Evil Genius was influenced by non-spy classics such as Enter the Dragon and Flash Gordon.
Resolved true The record shows it happened or was so.
Factual: Statements about the present or the past, checked against the record: did they hold up?
Said for an organisation they lead or work for; it counts on both records.
What would count as true or false
This concerns Elixir Studios' game Evil Genius (2004), which Hassabis's studio developed. True: the game's design documentation, developer interviews or the game's content (e.g. henchmen, lairs, visual references) show influences from Enter the Dragon and Flash Gordon. Mostly true: influence from one of the two is clearly shown and the other is plausible but only weakly documented. Mixed: one is supported and the other is unsupported. Mostly false: there is only vague resemblance, with no documented influence. False: the evidence shows no such influences. As the developer's own account of its design intentions, a developer statement made at the time counts as primary evidence.
Set before the research began.
Evidence (4)
-
E1 Interview with an Evil Genius Eurogamer · 4 October 2004 Own record
“Actually, also, things like Enter The Dragon - even though that's not actually strictly speaking a spy movie, it's got a mad evil mastermind, it's got an island retreat and all that.”
-
E2 Interview with an Evil Genius Eurogamer · 4 October 2004 Own record
“Even things like Flash Gordon, strangely, in terms of the humour and the colour of the world, and also things like Ming the Merciless”
-
E3 GDC 2004: Evil Genius - IGN IGN · 27 March 2004
“Based on spy movies from the 60s, Evil Genius doesn't take itself too seriously, and you'll notice several tongue-in-cheek allusions to the Bond films, The Avengers, The Prisoner and kung-fu flicks like Enter the Dragon.”
-
E4 Interview with an Evil Genius Eurogamer · 4 October 2004 Own record
“There are a lot of little references [in Evil Genius] for those who are fans of those things. They're just parodies, the same way that Austin Powers is a parody of James Bond.”
Reasoning
In the October 2004 Eurogamer interview, the developer names Enter the Dragon as an influence for its evil mastermind and island retreat (E1). The same interview cites Flash Gordon for the humour, the colour of the world and Ming the Merciless (E2), and describes these as small parody references for fans (E4). IGN's March 2004 preview independently notes allusions in the game to kung-fu films like Enter the Dragon (E3). Under the criteria, a developer statement made at the time counts as primary evidence, so both influences are documented.
Cite this claim
Demis Hassabis, “Evil Genius was influenced by non-spy classics such as Enter the Dragon and Flash Gordon.” (said 2004). Verdict: resolved true. Reliability API, claim c_e98b4bf12149, method 0.1.0+c876030c, dataset release v1.1.2. https://epistacklabs.com/claims/c_e98b4bf12149
This claim is in dataset release v1.1.2, with the same verdict.
Reply to this claim
More factual claims by Demis Hassabis
-
Resolved true
“In 2016 AlphaGo beat Lee Sedol 4-1 in a famous match in Seoul”
-
Mostly true
“Our lead artist, Brian Gillies, wanted a shiny "atomic age" '60s style for the game, a sort of "beautiful people in a beautiful world" feel, and I think you'll agree that the game looks really fresh…”
Lead artist Brian Gillies wanted a shiny "atomic age" 1960s style for Evil Genius.
-
Mostly true
“The more the player gloats, the more notoriety he or she gains (notoriety is the measure of the player's respect in the criminal underworld and is key to progress through the game).”
-
Mostly true
“I first had the kernel of the idea for Evil Genius way before Elixir had even started.”
-
Resolved true
“But the more the player gloats, the more chance there is that it will backfire, allowing the agent to turn the tables and escape.”
Verdicts are made automatically; how verdicts are made.