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The Joystiq Indie Pitch: High Flyer Death Defyer
Indie developers are the starving artists of the video-game world, often brilliant and innovative, but also misunderstood, underfunded and more prone to writing free-form poetry on their LiveJournals. We at Joystiq believe no one deserves to starve, and many indie developers are entitled to a fridge full of tasty, fulfilling media coverage, right here. This week, Game Mechanic Studios founder and creative director Jason Alejandre explains why freefalling is a great way to feel truly free as an indie developer, with his latest title, High Flyer Death Defyer. How did Game Mechanic Studios get started in development? In 2008, Jeff Hua, Henry Ji and I left EA and started Game Mechanic Studios and we really had only one goal-to create games that make us smile and have fun doing the jobs we love. To get to that point we prototyped a lot, dreaming up a bunch of different original games and pushing ourselves to innovate and think creatively. We immediately started working on creating original IP, kind of modeling ourselves after the beginnings of Pixar. Once we had something we were truly proud of we set that as the bar for all the other games we were developing. We probably had about 30 different game ideas that were each developed to various points, so by having that quality bar established we could immediately see which ones out of the 30 were worth developing further. We ended up with about four ideas we really wanted to pursue and one of those was High Flyer Death Defyer -- which we just recently released and are currently working hard to update.
Weathering the economic storm: Start-ups speak out
It takes a special kind of crazy to open up a new game studio in an uncertain financial climate. Yet already in 2009 we've seen a handful of people do just that, many on the heels of having lost their previous jobs to downsizing or a studio closure. Recently we spoke with three individuals behind a trio of 2009's start-up efforts to ask them how they plan to weather the economic storm and, more importantly, if seeing the rest of the industry buckle around them makes them feel just a little bit demented for doing what they're doing. "We are crazy!" proclaimed Game Mechanic Studios president and former Electronic Arts senior designer Jason Alejandre, who noted that he saw layoffs four out of the five years he spent working at EA. "The one year that we didn't have layoffs at our studio there were still layoffs at the other EA studios," he recalled. "The leadership changed at the studio level three times and the executive management changed twice." Still, Alejandre doesn't necessarily believe that all of the closures and cutbacks are directly tied to the current downturn. "It's a combination of this is just how the business is, and the other part is due to the current economic crisis. This is our industry. I think [why] the media is currently focused in on this more so in games now than any of the previous years is because the topic is now under the 'Eye of Sauron.'"
Joystiq interview: Unbolting Game Mechanic Studios
While most of us were unconscious on Christmas morning, resigned to watch on as sugar plums danced on as only anthropomorphic candy can, newly christened game developer Game Mechanic Studios was busy lifting the curtain on its freshman project, a mysterious shooter codenamed Art of War. According to the studio, the game will cast players in the role of a "reclusive millionaire" and art lover hilariously named Warren Canvas, as he revisits famous past battlegrounds which have "all been re-imagined in an exciting new way." Little else is known, though the company notes that Mr. Canvas may have his work cut out for him, teasing that "20:1 odds will be a beautiful thing!" Dazed and confused, we recently stumbled into studio co-founder Jason Alejandre, an industry vet who made his first footprint in the industry developing for the Sega Genesis. We took the opportunity to ask Alejandre more about Game Mechanic Studios and Art of War, as well as how he plans to make his studio thrive in such an uncertain economic climate.
Game Mechanic Studios unwrap Art of War for Christmas
The recently founded Game Mechanic Studios took time away from unwrapping gifts this morning to formally announce its first project, an original IP codenamed Art of War. It turns out that the blurry image the studio had on its website was one of the game's upcoming levels called 'Obsidian Serpent,' and not – as some had guessed – a stormtrooper or even a "man-bear pig."While details remain light as Santa's bag the day after Christmas, Joystiq recently had the opportunity to speak with studio co-founder Jason Alejandre about what we can expect about the mysterious project. "We make shooters and we are going to start with what we do best which is exactly that," explained the 14-year game development vet. Alejandre added enthusiastically that the game will be set in "a brand new world," one which is "a quarter authentic and the rest is straight out of my crazy imagination." For more from Game Mechanic Studios, including additional Art of War details and why it probably won't be release on the Wii, look for our full interview soon.
EA, Activision vets put together Game Mechanic Studios
Acetylene torch in hand, three former EALA and Activision employees have welded together Game Mechanic Studios, a new development studio based in Tarzana, California. The company was founded by Jason Alejandre, Jeff Hua and Henry Ji, who together have had their hands in several projects, including multiple games in the Tony Hawk and Medal of Honor franchises as well as EA's euthanized FPS, Tiberium.While nothing specific has been revealed as to what the trio are up to, Joystiq has learned that the company expects to announce its first title, which will be based on an original IP, in the coming weeks. In the meantime, take a look at the blurred screenshot above and let us know what you think it is. Our guess? It's a game about soup. Delicious soup.
