about. Basically, did it commencement pinch you guys benignant of making a wish database and past seeing what you could get?

Wilson: Yeah, very overmuch so, but it is complicated. We're surely not nan first folks to travel up pinch like, "Hey, wouldn't it beryllium a awesome thought to accommodate a video crippled aliases two?" So evidently immoderate of them are tied up and it's a very different show. So it is simply a analyzable process of making judge there's thing for everyone, whether that's indie and nostalgia games to triple-A blockbusters that haven't travel retired yet.

Tim Miller: Through genres for illustration sci-fi aliases imagination aliases scary to, “Let's do it together.”

Wilson: So we effort and prime thing to cover. I mean, location isn't a bigger benignant of intermezo clubhouse connected satellite Earth [than video games], right? So really do you prime 15 games to correspond everybody? It's almost an intolerable task unless we person multiple, aggregate seasons.

"For large corp not to do a onshore drawback was uniquely forward-thinking."

Miller: Yeah. I mean, there's games wherever you tin conscionable rotation astir and look astatine nan beautiful world aliases puzzle games, and past there's games wherever you termination arsenic galore group arsenic you can. So it's a beautiful wide spectrum, and we're trying to get thing for everybody. Obviously we're going to fail, but we did nan champion we could.

Now I'm judge nan reply to this 1 is like, "We can't show you astir our negotiations," but were location immoderate pie-in-the-sky games aliases properties that you conscionable couldn't get for this batch of episodes?

Miller: Yeah, for sure. And you tin ideate nan reasons why. It's because either they didn't person a crippled coming retired truthful they weren't fresh to marketplace it, aliases it had already been group up to beryllium a movie aliases a tv bid to immoderate of 100 different reasons. And nan games that are location are a operation of yes, games we chose, but besides group that had worked pinch america often successful nan past. Not everybody, but a batch making trailers and video crippled commercials because they trusted us. And this is simply a very different caller benignant of format pinch each these group from different publishers and different crippled creation companies, and they're each going to beryllium portion of this 1 show. It's a weird point erstwhile you extremity and deliberation astir it, but besides it's benignant of obvious.

Wilson: It's besides moreover weirder, and I deliberation this is why it's tricky, is because it is caller and there's thing other for illustration it retired there. But besides successful nan benignant of very forward-thinking measurement that Amazon and Tim went astir mounting it up is everything still belongs to nan developers and publishers. And I deliberation that's an different measurement to deliberation astir adapting immoderate of these IPs. The accepted attack is like, "We bargain it. We ain it," and we didn't want to attack it that way.

Miller: For large corp not to do a onshore drawback was uniquely forward-thinking.

Well, and that's thing I really specifically wanted to inquire about. I deliberation astir nan Pac-Man episode, which is to put it very mildly, a large plaything pinch that IP. Were location immoderate episodes wherever you went to nan publishers and they benignant of responded pinch like, "You're going to do what to our characters?"

Wilson: That bagian is much them (Bandai Namco) than us.

Really?

Miller: Yeah, it was much for illustration america going, "You want america to do what to nan character?"

Wilson: It each started pinch america asking, "What are you hoping an bagian would be?" And successful immoderate cases, for illustration Warhammer for example, they knew they wanted to attraction it astir nan Ultramarines. So location were decidedly benignant of guardrails put connected immoderate of nan episodes successful position of, really would you moreover prime what section to statesman pinch connected Warhammer?

So we decidedly did activity pinch nan crippled developers connected that. But I mean, wherever we were fixed nan opportunity to return immoderate chaotic swings, for illustration you say, we took them. You don't get those opportunities a lot. And to get successful nan biggest stadium location is and to benignant of bunt would beryllium a travesty.

Miller: At first, we practiced progressive listening.

"I deliberation wherever we were fixed nan opportunity, we took large swings. But we don't want fans of nan IP to watch it and spell like, 'Wait, this is not what I retrieve it being.' "

Wilson: But yeah, I deliberation that nan awesome point astir this is typically video crippled adaptations are successful nan hundreds of millions of dollars and pinch that comes immoderate constraints, let's say.

Miller: Risk-averse behavior.

Wilson: Yeah, and I deliberation we comberan to return immoderate chaotic swings –

Miller: Risk-forward behavior.

Wilson: Yes, right. Which is exciting. It doesn't hap each day.

Miller: “Step disconnected that f*cking cliff, kids. Let's go.”

Outside of nan Pac-Man episode, is location 1 point that had you looking astatine each different like, "I can't judge we comberan to do this pinch this game. This is insane”?

Miller: Have you seen nan Warhammer episode?

Yeah.

Miller: And nan level of violence?

Oh, my God, yes.

Miller: Yeah. I was disgusted, personally.

Like, “what person we done?”

Wilson: I deliberation location are galore steps much to return connected Warhammer. Armored Core, I was incredibly grateful that you've ne'er seen a pilot, you've ne'er moreover been successful nan cockpit of a Core. And truthful we were fixed a batch of state there. That was fundamentally Bandai saying, "You tin either show stories successful our lore complete here, aliases you tin prime doorway number 2 and benignant of do what you want."

And truthful we picked doorway number two, and evidently wrong nan realm of make judge it's befitting of nan crippled and nan mechs move nan measurement they're meant to move and that benignant of thing. But yes, I deliberation wherever we were fixed nan opportunity, we took large swings. But we don't want fans of nan IP to watch it and spell like, "Wait, this is not what I retrieve it being."

The past bagian that I watched is nan PlayStation one, aliases nan large hodgepodge of PlayStation IP. What was that for illustration moving pinch Sony and taking really iconic characters for illustration Kratos and Jin and nan Helldivers? What was it for illustration picking nan characters for that bagian and past adapting them for it?

Miller: We worked straight pinch nan PlayStation cardinal alternatively of going to a developer and saying, "Can you springiness it to america this way?" And it was their thought to do thing that was much of a marque exploration. And past Dave and JT [Petty, executive shaper and writer] came up pinch a communicative that really leans into nan measurement PlayStation has ever marketed itself arsenic this, it's a cool kids club. You didn't cognize it, but location really is simply a cool kids nine if you're a gamer. And they made it this inclusive benignant of a spirit.

"I do dream cipher feels sad that it's not a elephantine God of War Kratos portion aliases it's not a Ghost of Tsushima piece, aliases it's not conscionable nan Helldivers piece. We could still do each those!"

And truthful it became astir nan games that trap and addict you versus nan games that grow your world. And that's what we felt PlayStation ever did, and that was what we tried to research successful that short. And we're ever happy excessively erstwhile we get to do thing different. And it was different. It's nan only marque spot successful nan full piece, and alternatively of conscionable 1 IP, we get to play pinch a lot. I do dream cipher feels sad that it's not a elephantine God of War Kratos portion aliases it's not a Ghost of Tsushima piece, aliases it's not conscionable nan Helldivers piece. We could still do each those!

Wilson: Kratos was successful nan trailer for 2 aliases 3 frames. Never person 2 aliases 3 frames been much debated because cipher wants to misrepresent what nan bagian is, right? And truthful yes, it was a hotly debated topic.

Alex Stedman is simply a Senior News Editor pinch IGN, overseeing intermezo reporting. When she's not penning aliases editing, you tin find her reference imagination novels aliases playing Dungeons & Dragons.

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