From left to right: Peter Cullen, Tom DeSanto, Dan Suarez, Chacko Sonny, and Rob Caminos

Q & A
The PR folks had told us before that we would get a chance to ask the developers questions as well as meet a special guest. After time had run up on our hands on sessions, it was time for the Q & A, and we actually had not one, but two special guests. Sitting at the panel table with the developers were Peter Cullen (voice of Optimus Prime) and Tom DeSanto (producer of the movie). Sadly, even though we were given ample opportunity to ask questions and I asked some, I forgot to ask the question I thought was most important. All the instructions for the games listed “convert” instead of “transform” to transform from vehicle to robot. I really wanted to ask if it would be like that in the retail versions and why they chose the word convert instead of transform. I would think someone buying a Transformers game, even a normal mainstream person, would know what “transform” means.

One of the first questions asked was directed at Cullen regarding how it felt to work with Welker (he’s the voice of Megatron in the game) again. He said that when they’re together they’re like a fuse, “ and you never know when it’s going to blow up.” He told us about a question at another event that he and Welker answered by going into voices and just screwing around on tape for 45 minutes. He didn’t think they actually answered the question. When asked if he brought anything different to the Prime voice now than twenty years ago, he said it was, “like putting on a pair of comfortable shoes you’d hidden in the back of your closet.” He didn’t change the voice, but he was glad that Prime was more human now, that he could emote and have a sense of humor. Surprisingly, Cullen was only involved in the movie for 11 days, “because they were paying me by the hour,” he joked. He was really nice and wouldn’t leave until everyone who wanted pictures with him took them and he wrote a note or two as autographs. Class act.

Same guys, different poses

Questions were asked about development and collaboration with the studio, and the differences between producing games and movies was explained by the developers. The movie could get away with not having the voice actor for Megatron cast at a point when the game needed the recording to continue, due to very different deadlines. It was pointed out several times that the studio offered a lot of support, but there were times when the fansites helped out the game developers, albeit inadvertently. There were instances where a fansite would break a leaked image of a character that Traveler’s Tales didn’t have yet, so they’d contact the studio and then get the resources. At one point, Don Murphy brought the dev team to his office and showed them about an hour’s worth of the movie to inspire them. Prior to showing the footage, he threatened to hunt down and kill anyone who leaked the footage. Someone also had an anecdote about Shia LaBeouf overhearing that they were working on the game on set and he was gushing over how cool their jobs were and how he wanted to do something like that.
Tom DeSanto pointed out that he thinks the movie is going to work for kids or adults, because there’s something for everyone and that “everyone can find something cool in this movie.” I believe it was also DeSanto that told us that people at ILM were saying that the effects for this movie will make it this decade’s Jurassic Park. When asked how we could ensure there will be further installments, he basically indicated that they are planning on doing more unless the movie flops at the box office. He said something along the lines of it being like X-Men, where it will be set up and open for a sequel if there is interest. So, if we want more movies, we need to hope people get out to the theaters…like Paramount’s going to need the help with their advertising blitz.

One of the two questions I did remember to ask was if anyone on the dev team had a Transformers shrine at their desks like Epic game designer Cliffy B. It turns out that multiple employees had transformers figures all over their workspaces (and in some cases on the floor outside their cubicles), including the Powermaster Prime figure that can be seen on Cliffy B’s desk. That was when Mr. Suarez told me that he had to tell some guys to move their stuff to make room for devkits.
I also asked if the footage between Cullen and Welker (segments of which are making the rounds online now) would be included on the Xbox 360 exclusive Cybertron edition. Yes, that will be on there as well as other making of features and the Cybertron levels will be unlocked from the start. The Xbox 360 version of the game will have downloadable gamerpics, themes, and content coming in the future. When, we weren’t told, but they did say they were working on it when Joe asked. Given that he asked about downloadable content in general, and they only told us about the 360’s plans, I would assume there will be no content for the PS Network. We were also told that there are no plans for a downloadable demo for any platform other than the PC.

Me with Optimus Prime!

Everyone on the panel thanked us and let us know that the fans were a big part of all the excitement we’ll have this summer. Peter Cullen was especially sincere thanking us for stepping up to bat for him.

Thanks
I would really like to thank Activision for extending this invitation to the fansites and letting us play the game and for the level of cooperation they have given us by releasing screenshots and videos. Props also need to be given to the PR people who helped organize this and fly us out there from all over the country. Finally, I want to say to the other fans at the event, including those at Activision, that this was a wonderful experience and it was great to meet and hang out with all of you.

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Game videos

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Links
As the other guys who saw the game post their articles, I will link to them here in alphabetical order, sorry Ryan.

• Adam - Collection DX
• Daniel - The Allspark
• Jack - Tformers (via Game News International)
• Joe - TFW2005
• Kevin - Unicron.com
• Ian - PlanetTransformers
• Ryan - Seibertron

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