NowGamer catches up with the legendary creator of Monkey Island, Full Throttle and Brütal Legend

Are there any specific omissions in the soundtrack that you’re sad about? Metallica, for example – there are obviously pre-existing deals for some artists…
There are a couple of bands that are out of reach and just have their own game plan. You’d be surprised at what bands are like, ‘we can’t be in this because we’re doing our own game.’ We’re like, ‘are you?’ Let me tell you, this is the game to be in. This is the heavy metal game you want to be in, because it’s the best one. But mostly we like to show off how much we did get; more obscure bands like Riot and stuff like that. It was a hard thing, getting through the management, convincing them we’re not doing a parody and it was really hard to get it all working. Now we can just go, ‘wow, there are only two bands missing from the soundtrack’. That really just shows how much we could get.

Have you seen anyone who isn’t exactly well-versed in metal play the game and develop an interest in the subject matter?
On the team, there are people who don’t like metal because they have a certain preconceived notion about it. When you play the game, some of the songs you hear like Black Sabbath songs you’ve maybe heard on commercials, you realise that, ‘yeah, there’s a lot about this genre I didn’t know about.’ I’ve seen that happening around the office. Even if you don’t like the music, you’re drawn into the action, then drawn into the epic lore then converted to metal.

It seems interesting that a decade on from Grim Fandango, Double Fine is one of the only sources of comedic videogames. Why do you think other developers are scared of doing comedy?
It is risky because if you’re not funny, you’re nothing. Same with any comedy – if you don’t hit it, you aren’t anything. If you say you’re an action game and you’re still 60 per cent action, it still makes it a good game. If you say you’re comedy and you don’t get 99 per cent of the way there, or 100 per cent of the way there you're not comedy, you’re not a drama, you’re not anything.

We suppose if you’re a dramatic game you could probably wing it – if people aren’t laughing when they’re playing a comedy game, that’s a serious problem…
For a dramatic show, it’s how it works on you and whether you like it. It’s like a subtle thing over time. If you’re watching The Sopranos or Mad Men, you’re watching it over time. With comedy, it’s about that moment, and if you’re not laughing at that moment, you have a problem. There are a lot of games that use comedy, like Portal, which is known primarily for its gameplay mechanics, but is hilarious.

Obviously, you’re familiar with the writer of Portal, Erik Wolpaw, from his work on Psychonauts…
Sure. But there aren’t many other games that do that… there’s Okami.

Or God Hand. Have you played that?
I’ve heard that it’s good. It’s actually one of Erik Wolpaw’s favourites. I haven’t played it. Do you think it was funny in Japanese, or is it just a crazy translation?

… continued