May 15, 1992
[In SF] It’s been a good week, Prince-wise. The Mac version has shipped and, though it’s still early to tell, has all the earmarks of becoming a major hit… 16-bit Nintendo version has been approved and is slated to ship in Japan in July… Konami will distribute it in Europe and North America.
As for Prince 2 (the reason I’m here), it’s a good thing I came when I did. The artists were spinning their wheels mired in confusion and were grateful for my arrival. Once again, I’ve scaled back the graphics load. It didn’t bother me this time. Enough months have passed and I feel distant enough from the project to make the cuts detachedly. The reductions are fairly drastic, but I think there’ll still be enough left to wow ‘em when the product ships.
The pressure to make cuts, to bring it in on schedule and under budget, is coming from a nervous John Baker, who’s getting pressure from above, of course, from Doug. But when I stopped by Doug’s office to say hello, he said: “Don’t compromise on quality. Don’t let them pressure you. What do you care if it ships in January? If they try to rush you, just give ‘em a Gallic shrug.”
I’ve scheduled my next visit for early to mid-July. Right before Cuba.
It’s fun to breeze into town like this for a week, save the day, and leave again before I’ve worn out my welcome. It’s also highly efficient.
Doug was recently the subject of a Forbes spread entitled “Who in the World is Doug Carlston?”
Tina LaDeau came into the office looking for her dad. She’s 21 now. Wow. She could make anybody forget anything.
I called Patrick and read him the French translation of the Mac Prince manual. He confirmed my suspicion that it was not a great translation. We wrote a new version. That is, Patrick did, and I typed it. Hope they use it.
