Published on December 29, 2023 at 5:00 p.m
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He was only 18 years old when he created his first video game in 1984: Karateka. At that time 500,000 copies were sold. A very good value for the time. But it was another game that really put him on the map a few years later, after a stint at Yale University: the game Prince of Persia, released in 1989. The story of a refugee from a foreign land who will save the kingdom and marry a princess… The adventure is translated into six languages and has sold more than two million copies. Before he discovers his fate in the cinema a few years later.
Jordan Mechner, the prince's father, is American. In a comic he talks about the creation of his video games, which shaped the history of this digital art. His arrival in France to work on a new project with Ubisoft. Also a culture shock for him, but also for his children and his country.
Escape from the Nazis
But “Replay: Memories of a Family” is much more than a reflection on artistic creation and the development of a sector that has evolved from craft to industry in just a few decades. It is also a family saga. Jordan Mechner tells of his family's flight to Austria during the Nazi era in 1938. An escape that scattered the family between Paris, Cuba and New York. Francis, Jordan's father, experienced exile far from his parents but survived the horrors of war. A story documented by his grandfather Adolf, a doctor in Vienna. A story of uprooting that finds particular resonance in the work of his grandson, game developer and comic book screenwriter. But also in today's world, like the many Ukrainians who have had to flee the advance of Russian thugs in their country for two years.
La Story is a podcast from Echos, presented by Pierrick Fay. This episode was recorded in December 2023. Editor-in-Chief: Clémence Lemaistre. Guest: Jordan Mechner (author of “Replay, Memoirs of a Family”). Director: Nicolas Jean. Music: Théo Boulenger. Graphic Identity: Upian. Photo: Delcourt. Sounds: “Valse sad” by Oskar Nedbal, “Déracinés” by Les Barbeaux, INA, “Prince of Persia – les sables du temps” 2009, “Karateka” 1984, “Prince of Persia” 1989, Jordan Mechner, “The Last Express » 1997.
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