Deadly Premonition director "Swery" held a talk at Game Developer’s Conference where he discussed the importance of having players remember your game while they aren’t playing it.
Believe it or not, this is why Deadly Premonition has events like York eating, smoking, and shaving. Swery believes these elements remind players to eat or shave in real life. And vice-versa while you’re eating you may think of Deadly Premonition. Players who smoke, according to feedback given to Swery, tend to light a cigarette in real life when York smokes in game.
When developing Deadly Premonition, Swery thought about setting the game in Canada since he has family there. Since most of the games sold are in the US he picked the Pacific Northwest instead.
Swery mentioned two more elements he would like to have added into Deadly Premonition, but didn’t have time to developed. He wanted York to ride a bicycle and wear cologne. Also, the original concept did not have any combat, which would force players to runaway from shadows. However, Swery was told this kind of game would not sell in the U.S. and Swery changed the game.
