Hi I'm Ted Price, founder and CEO of Insomniac Games - creators of Fuse. Ask me anything!

Hi Ted,

I don't have a question, but I would just like to say thanks for helping create the Ratchet and Clank series that shaped my childhood. Not sure if you knew about it, but in the heyday I owned a little forum for Ratchet and Clank enthusiasts called Planet Veldin, so from me and I'm sure everyone who used to visit it, thanks a lot!

That's awesome. Again, that's the kind of thing we love to hear - it's what keeps us energized about making games.

Will Insomniac ever make 60 FPS games again? Also, more Ratchet & Clank?

Very good question. I frankly don't know if we'll go back to 60fps. It has its pluses and minuses. It seems like our fans have been pretty happy with Resistance, the new Ratchets and Fuse at 30fps - we can certainly do more on screen at that frame rate...

I remember back in the PS2 days there seemed to be a strong relationship between Insomniac, Sucker Punch and Naughty Dog where there would be Easter eggs in the others games (and maybe even a demo for Sly 2 in a Ratchet game?), how is that relationship nowadays, do you guys still share a lot or have you drifted apart?

Also thank you for making such good games, especially the Ratchet series which helped me get through bullying as a kid.

We don't share as much these days. One of the biggest reasons we shared early on was that we and Naughty Dog were physically next door to each other :). But we still have a ton of respect for both NDI and Suckerpunch. They make amazing games.

Also, it's great to hear that Ratchet helped you. Hearing that is what makes game development worthwhile for all of us at Insomniac.

I've always wondered, "How does someone with a degree in English open one of the most-respected video game studios?"

I'm blushing :). Thanks!

A) I got lucky B) I got even luckier meeting Al & Brian Hastings who joined me early on C) I'm surrounded by incredibly talented and creative people who love what they do - it makes my job easy

Just another question, whats your favorite R&C weapon?

The bouncer!

Welcome Mr.Price! My question to you is this, seeing as there is a ratchet and clank movie coming, what can you say about a game for next gen to correlate?

We're hoping that, regardless of the games that come out at the same time, the movie stands on its own. The Ratchet universe has expanded quite a bit since we started and it's given us lots of material to draw on.

Spyro the Dragon is one of my favourite games, I replay it quite regularly :)

What did you make of Miyamoto's response to Ratchet and Clank's similar spherical levels?

Have you played the Ratchet and Clank PSP games? (And what did you think of them?)

That Miyamoto article is pretty funny. I guess we'll have to keep rooting through his garbage :).

Why don't you also release your games on PC (steam)? Is it because of piracy?

For Fuse it's been a bandwidth issue. We wanted to make sure that we nailed it on Xbox 360 and PS3 before considering anything else. New IP, new engine & tools, new publishing partner. There was a lot of "new" on the project :).

When hiring new programmers what are some of the things you look for to put them above everyone else?

Amazing coding skills as you'd expect. But the ability to collaborate with others is just as important. Creativity, efficiency and innovation in approach are also valued.

Can we get a release of the soundtrack to the original Spyro trilogy? Pretty please? It's wonderful music--I listen to it every week, still. But the ADPCM encoding of the originals is a crime.

p.s. I have spyrosoundtracks.com though I haven't put anything up there yet.

Sorry - that's under Activision's control now...

What has been some of your favorite movie as of late?

I wish I had more time to watch movies. It's been a long time since I've been to a theater. But I'm stoked to see Iron Man 3.

We're also taking all of the Insomniacs to see Star Trek next week.

What are your thoughts on next gen consoles? The new one from MS, PS4 and WII-U

Wii-U is something I'd consider more current gen - but we're not working on games for it.

When it comes to PS4 I'm excited that they seem to lowering barriers for independent developers. It's cool to see almost weekly announcements from Sony explaining how they're opening things up for indies.

And of course I'm very excited to see what Microsoft announces soon.

Do you have any portfolio tips for game designer or level designers that may be looking to get hired possible at Insomniac?

Use existing, free toolsets to create mods or your own levels to demonstrate your chops. It's much better for us to see your designs in action than to read about them on a piece of paper.

Do you guys need any concept artists, riggers, level designers, or 3d modelers? I think I can fill the spot

Check out our job postings at www.insomniacgames.com!

Insomniac are developing for PS4, right? RIGHT? Can we expect some new, big things from you in the near future? And something for what comes after the Future, if you get where I'm going with this.

Please?

Finally, your favourite Ratchet & Clank game and why? Great work too!

Favorite R&C game? Hmmm...Up Your Arsenal was probably the most challenging because we tried to shove so much into it near the end. But others here at Insomniac will have very different opinions...

Have you/Insomniac always wanted to do a ratchet and clank movie? and how much involvement will the team who make the game have in the film?

Yes we have. We also wanted to do a Spyro movie way back but could never get it off the ground. As far as our involvement goes, TJ Fixman who wrote the scripts for the PS3 Ratchets and for Fuse wrote the movie script. We also have animation input and creative consultation on the movie. The folks we're working with at Blockade and Rainmaker absolutely share our vision for the Ratchet universe. It's been awesome working with them.

What is your favorite Movie?

Star Wars!

Congrats on Fuse Going Gold, really enjoying the demo!

I have a few Questions

• How did you get started in the industry? Were you a programmer or anything else before you started or did you just Dive in?

• What advice would you give someone who is considering a carrer in the game industry, Ie, me :P. Currently doing a bachelor of Computer science but do you have any suggestions?

• Can i have a job? Like anything. Coffee boy, i'm not picky.

• How are you involved in each games development these days. As CEO, i imagine you manage the more business side of things, Do you ever pop into the trenches to do a bit of coding, do you just advise what goes into the games, and what ideas should perhaps be cut, or are you more hands off?

-With the closure of The EA partners program, are you worried about securing a new Publisher for any possible future Fuse title?

Looking forward to Fuse and Any of your future Titles, Been a Fan since Spyro 1, Love you guys!

I programmed as a kid and teenager and was basically a hack. I was also a wannabe artist and animator. Thus I naively thought it would be relatively easy to make console games on my own. I learned quickly that I was way off. Fortunately Al & Brian Hastings brought their programming superpowers to Insomniac while I attempted to create art. Then we started hiring talented artists and our games began looking a lot better. The further I moved away from making content, the better our games got :).

Advice: graduate! While you're doing so, experiment with small games on your own. Once you do graduate there are some great game-focused graduate programs at places like SMU, Carnegie Mellon and USC. Or you can apply to game companies and try to jump right in.

My involvement: for the past several years my involvement on our games has been in assisting with creative direction. We have a lot ton of talented folks running our game projects so I do what I can to offer advice without getting in the way too much. Sometimes I do jump in with both feet if something is going off the rails. But as you noted, I do spend a lot of time on the business side working with our partners and doing deals.

Hey Ted,

First off, it was fun playing Fuse with you yesterday! I think it's really cool that you guys keep in close contact with your fans.

I'm wondering, out of all the games Insomniac has developed, which have been the most stressful, and which game was the "easiest" to make (or rather, the game you were most comfortable pushing out the door). Obviously, game development is a long and challenging process, so surely making a game (especially to Insomniac's quality) is no simple feat. Also, are there any other developer insights you can share?

Thanks, and keep up the great work! (Fan since I bought myself a gift off my Christmas list - Ratchet and Clank!)

Nice playing with you too StargamerX! For me Resistance Fall of Man was the most stressful game to make. A Crack in Time came together the most smoothly (but I wasn't working on it directly so that's probably why I have that impression).

Developer insights...hmmm...don't be afraid to try things you think won't work.

Will Insomniac continue to put out new games for the Xbox (either 360 or NextBox)? I'm excited about Fuse, but I've missed out on a lot of your past games because I don't own a PS3.

Can't really talk about future games. I wish I could!

I'd just like to thank you for the Resistance series. My favorite FPS series yet.

Awesome. Thank you!

Resistance is my favorite games from you so thank you. Do you ever think you might continue the story of Resistance somehow? Which resistance game was your favorite?

My favorite Resistance to make was Resistance 1. But my favorite Resistance to play was Resistance 3.

The future of Resistance is unclear - I've said we wouldn't go back to making Resistance since we don't own the IP. But I've also learned to say "never say never."

How are the voice actors of Ratchet and Clank to work with, what are they like?

TJ Fixman, Chad Dezern, Brian Allgeier or Jeremy Hall could answer that better than I can - they've worked more closely with the actors than I have over the past several years.

However I was lucky enough to work with Jim Ward (Qwark), David Kaye (Clank) and James Arnold Taylor (Ratchet) during the PS2 era and they are all fantastic people. Humble, talented, collaborative and creative.

How are things going with Insomniac Click and what's Insomniac's current stand on social & mobile platforms? Is it just as important (or more) than going multiplatform?

The team is hard at work on Outernauts for iOS. And while we'll continue to support Outernauts on Facebook and Kongregate we're shifting our focus in a big way to mobile. As a (primarily) console developer we believe branching out to mobile is also important for us.

Hello,

Out of the sequels that Insomniac have made, which do you think was the best or most improved?

Wow, tough one. For me it's a toss up between Ratchet & Clank: Up Your Arsenal, Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time and Resistance 3.

[deleted]

You're very welcome. The team and I appreciate it greatly!

heyo! this is awesome! i just wana say spyro the dragon 1-3 has been the definition of my childhood and lead me to my huge interest in games and towards my video game degree :) i love that purple dude so much, thank yoo for him! (i even gots a tattoo of him on ma arm)

anyway i was interested to know what your feels are towards the new spyro direction?

Wow, a Spyro tattoo - that's impressive!

When it comes to Skylanders, kudos to Activision for taking the franchise in a refreshing new direction. I'm a fan.

What advise would you give aspiring game designers? The barriers to create games are lowering each time (PS Mobile publishing is free), but I think the task of developing a game can seem like a daunting task.

Sure, it can seem daunting. But my advice would be to start small. Don't try to design a game that does everything under the sun. Try to build a game that does just one thing better than everyone else - or one that presents one innovative mechanic.

A good example is Ridiculous Fishing for iOS. It has one really cool mechanic, simple yet stylized visuals and was made by three people (I think).

Excited to see Fuse based on the demo (it's like you guys at Insomniac played TONS of Vanquish when making the game)....I have a question however, will there ever be trophy support for Resistance: Fall of Man?

(sobs silently at desk) sorry, no trophy support for RFOM :(

Hey Ted, Just curious, whats your favorite thing to do at insomniac, seeing as the facility's are incredible, to relax or think?

Hmmm...I like playing builds of our games in progress. I also like the occasional company-wide multiplayer playtests we have for our games. It isn't relaxing but it's fun!

I'm currently going into animation, mainly video game and character animation. What type of stuff do you guys look at in demo reels for that? What would you recommend I should focus on for projects and such? :3

Great traditional skills - timing, weight, strong & expressive poses, speed of execution, clear personality coming through in your cycles - all of the stuff that would be drilled into if you were to take courses at an art or animation school.

For projects I'd focus on stuff that allows you to demonstrate passion in your work.

Would you guys ever consider touching the Resistance franchise again? You ended it so well, but I don't want to leave that universe forever! I want more!

That's great to hear. We probably won't go back to it. However I'll never rule out the possibility (changing my tune from when I said "we're not doing another Resistance" in a video). I've learned that with some things it's good to leave doors slightly open.

What kind of process went into designing the guns for Fuse?

Lots of brainstorming, lots of prototyping, failure, retries and eventually success.

In the winter of 2011-2012 we came to the realization that what we had just wasn't cutting it. The weapons lacked impact. So we went back to the drawing board and redesigned their behavior and their appearances. What we ended up with were weapons that were more visceral, more fun, more exotic and a lot more co-op friendly.

Who is your favorite Pokemon?

Pikachu. Yes, boring.

Fuse looks pretty cool. I'm extremely glad to see that it supports local Co-Op. I'll be checking out the Demo later on. Just wanted to say thanks for all the great games.

You're very welcome. Thank YOU for supporting our dreams!

Is there any chance for a crossover game with Jak and Ratchet?

At this point, probably not.

What is your favorite snack?

Double Chocolate Fudge Zone Bars

First off I love Insomniac Games. I must've played the ps2 ratchet and clank games at least a dozen times each. I think you can tell from my username who my favorite character is.

But my question is why should I buy Fuse? (I will regardless, but I want I know what your most proud about it/ your favorite part.)

Thanks XJ-0461!

My favorite aspect of Fuse is the crazy Insomniac weapons which are designed to be upgradeable and work together in a cooperative fashion.

But I'm also really happy about how LEAP performs in the game and how the game is a blast whether you're playing by yourself or with 1, 2 or 3 friends.

Hey Ted ive been a fan of insomniac for years, congrats on Fuse, it looks great:)

im just wondering whether you can say anything on the direction ratchet & clank will be taking in the future? i dont want to say that all for one and Qforce were bad, i think they were aimed more for multiplayer and were most enjoyable in a group setting. will the fanchise go back to the classic adventure theme that the fans love most?

also its great to see the movie being made

Nope, I've got to be tight lipped on all future projects. However I'm glad you're excited about the movie. We certainly are. It's been a long time coming.

Hey Ted! What was your first game you ever played?

Also, thank you so much for all of your work at Insomniac. Spyro 3 was my first game and I absolutely adore the Ratchet series. I'm really looking forward to getting the full version Fuse. :) Although if you can get me an early copy, I won't say no. ;)

First game: Pong on the Magnavox Odyssey

I'm glad you've liked our games! And I hope you enjoy Fuse!

How does one work for such an amazing company like Insomniac?

Apply on our website! www.insomniacgames.com

Hey Ted,

First off, I'd just like to say - thanks so, so much for all the wonderful games you've helped create at Insomniac. Ratchet and Clank was the first game I ever played, and I've collected all the (Insomniac-made) sequels since, and loved each and every one.

My question: will there be more Ratchet & Clank? (Can you say, at this point?) Aside from the movie, of course.

Thanks in advance!

I can't say :)

Hey Ted what is your favorite weapon out of all of your games, what is your favorite RYNO, and What is your favorite game that you worked on.

Earlier I answered that the bouncer is my favorite R&C weapon. But here are my other favorites: Disruptor: Plasma Lance Resistance: Bullseye Fuse: Shattergun

Favorite RYNO: The one in Up Your Arsenal

Favorite game to work on: tough one - they were all fun and all challenging. And I had different levels of involvement on each one. Disruptor is still near and dear to my heart because I got to model a lot of the environments and animate some of the weapons.

Dear Mr Price, Thank you for Spyro 1-3 , Ratchet , especialy ACiT. The best Ratchet ever made, i loved the temporal puzzles. they where actually challenging and very un-focused grouped. Thank you also for resistance FoM. i enjoyed the silent protag, the narrator and the setting and health system. Resistance2 ruined Christmas for me, it was gunk. its my belief that when insomniac have self confidence in their ideas great things happen, things go wrong when you turn to focus group usage and cod crap. the health systen in R1 was brilliantly tactical and then in R2 it went cod jam on the screen...R3 clawed back some goodness. i cannot comment on multi co op shennanigans as i have no interest in it. i like sp only. i wont even call it "campaign" its story mode for me . Please have self confidence in your studios talent, please do not use focus groups and please eschew all genericism. i wish you well with fuse but it does not appeal to me as it has all been done before and it looks co-opy wich is not my thing. i dont play well with others and eschew this at all cost. so thank you for spyro trilogy, r and c except for all4one which was not good. please remember story mode and have self confidence and do your own thing

Thanks. I'd suggest actually trying out the free Fuse demo. We put a lot of time into making sure the solo experience is awesome too.

I'm a huge fan of Insomniac. When I was a kid it was one of the places I'd liked to have worked at when I got older. I'm not cut out for programming, and my major is in a completely non-game related field. I do, however, write a lot in my spare time. Any chance I could maybe get a job with you guys writing stories or jokes?

We don't have any openings for writers right now - sorry about that! But thanks for playing our games.

What do I need to know or who can I ask for advice if I want to build a mini Ratchet & Clank fan site? My personal site wasn't originally going to be one, but I figured since its domain name inadvertently ended up sounding like the name of a planet in the Solana Galaxy, I wanted to make sure I wasn't actually infringing on any trademarks and such if I do turn part of it into a little personal R&C dedication - I do tend to get incredibly paranoid about that stuff!

I'd suggest posting on our forums - I think you'll get good advice from Insomniacs there.

Any chance you'll release games (Fuse, for example) on PC? R&C is one of the only reasons I still own a PS3.

Maybe...stay tuned.

Any tips for someone who recently finished grad school for Computer Science, looking to get into the industry, as a programmer specifically?

Also, with word of many studios letting go employees, how do you think the industry is in accepting individuals who aren't in it as yet? Thanks in advance.

Unfortunately I don't have much specific advice for you other than to get your resume out there. Check developer job listings, look at Gamasutra, go onto Linked In.

Despite a lot of industry closures I think there's still a strong demand for talented programmers.

Hi Ted.

If you were on a deserted island with a character from any of the games you had a hand in creating, who would you want it to be with..

A ravager from Resistance. Assuming he didn't try to eat me he'd probably keep us well supplied with food he hunted down. And he wouldn't talk much.

Why I was killed 2 times in Fuse demo on Normal difficulty? Why is this game so hard to play alone?

We start you midway through the game - and thus the demo itself is hard. In fact the game itself is pretty tough. We've heard from a lot of fans that they're tired of games that are a cakewalk. So we've tried hard to tune the game to provide a meaty challenge without being frustrating.

However because the game has a progression system where you can level up, unlock new skills, buffs, etc. players should be able to get stronger and deal with tough challenges more easily after leveling.

Do you guys only hire Temp & local Quality Assurance, or do you occasionally look for permanent employees?

We do have a small crew of permanent QA folks who have been with us for a long time. They all started as temp and proved that they rock.

We also have a lot of people in other areas of the company who started out in QA. Again, they proved that they rock and moved into design, project management, audio, art, programming, etc.

Any idea when your next community day will be?

No concrete plans right now. But I promise you we'll have more community stuff soonish.

Hi Ted! Will Insomniac games have creative power over the New Ratchet and Clank movie, and how well do you think the movie will stick to the humor and style of your games?

We absolutely have creative input. TJ Fixman who wrote the scripts for the PS3 Ratchet games actually wrote the movie script. So I know you'll see the same humor and style in the movie.

Has it been difficult for Insomniac to innovate in AAA games? and is that due to the financial difficulty of AAA or due to majority of gamers that perhaps are opposed to change?

It's always difficult to innovate. It's why, in my opinion, we don't see as many new intellectual properties being launched on consoles these days. It's risky for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is that console games are expensive to make.

However it's really cool to see a ton of innovation in the mobile and downloadable space.

With Fuse we're hoping that players will be excited about what we're doing to raise the bar with co-op. We do hear again and again that console players want something new. New IP FTW!