Kristin Price is an Associate Producer at Demiurge Studios in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she works directly on a broad range of projects. Before finding a home at Demiurge, Mrs. Price entered the workforce at Nalge-Nunc International managing high-profile customer accounts as a Customer Service Representative. From there she became a member of the HAHT Commerce Implementation Team. Here she served as a point-person for internal and external users to ensure that the HAHT software met their client’s needs. In order to continue fostering her skills she took a position at Element K as a Project Manager for the Cisco ACCELERATE Team which is responsible for posting online courses for Cisco Systems.

Kristin completed a Bachelors degree in English at Ithaca College. After realizing that she wanted more involvement with software projects, Kristin began pursuing her Masters in Computer Science at Rochester Institute of Technology. She is an accomplished painter, and is said to make a mean plate of nachos.

What is your position at Demiurge Studios?

I am an Associate Producer, which tends to involve a broad range of day-to-day activities. I manage a variety of things at Demiurge including time and company tracking in addition to helping manage the projects I may be working on. At any given time you can usually find me bustling around the office keeping touch with how everybody is doing and perhaps searching for a spare Wii-Remote! In recent weeks I even helped escort 20 12-year-olds through the studio as we worked with a local school learning about ‘making video games’. I wear many hats in my job; however, that is well-suited to my background which is why it has been a great fit for me here at Demiurge Studios.

What kind of work do you do?

The beauty of my job is that I am involved with the product at a variety of different levels and in all stages. In the case of this Brothers in Arms, I scheduled out the development stages of the project. Additionally, I managed those stages such that no development process was blocked for any reason. This usually meant getting or creating art assets or software for engineers or designers working on the project. I also worked as a player advocate, making sure to have my hands on the game throughout production to make sure we were working toward a great finished product. For example, I conducted several series of play tests to evaluate our control scheme and make sure we were honing in on a solid experience. I spent a lot of time with the team working on our control scheme; we have ended up with an extremely comfortable and intuitive system.

What type of educational background did you have that got you to this point?

I have a degree in English and I am currently finishing my degree in Computer Science. The two have worked well together in my role. I am constantly calling upon them as my job requires heavy amounts of communication and technical aptitude.

Why a war game?

Brothers in Arms is a solid series. It enlists the action and excitement of first person shooters while allowing tactical skills to truly drive the player's success. The tactical element of these games is where I believe this series really makes its mark. We have stayed true to this for the Wii version and we have done this tremendous series justice.

Do you know if there is any plan to market it to women?

Brothers in Arms targets everyone who enjoys excellent, strategic gameplay. The great thing about the Wii audience is that it is not a specific "niche" and therefore a far wider audience will get to experience the game. Brothers in Arms also features a great storyline and character development; I believe this will also help broaden the audience since it adds depth to the experience.

Are there any challenges in developing this game for the Wii?

There are always challenges when utilizing a new console. However, these challenges were exciting in a very positive way. For example, something we had to re-evaluate was the difficulties in-game. Because the controls are different, difficulty ended up playing a role here. Aiming has changed now that you are using your hand to literally aim the reticle on-screen, making it harder to precisely hit your target. Therefore it becomes less about the health of the enemy and more about honing in on your targeting skills. There was careful balance that had to be applied because the mechanics of the game were changing; this made us look at the game in a whole new way.

Will there be any significant content changes in the game vs. other versions?

For those who have played this series before it will be a welcome recollection. However, it will feel quite different because of the many new design decisions that went into optimizing the Wii's power and control. I think we have the perfect balance between bringing to the Wii games that people have loved on other consoles, and making a game which enlists the true Wii experience. 

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