GDC 2007: Cliffy B talks about Gears of War

At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007, Gears of War already took the Best Game Award (GDCA). The game’s lead designer Cliff Bleszinski, who goes under the moniker Cliffy B, also gave a talk at the GDC. Here are some pretty interesting snippets of his lecture on making Gears of War.

The team wanted to call the Locusts “Geist” but didn’t since Nintendo has a game with the same name.
They at first designed a first-person shooter (FPS) without cover, but changed into a sort of “Resident Killswitch” type of game design based on Resident Evil and Killswitch.
Some of the ideas that did not make it to the game: “Combat Cash” that allows players to loot and get cash and “Morale Meter” that allows players to commit suicide when they’re depressed.
The ideas the team stuck to in designing are: slower paced game, no aliens from space, low tech and high tech and embracing cliches and shedding others.
Camera inspiration came from Resident Evil 4.
They decided to go with a toggle cover system instead of using the left stick to cover because the latter can get pretty annoying.
The Y button was originally unassigned, but the team decided to turn it into the cool button. Thus, it was born.

The team wanted to call the Locusts “Geist” but didn’t since Nintendo has a game with the same name.
They at first designed a first-person shooter (FPS) without cover, but changed into a sort of “Resident Killswitch” type of game design based on Resident Evil and Killswitch.
Some of the ideas that did not make it to the game: “Combat Cash” that allows players to loot and get cash and “Morale Meter” that allows players to commit suicide when they’re depressed.
The ideas the team stuck to in designing are: slower paced game, no aliens from space, low tech and high tech and embracing cliches and shedding others.
Camera inspiration came from Resident Evil 4.
They decided to go with a toggle cover system instead of using the left stick to cover because the latter can get pretty annoying.
The Y button was originally unassigned, but the team decided to turn it into the cool button. Thus, it was born.