GamesRadar: What other science fiction were you inspired by?
RM: You name it... every major science fiction piece of the past 20-30 years. You'll notice a lot of similarities between the music in Mass Effect and the great blockbusters of the golden age of science fiction. Classic Star Trek... the entire worlds are like away team missions.
GZ: You're more Jack Bauer in space than Captain Kirk, though. Speaking of classic sci-fi movies, we even went so far as to the get the same kind of sound. We have a real foley studio upstairs. They're going to junk yards to hit pieces of metal together... they're capturing the sound of a wind engine. We're talking back to basics.
RM: We really see videogames as a nascent art form. It's a new industry compared to films or television which have been around for dozens of years. Videogames are just starting to evolve into something where you can really tell a compelling story and make players feel an emotion. We want to deliver the best stories in games.
GZ: Sooner or later, a game is going to break through that traditional barrier - the strange perception that games are not really art forms, that they're not emotive stories. We're hopeful it's Mass Effect. It's starting to cross the bridge. We're seeing very interesting research from non-gamers that it's as fun to watch it as it is to play it.
RM: Family members are just sitting and watching and saying, "This is awesome." It's truly a cinematic experience, whether you're in it or absorbing it.
GZ: We're pretty excited about this one. We've been in this for 15 years now. In large part, it's about technology, but it's also the know-how.
RM: This particular team is really focused on cinematic presentation and emotional impact, but we also have the organizational learning from all past games. We've learned from Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire, Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights - all those lessons are being applied in Mass Effect. You can see all of our old stuff in here if you look closely.
