From the Cards to the Stars: An Interview With Hellfire Games’ Jeff Posey
by NorseGamer, HSM Editor-in-Chief
What is it about spaceships and ray guns we find so irresistible?
In real life, we will all agree that war is horrific and a messy, unpleasant business. Yet for entertainment, we’re never far away from spaceships and fighting for our lives. There’s no question that plot and perhaps certain operatic elements are dramaturgically important for emotional engagement – otherwise, you just have Space: Above and Beyond – but let’s admit it: we all want to sit, wide-eyed, and watch (and rewatch) those awesome battle scenes from our favorite movies and TV shows.
Video games are no different. With our real world so completely dominated by humanity – every habitable part of this world is covered by humans – we perhaps crave a future that sees us once again on the edge of the frontier. And since actual spaceflight is ridiculously hazardous and expensive, we disappear into games and virtual realities to find that escape.
Thus we come to PlayStation Home, and Hellfire Games’ wonderful creation, Novus Prime. Originally intended as a PlayStation Network title, it found a perfect match in PlayStation Home. And, let’s face it, there just isn’t anything else quite like in Home. Sure, there are other excellent gaming experiences, but Novus Prime delivers that thrill of hopping into a spaceship and blasting critters – which, let’s face it, is a proven formula for gaming. Like peanut butter and chocolate, or Jane Goldman and my imagination, some things just go together.
Novus Prime has been in Home for a year now, and continues to drive good traffic numbers. I had an opportunity to talk with Jeff Posey, Hellfire’s President, about their success with this title. However, beyond that, we have another topic to explore:
Poker.
It may not be commonly known, but it was Hellfire Games that put together Home Hold’Em Poker for the Hub Sportswalk. Poker, of course, is a somewhat touchy subject with the Home community; its original iteration (provided by a different developer) was one of Home’s major attractions, and thus Jeff and his team had some very high expectations to surpass when they brought poker back to Home. Yet if you visit the Sportswalk today, you will see no shortage of people playing and enjoying the new poker tables. So, in addition to talking about Novus Prime, I wanted to see what Jeff’s own reaction was to the successful resurgence of one of Home’s major attractions. Join us, then, as HomeStation Magazine talks stars and cards with Hellfire Games.
HSM: Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us, Mr. Posey. Congratulations on one year of Novus Prime in Home! Are there any pertinent statistics with regard to Novus Prime’s success that you’d care to divulge? Number of visits, average revenue per user, that sort of thing?
Jeff Posey: Thanks! It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year since Novus Prime went live in PlayStation Home. I can’t divulge exact numbers, but I will say that Novus Prime has experienced continued success since our launch last December, and we’ve got more great content on the way.
HSM: At present, Novus Prime tops out at level 20; as the number of players who reach that zenith increases, are there any plans to move the level cap higher?
JP: Actually, we’ve asked our fans what they want in the next Novus Prime update on our Facebook page this week, and so far “increased player ranks and rewards” is the top-voted choice. We listen carefully to our community when building new content, so it’s safe to say that players can look forward to an increased level cap in the near future.
HSM: Novus Prime commodities were arguably the most valuable offerings in Sony’s “hundred item giveaway” after the PSN outage. How did that come about? Were you approached by SCEA, or did you volunteer the materials as a way of bumping up visibility for your game?
JP: Quite simply, Hellfire Games donated to the Welcome back package as a way of showing our appreciation to all the players returning to Novus Prime after the outage.
HSM: The Novus Prime music player provides the closest equivalent to orchestral music in Home, outside of RadioIO. Any plans to expand the compositions for the game or the music player?
JP: We are happy with the success of the Novus Prime Stereo and have been looking to do more. The music for Novus Prime was composed by an old friend of ours, Darrell Raby. He is quite talented! Check him out at http://darrellraby.com/
HSM: The Officer Quarters personal estate offers an antigravity simulator, which is certainly a very unique feature. Are there any plans to develop subsequent personal estates? A spaceship personal estate, for instance, to compliment the hangar?
JP: Yes, keep an eye out for a new Novus Prime personal space in the future!
HSM: What’s next for Novus Prime? Escalation dramatically increased what the game offered; will it be scaled up again, will there be new features installed, or will other measures be taken to further enhance the game’s long-term profitability?
JP: We’re currently working on our largest update for Novus Prime since Escalation, and we can’t wait to see what our players think of it! Without giving anything away, we think the community will really enjoy what we’re cooking up. Stay tuned!
HSM: Let’s shift gears to poker. You and your team were responsible for developing Home Hold’em for the Hub Sportswalk. Jeff, I understand that you in real life are quite a poker enthusiast?
JP: Who told you that? (grin) Yes, in fact I competed in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas once. I was sitting alongside celebrity poker professionals and it was quite a thrill.
HSM: There’s quite a wealth of data to study and learn from with regard to poker in Home: the first poker complex, the Godfather poker game, the Brimstone poker game, and community reaction to all of the above. What were some key imperatives your team had when developing Home Hold’em?
JP: One of the primary objectives with Home Hold ‘Em was to make it easy to find a table to play on. This is why we chose to offer “ring” games which allow you to join and leave at any time. Also, our matchmaking system allows you to easily find others who want to play at your “stakes” level.
HSM: Home Hold’em noticeably lacks tournament play. While this eliminates the need to wait for an open table, is there any consideration to possibly adding tournament play as an option?
JP: Both Hellfire Games and Sony’s community management team have been watching and listening to players since Home Hold ‘Em launched, and the community’s requests for a tournament feature have not gone unnoticed.
HSM: Currently, multiple free buy-ins per day are allowed; one potential downside is that it could encourage newer players to go all-in, pre-flop, on every hand. Conversely, however, this approach, coupled with no tournament play, allows for greater overall user numbers to participate. Is this approach working as projected, or are there any thoughts about changing that system?
JP: It is working as intended. We anticipated the frequency of all-in actions at the beginning stakes level. However, it is difficult to fully discourage that behavior from online poker players who have not invested money.
HSM: Why are some of the poker tables outside by the bar, while others are in a separate room? We suspect the reason for putting some of the poker tables outside was to try to provide some separation for more serious players with the inside venue. A valid assumption?
JP: Actually, the reason Sony wanted poker tables outside by the bar was to give Home Hold ‘Em more overall exposure.
HSM: Any thought to developing poker enhancement items (similar to Nebulon boosters for Novus Prime) to offer for profit?
JP: Sorry, nothing to announce at the moment.
HSM: Some of the players who also play in real life have commented that there are an unrealistic number of full house, straight, and flush wins in the Home poker rooms compared to real life poker. Was this deliberate by the programmers, in order to encourage longer session times?
JP: The cards are completely random. It can be easy to see patterns that don’t exist!
HSM: Conversations at every table in the room can be read by everyone else. While this adds to the fun for a lot of players, a few are disgruntled and want everyone to “shut up and play” instead. Was there a reason for this design?
JP: Conversations in the Poker Room work just like they do all over PlayStation Home. If you are within range, you will hear that conversation.
HSM: Let’s look to the future for a moment. What’s next on the horizon for Hellfire Games? Any tantalizing clues or tidbits you can offer?
JP: We can’t make any specific announcements just yet, but stay tuned to our Facebook page (facebook.com/NovusPrime) and Twitter feed (@NovusPrime) for the latest updates and even some free goodies. Rest assured, we’re hard at work on some very cool stuff for our fans!
If we look back at three years of Home’s open beta, it’s quite remarkable to see the explosion in content and new features over the last one-thousand days. And Hellfire Games, thanks to Novus Prime and Home Hold ‘Em Poker, has done quite a lot just over the last year to help evolve Home into an environment with some legitimately fun gaming experiences. Of particular note, the fact that they’re working on a new personal estate is quite exciting; the Officer Quarters is one of only a few personal estates in Home that offers something unique — antigravity simulation — and strong sales numbers for such innovations encourage developers to continue to push the envelope.
Needless to say, the third iteration of Novus Prime promises to be incredibly rewarding, and it doesn’t take a clairvoyant to foresee a commensurate boost in sales figures as a result. One of the golden lessons of Home is that periodic content updates and refreshes go a long, long way towards user retention and revenue generation, and Hellfire Games has done a remarkable job with this.
One of the biggest Home stories of 2011, however, is the one which went surprisingly unheralded: the return of poker. Granted, 2011 was a major year for Home, but given the desire for true and proper poker to return to Home, it was astonishing to see it not only delivered but in fact kept completely free for the community to enjoy. And it is Hellfire Games who should be thanked for undertaking the incredibly arduous task of putting it together for Home.
HomeStation Magazine would like to thank Jeff Posey for consenting to this interview, and to Ben Lewis for putting everything together. Here’s to an outstanding 2012!
December 22nd, 2011 by NorseGamer | 8 comments
NorseGamer is the product manager for LOOT Entertainment at Sony Pictures, as well as the founder and publisher of HomeStation Magazine. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, he holds a B.A. in English/Creative Writing from San Francisco State University and presently lives in Los Angeles. All opinions expressed in HSM are solely his and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sony DADC.
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With no insult meant to you or Novus and speaking only for myself (but having a suspicion that I speak for a lot of females my age)… No, I don’t find spaceships and ray guns irresistible. LOL However, with the male percentage on Home being so much greater than the female, I’m guessing they are on the right track. I would like to thank Novus for bringing poker back to Home, not so much for myself, but so people will quit complaining about it. Btw, I do love the magenta robot companion, though. Lil’ Sis is my hide and seek buddy.
Actually in my experience the Full house and Straight Flushes are fairly rare.And God yes,tournaments are greatly needed as then maybe I can play a game where someone doesn’t go all-in pre-flop with a 7&3 off suit.Normally I’d be happy with ppl doing that as my odds of winning would be better but it seems they always luck out on the turn or river.I’m glad it’s back but I’m really waiting for the tournaments before I camp out there.Thanks Hellfire Games for bringing poker back,and for making it free as well.
The best thing about the poker in my view is not having to wait endlessly for a table. It was what kept me away from the old poker room, who wants to spend their precious Home time standing around waiting constantly. Thanks for doing that when you brought it back!
I am one of many who play Texas Hold’em regularly on HOME. On Thursday Dec 22, 2011 between 3:00[m and 4:30pm I (as Smooth_As_Velvet) won a Hold’em hand with a royal flush. Just a few day prior, I had commented that I was looking forward to getting a straight flush in order to receive a cowboy hat as others has received. I was not rewarded a hat for the royal flush. I am thinking that since straight flush did not appear in the winning hand description, that an error in programming occurred. I would like someone to research my winning hand history, and put the reward in my inventory. I hope this does come across as petty, but straight flushes (especially royal flushes) are hard to come by. Please respond either to my netscape.net mail address of to Smooth_As_Velvet on Home. Thanks.
I’m thrilled to hear that there will be some updates for Novus comming down the pike. I was having a blast shooting up waves of enemies…until I hit the level cap. I, for one, am looking very much forward to getting my ‘ray gun’ on again.
And poker…well, it’s poker! And that’s a very good thing, indeed.
So far so good Hellfire…everything you have brought to the table has been quite enjoyable. Looking forward to seeing what’s next!
On Novus Prime, I am looking forward to updates too.
@Byron, sorry you didn’t receive your cowboy hat reward. We’re looking into it!
Thanks for your support, everyone. We’ve got big things coming in 2012!
“JP: The cards are completely random. It can be easy to see patterns that don’t exist!”
Seems by definition if we see a pattern, it exists.
The great number of suited or paired flops I see are all apparently just my wild imagination!