Just wanted to make a couple of points that I think are pertinent here and then I'll keep my nose out of your discussion...
Matt talks about people not being able to finish Oddysee because that's something we hear countless times from hundreds or thousands of fans, every time we talk at broader gaming conventions or even via our social channels. His point was, I think, that so many people love the environments, engage with the characters and want to explore the world but they found it too frustrating and/or difficult so they only got to experience a very small part of it. We'd like to be able to bring those people deeper into the Oddworld family by finding ways that they can enjoy all of our games, in the same way you guys (who had a much greater aptitude for them way back then) did.
I think what Matt was saying is he was under 10 when he played Oddysee and he gave up without completing it (although I think he has played it to conclusion many times since). That was a long time ago and I think under-10 Matt probably had different priorities in his gaming life than he did while making New 'n' Tasty and certainly he does while making Soulstorm.
One of our most important criteria when we're looking for developers to work with is that they have an understanding of our classic games. Frima had many members of staff that were big Oddworld fans and they hired more (like Matt!) as work on Soulstorm begun. We also ask our development partners to play our classic games before they begin work - Oddysee, Exoddus and New 'n' Tasty were all played through by staff at Frima before the project got fully underway - and we're constantly referring back to those games as useful shorthand for concepts we're describing as we make Soulstorm.
FWIW, Matt was largely responsible for what I think is probably one of the best parts of New 'n' Tasty - Alf's Escape. It was certainly the most difficult and complex, right? So don't worry that Matt is also considering how to make Soulstorm more accessible to allow it to be enjoyed by a larger audience - he's actually very much involved in the regular conversations we're having about making it capable of being more difficult to appeal more to you guys and the other hardcore fans we have.
This talk was given to a broader audience than you guys (because, let's be honest, we couldn't fill an auditorium with fans as dedicated and knowledgeable as you guys...) so it was necessarily a little less in-depth than you might have wanted. From what we could gauge, the audience in the room all enjoyed it very much - we hung around talking to many of them afterwards and everyone seemed to really get what we had said and were enthusiastic about what we were doing. Appealing to you guys, with your extra wealth of knowledge on the subject, would probably have meant excluding a lot of the more casual people in that audience.
P.S. yep, it was me that joined Matt on stage for Q&A.
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