Designing the game, programming it, and doing the animation were so intertwined.' So though what I was doing was designing a game, the job I had was 'programmer' - that was my skill. At the time, the job 'game designer' didn't really exist as we know it today. 'I was really focused just on doing a game, getting the bugs out of it, and being able to ship it. 'When I started making the first Prince of Persia game in 1985, I was right out of college,' Mechner recalled. 'The last Ubisoft game I was intimately involved in creatively was Sands of Time, where I was a writer and game designer,' he pointed out, indicating that he speaks mainly as an observer when it comes to more recent entries - but he is looking forward to Ubisoft Montreal's fall entry. Early on, the designer was asked about the evolution of the Prince of Persia series, as well as Mechner's own evolution as a game designer.

'In What Way Is This Even The Same Character?'Īfter that explanation of the graphic novel's origins, the microphone stayed with Mechner for the remainder of the session. (According to Siegel, internet comments on preview pages have ranged from 'This artwork is great!' to 'This artwork sucks! It looks hand-drawn!') Sina (who, Siegel noted, 'may or may not be a member of Iranian royalty - an actual prince of Persia) and illustrated by Alex Puvilland and LeUyen Pham will be released this fall. Mechner.'' Much to Siegel's surprise, Mechner was receptive to the idea, and the resultant book written by A.B. As he recalled, 'When I found out there were all these games, and a movie with Jerry Bruckheimer, I thought, 'Oh, well, nice chatting with you, Mr. I was really, really blithely unaware of what had happened to Prince of Persia in the intervening ten or twelve years.'īlissfully ignorant, Siegel contacted Mechner with the proposition. I hadn't played since pretty much the Apple II days - the first Prince of Persia. 'When I was searching for my favorite graphic novelists in the world, I had this fond memory of Prince of Persia. 'We're known for sort of classy, literary graphic novels,' Siegel began. Siegel introduced Mechner, and explained how the publishing deal came about.

It was moderated by Mark Siegel, editorial director of publisher First Second Books. Ostensibly held to promote the graphic novel, the Q&A session ended up focusing much more heavily on the well-known games and feature film adaptation. To a career that has seen documentary film directing and Hollywood screenwriting, Mechner is now adding a story credit on the upcoming Prince of Persia graphic novel.ĭuring the San Diego Comic-Con, Mechner answered questions about his quarter-century ouevre in a lecture which Gamasutra initially covered late last week. Despite getting his start as a programmer with Karateka in 1984 and making his name with Prince of Persia in 1989, Jordan Mechner has never fully settled into the role of career game designer.

Prince of percia comic book