City of Heroes Q&A
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The whole superhero thing really seems to have tapped into a rich vein of feeling among gamers. What is it about superheroes that appeals so much?
Jack Emmert: We consciously created the universe of City of Heroes to be a gestalt of ideas and influences from across the board. It's not an environment that's so dreadfully different from the comic book universes that fans know and love, but at the same time as you play through the game you're unravelling a pretty deep and rich mythology. That's the real appeal of the game itself. People can get in and be whatever they want and we're not restricting them as they go about discovering that mythology. I think we've also come into a superhero renaissance. The real flowering of the comic book industry occurred in the 80s when comic book stores popped up and comic book companies began aiming their products at a slightly more sophisticated audience. These guys who bought comics back then are now in their twenties and thirties and remember comics fondly, so they're now more predisposed to comic book superheroes. That's why you see films like X-Men and Spider-Man doing so well, and games like City of Heroes being successful. Plus, it's guys in costumes with superpowers: everybody gets it. I don't think you need a license to make a superhero game successful.
