Interview: Douglas Liberman, Guillemot North America

Product Manager for Accessory Range

Guillemot North America

Interview date: 8/1/99

Q. What brought you to work for Guillemot and what are some of your duties with them?

A. Guillemot and Ubi Soft have very strong names and reputations in Montreal. More importantly, who wouldn't want to work for a gaming company? I am the Product Manager for the Accessory range. This means that I am responsible for the marketing for the console and PC game controllers.

Q. What factors led Guillemot's to add game controllers to their product line-up?

A. We have had game controllers as part of our line for some time in Europe. In our first year of operations in North America we chose to focus our energy into our graphics and sound card lines. We slowly folded the controllers into the mix. This year, I am happy to say, our entire line of game controllers (PC and console) has been redesigned. We have begun a huge push forward for Q4.

Q. The initial line of controllers from Guillemot was highly successful. What kind of improvements can we expect to see in the next releases?

A. We have taken the best aspects from our initial line and built on them. The two major improvements you will see in the next release will be technology and styling. The three initial products that are launching our PC line with are a Force Feedback Joystick, a Ferrari Force Feedback Racing Wheel, and a Dual Analog Gamepad.

The Force Feedback Joystick will feature a Kevlar textured grip and an adjustable handrest. It will be powdered by 2 Johnson motors that will make sure that you feel every shot, bump, and jolt. There are plenty of buttons that can easily be customized with our programming interface software. These will include an 8-way coolie hat, 12 quick action buttons, and rudder and throttle wheels. Of course it is compatible with I-Force 2.0. A couple of other nice features are that it is ambidextrous and has an

On/Off switch so that you do not have to leave it on all the time.

The Ferrari Force Feedback Racing Wheel the product I most excited about. When you grab hold of this wheel, you feel the difference. Its double injected rubberized wheel comes molded with thumb grooves. This makes all the difference when you're outrunning the cops in NFS4! The Force Feedback is compatible with I-Force 2.0 and is powered by a 3lbs Johnson motor. This motor is big and heavy-duty! The clamping system has been completely redesigned. The customizable buttons include 2 4-way hats. You can program up to 20 functions. Another great feature is the dual acceleration/shift feature. Accelerate and brake using the pivoting pedals or the progressive levers mounted behind the wheel. The same option applies for shifting gears. Use the shift stick or the paddle shifters. Besides all of these features and its great styling, the most important difference is the way that it handles. Its a tight drive with a realistic turning radius.

The possibilities of gameplay for the Dual Analog Controller are endless. The controller has 2 Alps analog joysticks. Analog means that the more you push them, the more that they respond. This gives you excellent precision, allowing you to go from walk to run instantly, just by pushing further. The

customizable buttons (13) include 4 triggers. There is also an 8-way D-pad that can be programmed (how about using this for your Quake III arsenal!) Getting back to the Analog sticks. You can program these for driving games. One to steer, one to accelerate/brake. Use them for First-person shooters

(move and look). Use them with a Playstation emulator like Bleem! that 3D enhance your games to get the best control of the game.

We will of course keep selling the T-Leader 3D and the Jet Leader will be updated with a mixed Digital and USB connection. Actually, all of the new products will all be mixed Digital/USB. We also have a couple of other surprises that we are very excited that we will be able to talk about soon.

Q. Can you walk us through the process of developing a new controller?

A. Sure. The first step is to see what people want. What are they playing? How can we help them to play better? We examine new technologies and see how we can fit in. Then the engineers in France take over. Our artists develop the aesthetics of the product. We then give it name, a package, and we release it. I guess I make it sound kind of simple. Its not.

Q. Your job must be very time consuming. When you do have free time what computer games do you enjoy?

A. It is, but keeping track of games and the competitions controllers is part of my responsibilities (not the hardest part of my job :-) . Lately, I've really been into Need for Speed 4. Outrunning the cops is great! Another favorite right now is Monaco Grand Prix 2 very cool. Star Wars Racer and Rogue Squadron are of course staple games too. Look out for Shadow Company as well. I've been playing with a demo and I like it a lot.

Q. What controllers do you use for those games?

A. You name it! I've been trying just about everything. One controller that I think is really cool is the Microsoft Freestyle with Motocross Madness. I recommend playing it in a swiveling chair on wheels on a wood floor to get the maximum effect. And I have also been having fun trying our new line of upcoming controllers and testing the demos. I promise you won't be disappointed!

Q. Guillemot seems to be one of the few manufactures that takes left-handed users into consideration (I.e. the ambidextrous design of the Jet Leader 3D. Was this a conscious decision and can we expect to see more controllers with similar considerations?

A. This was a conscious decision. We felt that this market was being unserved. As for future plans, I do not have many details right now. Our first effort will be to decide on how we will merge the Thrustmaster line with our own.

Q. The USB interface is quickly becoming the interface of choice for a number of reasons. What will be the connection methods) of the new line?

A. As I previously mentioned, all three products will be mixed digital and USB. They will work on any PC. The Dual Analog gamepad will also come with iMac drivers.

Q. Have release dates been set for the new products? If so, when can we expect them and what will be their MSRP's?

A. The new line will be released in September. MSRP (some dealers may sell for less) are $99.99 for the Force Feedback Joystick, $129.99 for the Ferrari Force Feedback Racing Wheel, and $39.99 for the Dual Analog Gamepad.

Q. Finally, what can we expect to see from Guillemot in the future?

A. As you probably can imagine, Thrustmaster, Thrustmaster, Thrustmaster. Our engineers are currently hard at work updating the product line within the Thrustmaster tradition. Besides that, we hope to have a couple of more surprises in the coming months. That's all I can tell you right now. I will keep you informed as we progress.