DreamRift talks Henry Hatsworth success, Monster Tale possibly on WiiWare, 3DS project in the works

A portion of a Dtoid interview with DreamRift’s Peter Ong…

D: There was critical success with Henry Hatsworth, which was also a wholly new IP and idea. Was that success surprising for you, and was that in anyway a catalyst for giving it another go with this completely fresh idea out of the gate?

PO: Although we had hoped that the audience would be as excited by Hatsworth as we were in making it, we didn’t know for sure what would happen with the its reception.

Thankfully, it seemed to resonate very well with people, even though our team had been less than 1/3 the size of leading games in its genre. Last time I checked, no other non-Japanese original DS game ever released has a higher overall critical rating (Metacritic) than Hatsworth! The game’s success definitely increased our confidence in our ability to create a new game where our passion would translate to the audience’s experience, and it served to whet our appetites for seeing what else we could do.

D: Any chance of Monster Tale for PSN/XBLA/WiiWare or other retail platforms?

PO: It’s a possibility, although I can’t give any official word at the moment. We’re very interested in those platforms for other future projects as well.

D: What are thoughts on the 3DS, NGP, iPhone, and the future of portable gaming in general?

PO: With the introduction of so many new platforms, this is a time when the portable gaming scene is very much in flux. One danger is the dilution of overall gaming experiences with oversaturation of toy-like/time-waster type “games,” which might lead to games being thought of as more disposable entertainment.

I’d like to see game-makers put their best effort forth to maintain the integrity and depth of games as meaningful experiences. It will be interesting to see how the differences between each platform’s hardware can translate to different types of game ideas that are best suited to each platform.

To that end, we’re currently working on a 3DS game we’re extremely eager to reveal, which could only be done on the 3DS.