Recently, I had the opportunity to speak with Vince Desi, CEO of Running with Scissors.  If you don't already know, RWS is the company that brought you the highly controversial Postal series of games.  They are currently in production on the third entry in the series, which is due out next year.

CigDangle: How did the concept for the original Postal come to be?  What inspired some of the scenarios for the game?

Vince Desi: The original Postal design was a group effort by a few of us working at an earlier company I had that made educational games. There were several motivations - boredom and money were the main instigators.  As for the game itself, I was very bored with all the zombie, alien, Nazi, blah-blah-blah stuff - just not exciting to me.  Doing something that was over the top was very natural.  Most of us here have always been outcast in one way or another.  But really the most important thing was the desire to do something different.

CD: Postal 2 was a huge leap forward both graphically and technologically from the original title.  Will Postal III make this sort of jump this as well?

VD: More than the obvious expected graphic and tech improvements will be the new game play mechanisms we introduce.  We have always brought new, fun to us, and sometimes extreme elements to gaming; this is where the excitement is for me.  Postal III more than promises to deliver us from evil, it will allow you to be as nice or as sick as you like to be.

CD: At what point in the development cycle is Postal III?  When do you hope to go "gold"?

VD: I’d say were about 50% done, and looking at summer 2009 for the PC, and Christmas 2009 for the Xbox 360 and PS3.  You have to understand that we have spent about a year in design, and I don’t really count that as production time; that’s more pre-production, and then realistically the big push is when you're at Beta.  Fine tuning is the most important stage, in my opinion.

CD: Why did you decide to include consoles with this title?  What has this done to your production time and costs?

VD: We always wanted to be on consoles - from the beginning - but we got derailed along the way.  The Postal III team is bigger than anything we’ve done before, about 30 of us in total, including our team Trash Masters in Moscow.  A title as large as this demands more talent, time and money.  The good news: I am blessed to be working with very talented members here and in Moscow who know, understand, believe in, and love what RWS stands for and what Postal is really all about.

CD: With the controversy surrounding videogame violence, have you ever thought of returning to the company's roots and developing games that are...more tame?  Will you ever make another Spy vs. Spy title?

VD: I have no idea what's next, right now.  Postal III, by the time it's done, will have been about a 3-year effort, and then we will be supporting it with add-on content.  If I could look into my crystal ball, I’d say absolutely yes, there will be something new and different.  We’ve had designs in the works, but Postal has become a cult product, so it's like a child growing up for us.

CD: Speaking of the controversy regarding surrounding violent games, what is your take?  Is the current ESRB rating system adequate or is legislation needed?

VD: I think what the ESRB does is more than adequate, and the last thing we need is the government getting involved.  Actually I'd like to see the ESRB simplify things, and be a true independent entity: non-political.  But then again, I want world peace, and that ain't happening soon either.

CD: Gary Coleman appeared in Postal 2; will any celebrities be making cameos in the new game?  If so, can you tell us who some of them may be?

VD: Yes, we have several lined up, all very different, and what I like best is that they play themselves in a meaningful way in the game itself.  I can tell you that Uwe Boll is in the game.

CD: How involved were you in bringing Postal to the "big screen"?  Have you seen the film, and if so, are you happy with the results?

VD: From the very beginning writing treatments to working with Uwe on the final script.  I also make an appearance as myself in the film; it's very funny.  The released version runs about 98 minutes.  It's very insane and funny, and yes overall we’re happy.  Unfortunately, the major theatre exhibitors chose not to show it, so we are limited to the independents.

CD: Other than obvious technical upgrades, what will set Postal III apart from its predecessors and games from other developers?

VD: We’re Running With Scissors, the developers that first let you shoot innocent people, set them on fire, commit suicide to quit, piss on people, the cat silencer, the boomerang machete, Postal Babes, Champ and Krotchy.  I think it's fair to say over the past decade we have shown the world that game development doesn’t have to be boring and repetitive.  You want more?

CD: What's one bit of information that has not been released about Postal III that you can share with us?

VD: MONKEYS, MONKEYS, MONKEYS!!!

CD: Is there anything else you'd like to add?

VD: Thanks for giving me the opportunity to speak to your audience.  God bless America!

CD: Thank you for taking the time to speak with us. 

Although Postal has never been my cup of tea (some of the staff love the games), I understand there is an audience for these titles, and am happy I live in a country that doesn't censor such content.  That being said, I am looking forward to seeing Postal III as it nears completion to see what they do with this title.

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