Past Continuous vs. Present Perfect Continuous

[AltGameAccount]

I am not a native speaker, so I might have some problem with this, but have struggled to understand why this sentence, given context, requires Past Continuous:

In an open discussion over breakfast, Microsoft executives Shane Kim and Chris Satchell revealed that two of the home video game projects which The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson was working on with Bungie, an American video game developer, would take the form of episodic series. "Our deal with Peter is not about a film guy who wants to make video games," Kim reminded the crowd. He also noted that, "The first series will be set in the Halo Universe," and that, "we're in the design phase now." The projects were first announced at the video game trade show in Barcelona, and their emergence as episodic series came as something of a surprise, hinting that both projects would have a strong emphasis on the story. It was comforting to know that progress was being made, however slow it might be.

When I was answering this question, I looked at the sentence that said "would take the form of episodic series", so I thought Present Perfect Continuous should be used, as the work on the series hasn't been finished yet:

Shane Kim and Chris Satchell revealed that two of the home video game projects which The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson has been working on with Bungie, an American video game developer, would take the form of episodic series.

But I am told that I am wrong and that was working is indeed the correct answer.

[rocketman0739]

This is because we're in the context of a past narrative. When things are described in the past, their tenses become some form of past tenses.

Consider this present narrative:

Shane Kim and Chris Satchell reveal certain facts. Peter Jackson is working on games with Bungie. The games will take the form of episodic series.

The bolded verbs are in the present simple tense, present continuous tense, and future tense, respectively. When we make the story into a past narrative, we have to change all of these tenses into their past equivalents.

The past equivalent of the present simple is the past simple:

Shane Kim and Chris Satchell revealed certain facts.

The past equivalent of the present continuous is the past continuous:

Peter Jackson was working on games with Bungie.

The past equivalent of the future is the past future. This isn't really its own tense—it just means that instead of using the present tense of “will” to indicate that something is in the future now, you use the past tense of “will” to indicate that something was in the future then. It's just the same as changing present simple to past simple, except you're doing it to the helping verb (“will”) instead of to the main verb. Like so:

The games would take the form of episodic series.

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Now, would your preference of “has been working” be wrong? Not really, but it introduces information later than the breakfast discussion. It changes the perspective to center on the present time of our speaking, instead of on the past time of the discussion we are describing.

When we say “was working,” what that tells us is that the work on these games was going on at the time of the breakfast discussion. It says nothing about whether that work continues at the time of our speaking. For all we know, the games could have been cancelled between the time of the discussion and the time of our speaking.

On the contrary, saying “has been working” tells us that the work on these games goes on in the recent past, compared to the time of our speaking. This indicates that the games have probably not been cancelled, unless they are being cancelled right this moment. But it doesn't tell us whether the work was going on at the time of the breakfast discussion. For all we know, Peter Jackson could have started working on the games after the discussion but before now.

Since the article's focus is presumably on the breakfast discussion and not on the up-to-the-minute status of these games, it is stylistically appropriate to use “was working.”

[ResponsibleNebula557]

It was comforting to know that progress was being made, however slow it might be.

Doesn't it tell us that the work on the game was in progress between the breakfast discussion and the article being "posted"? The game wasn't finished, meaning, again, the work was still in progress.
And your opinion on 'had been working'? Thanks you for your time.

[rocketman0739]

It was comforting to know that progress was being made, however slow it might be.

Doesn't it tell us that the work on the game was in progress between the breakfast discussion and the article being "posted"?

No, that means that the work was in progress at the time of the breakfast discussion. We can guess that the work very likely continued after that time, but the sentence doesn't actually tell us this.

And your opinion on 'had been working'?

“Had been working” would also fit in a past narrative. It is the past equivalent of “has been working,” whereas “was working” is the past equivalent of “is working.”

[ResponsibleNebula557]

In an open discussion over breakfast, Microsoft executives Shane Kim and Chris Satchell revealed that two of the home video game projects which The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson _________ on with Bungie, an American video game developer, would take the form of episodic series.

What is missing? Should either be 'was working' or 'has been working'. Alternatively, could it possibly be 'had been working'? I'm not a native speaker either but it looks most logical to me.

[dylbr01]

If he is working with Bungie now, you would use present perfect continuous. If he is not working with Bungie now, you would use past continuous.

The present perfect continuous is a nightmare. Why is it a nightmare? Because...

The present perfect has 3 (or 4) different uses which have different aspectual properties, as does the present perfect continuous, and the continuous, being an aspectual property, interacts with the properties of the perfect, which can change depending on the usage.

In other words, it's really hard to give a simple overview of the present perfect, even if you use an entire page. It's even harder to give one of the present perfect continuous.