Curt Schilling Interview

The impending release of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning has attracted the attention of CNN, where their Geek Out! blog has interviewed baseball star and 38 Studios founder Curt Schilling about his life-long passion for video games, the role-playing titles that inspired him to start up his own studio, his development philosophy, and much more. Check it out:

(I was always a big fantasy guy, a big ‘˜Dungeons and Dragons’ kind of gamer,) Schilling said. (That was always a very big, significant piece of my gaming because I was always a very avid reader as a kid. I read ‘˜The Lord of the Rings’ trilogy for probably the 20th time a couple of years ago, but that’s what got me into fantasy gaming.)(If you think about it,) Schilling said, (I’ve lived the ultimate gamer life.)

As a professional baseball player, (I had a glut of disposable income, and I traveled and was alone a lot,) he said. (I was perfectly suited to be a hardcore gamer and if you look at the sports world today, I think there are more gamers than not, now, in professional sports by a large margin.)

Schilling said he was using a computer and helped design software to help him become a better pitcher when most players and teams were using videotape. Of course, the computer also doubled as his gaming rig during his days off.

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Using his connections, Schilling was able to bring in author R.A. Salvatore to write the story, designer Todd McFarlane to do the art and animation, and Ken Rolston, the lead designer of (The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind) and (The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion,” to act as the executive designer. This all-star line-up formed the backbone for the work on (Reckoning.)

(I had no interest of getting into the industry to build games,) Schilling said. (This has never been about me. We’re not making Curt Schilling’s game. This is not a vanity project, and it never has been.)

(Every bit of my focus was getting in the industry to help an intellectual property change the way people get entertained and be the best in the world at it. If you’re not going to try and win it all, I really don’t feel like playing.)

Bringing together these giants in their particular fields could have been a problem as egos and styles could potentially clash. Schilling said that never happened and all three have been hands-on while mentoring the younger members of the team.

(You check the egos at the door. I use a lot of sports euphemisms and examples around here. Getting these people to understand you play for the name on the front of the jersey and not the name on the back has been a key piece of this.)