Yahel from Wrestling With Gaming has just released another excellent documentary, this time focusing on the game Perfect Dark for the Nintendo 64. Pretty much everything you’d need to know about the history of the game is covered, from the origin of the name, the inspiration for the storyline and long journey the team went through to make it happen.
Support Yahel here: https://www.patreon.com/WrestlingWithGaming
As a huge nerd, there was one part of the documentary that really stood out to me: It seems the team behind the game was at first left with a lot of freedom to create whatever they’d like, but then after a shakeup at the company was forced to finish it up as quickly as possible. This allowed the time for new ideas to be hashed out in a way that would have never been possible with a standard deadline…but then forced the “crunch” needed to get it done. That really resonated with me; Whenever I’ve been involved in a project with no hard deadline, it often takes much longer than anticipated and never really feels like I did my “best” work. For myself and plenty of other people, crunching to get something completed, while working with a specific set of limitations has often forced innovation, as I had to find a way to “make it work”. There’s also more often a stronger sense of accomplishment, as while I might not this it was my “best”, I’m usually proud of what I was able to produce, with the resources I had.
The team certainly came up with a winner, as it’s still getting a lot of attention and multiple remakes and re-released have been (and are currently) in the works!
