You might recognise his name. You might think you know him from somewhere. And that's because you probably do if you've picked up a gaming magazine in the past fifteen years. Ben Mansill - founding father of both Atomic and PC PowerPlay and probably the most well-known games writer in Australia - agreed to sit down for a chat with us late last week and this is the result:
How long have you been writing about games?
My first published review was in 1991, that was in the now defunct MegaZone…
PALGN have caught up with Dan Toose, a Game Designer who worked on Creative Assembly';s Medieval II: Total War. They talk about the game and the creative process in creating such an endeavour as a designer's 'first game', what it's like to work up in Brisbane, Medieval II's success, and more.
When asked on advice for getting into the industry, Dan said the following:
Unless you have a rich history of working in creative industries with a strong portfolio of work, go get some technical…
Wanna know when those Wii titles are being released in Australia, after all those launch date delays? Well, PALGN has the scoop! To quote their report:
Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam will be available on December 13, EA's titles - Need for Speed: Carbon and Madden NFL 07 - on December 14. Also arriving on the 14th will be the Wii component cable, Spongebob Squarepants: Creature From Krusty Krab and Happy Feet.
The week after, Marvel Ultimate Alliance will be on shelves on December 20, Gottlieb…
While the folks over at IGN AU (http://au.ign.com) visited Krome Studios' head office in sunny Brisbane, they managed to get themselves an exclusive look at Krome's upcoming title, based on comic-book-demon turned big-screen-action-hero, Hellboy.
The title is being developed simultaneously for Xbox 360 and PS3, with an additional handheld release for the PSP. A third person action game, the IGN team seemed impressed with what they saw, and found out some details about what's to come; including…
Here is the second part of our Game Connect: Asia Pacific 2006 footage captured by Peter Davis for Sumea.
Game Connect: Fury Demonstration (51mb) Peter Davis gets a demonstration of Auran's PvP based MMO called "Fury". An Auran personnel runs through the various features of the game, and it's looking extremely nice indeed!
Game Connect: Closing Presentation with Tom Crago and Evelyn Richardson (27mb) Tom Crago, CEO of Tantalus and Vice President of the Game Developers? Association of Australia…
Microsoft have released XNA Game Studio Express, which is a set of free tools (Visual C#? 2005 Express Edition and the .NET framework) to allow anyone running Windows XP to create games.
They've also opened up the XNA Creators club, so for a subscription fee, you'll be able to access a tonne of resources such as game assets, white papers, starter kits and samples, as well as technical support on making games with XNA Game Studio Express. The Microsoft press release is as follows:
(press release…
Lead Designer of Krome's Legend of Spyro Cameron Davis is Gamasutra's latest target of their Media Consumption articles, where favorite games, movies, books and music are extracted for your pleasure. He gives high praise to Clerks 2 for some reason (I think it's Kevin Smith's worst, but in saying so, it's still alright) but makes up for it by admitting Tron ruined his life for the best:
It's the movie that transformed me from a normal, bike-riding, backyard-fishing, school-attending kid into a…
While the Aussie team at IGN got a tour of the Brisbane Krome Studios, they also got to sit down and have a chat with CEO, Robert Walsh. For more on the studios tour, check here.
When asked if he believed the Australian gaming industry was on a decline, Robert had the following to say on the subject:
I don't think it is. I saw some stats today that show there are 1600 people in the Australian game development industry now, and everybody is advertising. It shows that we're all growing. In…
Aussie Nintendo has put together some quotes from those ‘in the business’, on their impressions of the Wii. These quotes originate from various sources.
Aussie CEO of Krome Studios, Robert Walsh, said the following to IGN here:
I saw 600,000 Wiis sold in the first week. Who would have thought, and they’re predicting four million by the end of the year. But there’s no way you can discount Sony. It has such a core gaming brand strength. I think the real…
Nintendo admit that the Wii controller can be a little... destructive when it isn't held properly. According to Wiihaveaproblem.com, over-excited Wii gamers have managed to total seven televisions and two laptops so far, not to mention thirteen wrist straps. As noted by The Australian:
"Hold the remote securely and avoid excessive motion during game play. If your hands become moist, stop and dry your hands," the company recommended.
Nintendo also cautioned players to stay at least 1m away from…
