Developer interview - GAMEINVEST

Developer Interview with CEO of GAMEINVEST, Paulo Gomes.

I had the pleasure of conducting an interview via email with the CEO of Portuguese game developer GAMEINVEST, Paulo Gomes. GAMEINVEST has a few titles in the works for Nintendo Wii and DS in addition to having released 'Å“Toy Shop'? on the DS earlier this year. What struck me most about GAMEINVEST was their philosophy towards game development which they refer to as 'Å“pop games.'? I tried digging deeper into how their upcoming games would succeed in being 'Å“fun, innovative, memorable, and accessible'? all at once.

DS-X2: In your own words, could you tell us a bit about Gameinvest and its supposed unique approach to designing games?

PG: GAMEINVEST was founded in June 2006, and we develop, publish and invest in original titles for international markets. The company is based on the principal that games - like music and movies - should be available for all ages and tastes. We call this category of entertainment 'Å“Pop Games.'? Pop Games are meant to be high-quality, fun, innovative, memorable, and accessible. GAMEINVEST set out to demonstrate that just because a game is not 'Å“hardcore'? it does not mean that it lacks in immersion and depth, and we hope to bring memorable experiences to a wide audience.

We're backed by over €3MM in private investment funding, and have 40 employees and six external partner studios working with us. GAMEINVEST is prepared to present publishers and distributors with an average of ten new and innovative multi-platform games each year for the mainstream 'œPop'? audience.

In addition to our commitment to designing 'Å“Pop'? games, another element of our design strategy is based on classic media content productions, like TV animation series and films. This is why our animation studio (Bigmoon Animation Studios) is one of the most important parts of our business. The studio develops not only animations, but also concept art, scripts, and character designs for all of our creative works. Because our artists and animators are in-house, we have more creative control and can more easily adhere to the principals of our 'Å“Pop Games'? strategy. We built this studio by hiring people that came from other media experiences outside of the traditional hardcore games industry, such as comic books, graphic design, television and cinema scriptwriting, etc. By hiring artists from other entertainment media experiences centered on immersive stories and original characters, we can bring these characteristics to our games.

DS-X2: Gameinvest recently released "Toy Shop" on the Nintendo DS earlier this year; were you satisfied with the results and/or reception?

PG: Toy Shop was our very first title, and was released in the US by one of our publishing partners, Majesco, last April. Because the game was recently released, we're still collecting information about the reviews and the general public response. In September, Toy Shop will be released in Europe (under the name Toy Shop Tycoon) and we will collect more information on that title as well, so we can soon develop a comprehensive post-mortem assessment of the game. While we don't have that data yet, I can definitely say that Toy Shop was very fun to develop, Majesco was great to work with, and we're getting lot of praise about the characters and artwork. We will be delivering eight new titles (a total of 21 multiplatform games) in 2008, so we're confident that consumers will continue to enjoy our lineup throughout the year.

DS-X2: I've noticed some of the upcoming games from Gameinvest this year are being released on Xbox live arcade and PlayStation Network, yet the Wii releases appear to all be regular disc-based releases and not Wii-ware. Was this a matter of preference or a failure to communicate with Nintendo about this new service?

PG: It definitely wasn't a communication breakdown : there's actually a logical explanation. GAMEINVEST production catalogs are defined the year before the games are set to release, so the GI 2008 catalog was produced in summer 2007. At that point, we had already discussed the digital distribution of next year's titles with Microsoft and Sony, but by the time the catalog was scheduled for completion in October 2007, we still didn't have much information about WiiWare, which launched in the U.S. in May 2008. In addition, there are limitations in the size allowance for digital distribution via WiiWare. Our games had already been developed without the WiiWare 40MB limitation, so we were unable to prepare any of our titles for the Nintendo digital distribution this year.

DS-X2: Speaking of multiple platforms, Gameinvest plans to release "Aquatic tales" and "Sarah's Emergency Room" for both Wii and Nintendo DS later this year. Will these simply be straight ports or will each platform offer something entirely unique to the gameplay?

PG: In my opinion, it's generally not a good idea to conceptualize a game that you can directly 'Å“port'? from Wii to DS; if we simply implemented a straight port without accounting for the difference between the two platforms, the game would become very strange. For this reason, GAMEINVEST always makes a new version of a title when we invest in a DS title. We even implement different Wii-specific and DS-specific development teams from the very beginning. The only thing that is initially the same between the two versions is the Generic Design Document. After we've developed this document, each team works on its own GDD. That means art, interaction, and gameplay will be different.

DS-X2: Looking at "Aquatic tales" more in-depth: Oceanic preservation and conservation are going to be running themes. Does this mean there will be educational segments on marine life throughout the game or will it just be left as an underlying theme?

PG: When we first wrote 'Å“Aquatic Tales'?, it wasn't our intention to create a video game, but rather a children's story to easily explain what's happening to our planet: how the environment is damaged, how some species are nearing extinction, and how much of our world may be lost in the future if we don't change the way we live. I have four children and can relate to the challenges in explaining these concepts to them. In order for children to understand this concept, we wrote an enchanting story about a fish family who grapples with environmental issues. Rather than the passiveness of reading a book to kids, we really wanted a way to experience this message with them, so the concept for the video game was born. The game's scenes, songs, and opportunity to be the hero of the fish family can give parents a great way to 'Å“play'? with their children and provide a more interactive method of explaining one of the most significant problems that is facing us today. We believe that 'Å“Aquatic Tales'? has the capacity to be a more fun, connective medium than a lot of other educational tools.

DS-X2: The story behind "Sarah's Emergency Room" is quite odd to many, according to the press release the main character moves from California to Arkansas of all places. Did you just throw darts at a map or were there reasons to these specific locations?

PG: Good question! Well, when I wrote the game, the main idea was to cast the player as a young, smart, ambitious, yet inexperienced nurse. In this role, the player starts the game with a small and quiet emergency room to manage, but the complexity of the gameplay increases as Sarah (the player) becomes more and more experienced. The storyline revolves around the idea that Sarah has the motivation to be the best nurse in the field. When she graduates from college, she isn't able to find a job because all the major metropolitan hospitals only want experienced nurses. Her only opportunity, then, lies in a small town in the middle of nowhere. This storyline detail justifies why you have less competition, fewer problems to solve, and a smaller hospital. After that, we move Sarah from one hospital to another as she tries to manage larger emergency rooms and work all over the United States. That's why her last challenge is in the massive city of New York, where she must manage ambulances and a helicopter, as well as the emergency room itself. Finally, if the player completes all seven of the hospitals in the game, he or she will get to the end of the story, which takes place in Washington, DC, but we can't reveal any other details'¦you need to play to find out what happens.

DS-X2: I have noticed the genre for "Sarah's Emergency Room" is listed as "time management". What gameplay mechanics do you think will immerse the player in this unique genre? Where's the fun in time management?

PG: The time management genre is an increasingly popular category of Pop games, and with Sarah's Emergency Room we really wanted to improve on traditional time management elements and make our game even more exciting. Time management games are fun because they involve fast-paced gameplay that challenges the player and requires a fair amount and skill and concentration. If a game's task is meaningless, however, the game can get boring. That's why the storyline in Sarah's Emergency Room is so integral to the gaming experience; instead of performing pointless tasks, the player is treating and organizing patients so Sarah can prove her nursing skills and work her way up in the nursing world. This way, the player becomes more involved in the game and it becomes more of a rewarding experience.

There are also three different approaches to gameplay in Sarah's Emergency Room: one for PC Download players, one for Wii players, and the other for DS players. Each platform title is based on the same IP, plot and goals, but contains different challenges and mechanics that are tailored to the characteristics of the specific platform and the characteristics of the platform players.

For example, we know that Wii players tend to enjoy multiplayer gaming, so the Wii version of Sarah's Emergency Room is very much about cooperative management of the patients. Players have a multiplayer option in which several nurses (Wii players can play with up to three additional friends) will need to work together 'Å“beat the clock'? and treat the patients. This co-op mode is a lot of fun, and it adds more of an interactive element to the game. Another fun feature comes into play when some of the player's emergency room patients get bored of waiting and start to wander out of the hospital. This adds another challenging aspect of time management to the game, because the player must try to bring them back to the emergency room so they don't leave without being treated. So while a lot of the game's features are common across all three platforms, we've added different time management elements that are unique to each platform.

DS-X2: What kind of enemies will your "family of fish" encounter in "Aquatic tales?" As environmentalism is a running theme, are there any direct human encounters?

PG: Our fish family will encounter lots of dangers and adventure in Aquatic Tales. Each level of the game represents a new geographic part of the journey, and these levels will be inhabited by various underwater animals : both friends and foes. Players will encounter friendly animals (like dolphins, sea lions, and turtles) and more hostile creatures (like sharks, octopuses, and anacondas).

Environmentalism is a core theme of the game, and throughout Aquatic Tales we are telling the story of the harm that humanity has done to the environment. We opted to tell the story in a more symbolic way, so players will never directly encounter human characters in the game. The drama in the story, however, is representative of human behaviors, and the opportunity to aid the fish family allows players to directly experience the implications of these damaging behaviors.

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