Interview with Prince of Persia’s Jordan Mechner

Creator of Prince of Persia and Karateka Jordan Mechner talks about game writing, Prince of Persia and its cross convergence success in a Q&A with Gamasutra. Prince of Persia is a popular series that has pushed the boundaries of what is expected from video games with puzzle based play backed up with solid physics and great animation. Mechner is at the forefront of the convergence of Hollywood and the games industry. He talks about working in the industry and his plans to bring the Prince to the big screen. He also talks about the Prince of Persia graphic novel in the works which he hopes fans will find “deeper and stranger than they would expect from a graphic novel based on a video game.”

I’ve been a fan of Prince of Persia since the original came out. The stories have become darker and grittier over the last two iterations but the spirit of the game remains the same. I have high hopes that the movie will deliver an exciting vision of the Prince that stays true to the game. I’m actually less worried about the graphic novel interpretation even though Mechner isn’t writing it himself. I think whether the novel does a retelling of the story, or takes a different tack, the Prince of Persia world Mechner has created should translate well to graphic novels.