HardGamers : First of all, the gaming community got a lot of new information about Oblivion in the recent days, so I guess the release date is pretty near. Bethesda team works on this title since four years now, what’s the point that you prefer the most with the results so far?
Pete Hines : Our favorite part of the game changes on a daily basis. The graphics, for us, just never get old. There’s always some new part of the world you’ve never seen, even if you’ve been playing the game for years. Vistas that make you stop and star in wonder for a few minutes. But at any time you’re always finding and seeing new things in how an NPC acts, or how a quest works, or something you’ve never seen that makes you smile and shake your head in amazement. There’s so much to see and do, it never gets old.
HG: Is there something in Oblivion that you haven’t the time to develop but are still looking for later (on official add-ons or mods)?
PH: Well, you always have to draw the line somewhere in terms of what's in and what's not. As far as add-ons or downloadable content, we'll have to wait and see.
HG: There’s a lot of controversy about the soft shadows everywhere on the Oblivion fan boards. Can the PC gamers expect a possibility to enable soft shadow as an option? What is the final point on this matter?
PH: Simply put, we changed the way we do shadows so that the game was actually playable, regardless of platform. The game looks the way it looks in all the screens we've released over the last year or more. It looks the way everyone has seen it who has played the game at any of our press events. It's more a reaction to what might have been than it is a reaction to what actually was.
HG: Many gamers would like to have more information about the Arena? Will the Arena work like a faction, like you’ll be able to gain rank? Is it true that you’ll also be able to bet on combats?
PH: It's like a faction in that it does have ranks you can achieve, and you can eventually become Arena Champion. But it's all done through fighting in the Arena, there are no Arena quests to complete. Just win. Yes, you can go and bet on fights as well if you don't want to fight, or you want to take a break from fighting.
HG: Morrowind got pretty strong sales on Xbox, do you expect that the Xbox 360 will be equivalent, even if the console is still pretty young on the market?
PH: I think what we saw with Morrowind, and are still seeing, is that it wasn't a game that was done selling after 6 months. To this day, it still sells well and I would expect Oblivon is going to be very popular when it comes out....based on the pre-order numbers we're seeing, but I also expect that it will be around and continue selling for a long time.
HG: I remember that we spoke about the French version of the game for Quebec at the last X05. What do Bethesda / Take Two plan for the release? Do you think that you’ll be able to ship the game in Quebec province in French AND English version?
PH: The game will be available throughout Canada in English only with French and English paperparts. Shipping the game in both languages wasn’t possible.
HG: A lot of gamers, including me, prefer the kind of sandbox RPG, like Morrowind. Can we expect the same type of game, even if Oblivion seems to be a more much linear game than Morrowind?
PH: Oblivion is every bit as open-ended as Morrowind. Don't confuse being linear and providing information on where to go. They are very different things. We tried to do a better job in presenting information to the player on their different quests so they understood what to do next for that quest, but you are still just as free to go and do what you want as you were in Morrowind or our other Elder Scrolls games. That's what our series is all about, and we'll never stray from that.
HG: Will the Xbox 360 gamers be able to configure the controls? I remember that the grab button was a bit awkward, for me at least.
PH: Yes, you can remap all of the controls if you like, including switching the sticks for our left-handed friends.
HG: I guess you played the game a lot since the beginning, but when you’ll be on your couch with the final version of Oblivion, what kind of character that you’ll be?
PH: I tend to play a sort of Ranger character, I always have, going back to my days with the AD&D "Gold Box" games. So I usually do marksman, blade, alchemy, light armor, security, stealth, and whatever school of magic suits my fancy at the time. Usually Destruction.
HG: The system requirements are a bit heavy for some gamers; can we expect a nice running game even with the minimum required? Otherwise, will there be a lot of options to change to be able to get some nice decent framerate? Briefly, what can we expect with the minimum configuration?
PH: There are a lot of options you can use to adjust your level of performance. The ones that will matter most will be on the GPU and will be things like draw distance. So, you won't be able to see out as far, or there may be other effects you have to turn off or adjust down so you get a good framerate. It'll be up to the user.
HG: A final word for our readers that eagerly wait for Oblivion launch?
PH: The wait is almost over. Thanks for your patience.
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