Globe and Mail posts 2700-word Q&A with Splinter Cell: Conviction's lead game designer, Steven Masters. From the story:
"A couple of weeks ago I posted an email Q&A with Benoit Lambert, lead game designer for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed 2, on what I think is a fascinating topic: How developers fine tune the difficulty level of the games we play.
As luck would have it, another Ubisoft game sage has answered the same questions I posed Mr. Benoit. In the interview below, Steven Masters, lead game designer on this fall's Splinter Cell: Conviction, brings his own unique perspective to the discussion of game difficulty. Here are a few nuggets of his wisdom to whet your whistle:
"Randomness is the enemy of fairness."
"We're not making games for the enemies to have fun."
"Everybody who purchases the game should be able to finish the game."
Read on to learn more about Mr. Masters' game balancing methodology."
