14 DAY TRIAL // Video game development studios are a dime a dozen these days, even though the economic recession has made some of them close their doors and dismantle. One of the most interesting is Tigon Studios, owned by famous Hollywood actor Vin Diesel.
The company is a nice move for Diesel as it has been overseeing the production of almost all of the video games starring characters made famous by the actor, from The Chronicles of Riddick to Wheelman to name but a few.
But don't think that the action star doesn't like to get his hands “dirty” with the development process, as the head of the studio, Ian Stevens, has declared for GamesIndustry that Diesel likes to get involved in the creation of a new game as his film schedule allows him to, “If he's shooting a Fast and Furious I get a lot less of his time.”
“He'll look at these things and bring up a list of thirty things you could do to make this hour of gameplay, from a narrative standpoint, more immersive, more interesting,” said Stevens about Diesel's contribution. “So we take it back to shop, and maybe half of them are things we can do, and half of them aren't - but it's an interesting bit of feedback that otherwise wouldn't exist, wouldn't be solicited, that happens because he's involved in the process.”
Also, Stevens has revealed that Vin Diesel is “not quite the meat-head action star that a lot of people see him as.” This is really emphasized by the fact that Diesel was one of the first few actors to truly embrace gaming and get involved with development as early as 2002. Hopefully, more famous people will see the possibilities in this branch of entertainment and get involved more often, at least by offering their talent to studios and developers.