10 Game Industry Questions - Chris Wright

10 Questions from Cav - Saturday, 21 January 2012 @ 3:52pm

1. What is your job role where you work and can you explain what it entails?

I run Surprise Attack, a marketing agency working with independent game developers to help them promote their games. We're a start up and I'm the only full timer at the moment so I do pretty much everything from bringing in new clients, meeting with existing clients, planning out campaigns, playing and giving feedback on their games, PR and promotions, talking with 1st parties like Apple, distribution partners in Asia, making cups of tea and so on.

2. How did you get your start in the gaming industry?

My first job in the industry was working for a PR agency that handled all the non-specialist media for Activision in the UK. So basically newspapers, radio stations, mens magazines and so on. They also did Lucasarts, which Activision distributed and gaming clients such as a gaming tournament for Intel. Ironically I was the biggest gamer in the office but I wasn't on the team for any of the gaming clients, I was working on pub chains and online music services and that kind of thing.

My first real gaming client was for Xbox. We ended up managing their activity at events like music festivals and I looked after all the work they did with students and gaming cafes. I managed a network of consoles we'd placed into around 150 gaming cafes across the UK and we'd run promotions each month, put different games on them. My finest hour in that job was probably when I helped design a four player, four Xbox, four screen, Xbox Live enabled demo unit that we put into 25 student pubs across the country and connected with broadband. They were epic and even had pint holders and ash trays.

When I moved to Australia I managed to get a job with THQ as a product manager and worked my way through various roles.

3. What are your thoughts on Independent Developers going up against ‘the big guys’?

That's a pretty broad topic. I guess the main thing is that it's exciting that we have a number of platforms now that are relatively open - that is, the barriers to publishing a game on them are far less that has traditionally been the case for mainstream platforms. It's incredible how easy and cheap it is to publish globally on a platform like the iPhone that is so powerful and used as a gaming device by such a large number of people.

Platforms with less barriers mean that there are less inbuilt benefits of being a big guy and all sorts of games can come out of independent developers and be successful. Having said that, there are other challenges that come with this - most specifically that it's hard to get attention or a good price for a game when there are hundreds of thousands of competitors, most of whom are happy to charge just $0.99c.

And at the end of the day, the big guys are always going to have some advantages. That's a little but why I started Surprise Attack - we can bring some of what the big guys have to the little guys. And because we work with lots of little guys, we will hopefully become a big guy too - just one that's on their side.

4. How do you see Apple and Android apps compared to portable titles for the Nintendo DS and PSP families?

Hmm, that's also a big question. A few things on this I guess. Firstly, it's wrong to think that the dedicated handheld consoles don't have a place anymore. Dedicated gaming machines with 'proper' controls have some life in them yet - just look at the surprisingly good sales of the 3DS so far as proof of that. However, I now myself I don't use my 3DS much anymore and I really think twice about buying a 3DS game versus more games for my iPhone. So I think there will be a strong but hardcore gaming audience picking up dedicated handheld consoles and buying the best titles. But I think the kids market and the more mainstream market probably won't buy into the 3DS and the Vita as much as they did the DS - they're much more price sensitive. So I think handheld games devices are going to go back to being more of thing for core gamers and less about the casual audience.

Also, it's wrong to think of Android and Apple mobiles as somehow lesser devices or not proper games platforms. The reality is that the iPhone 4S is already not that far behind the 3DS and the Vita from a power point of view and the rumours about the next iPhone suggest it will actually have a more powerful processor than the Vita. Dedicated console platforms have a problem in that they are pretty much locked in terms of power for 4-5 years. Mobiles get better every year without fail and so they will rapidly overtake this generation of handhelds in terms of hardware power.

The games vary. I think it's true to say that few mobile gaming experience are comparable to good DS or 3DS games in terms of scope and overall production values. But then you look at something like the Infinity Blade series, or Sword and Sworcery, Real Racing or E.P.O.C.H. and you see the potential there. There are plenty of mobile games that I've sunk tens of hours into and I probably spend 80% of my gaming time on my iPhone now. It's not just a platform for casual games and I think its the single best platform if you're more of an exploratory gamer, seeking out new and different experiences rather than those with the highest production values.

I think you'll see more and more high end mobile games this year and going forwards because the opportunity is there for experienced handheld developers to make really great games and a lot of money, potentially better money and less risk than putting it into making a game for 3DS or Vita. The Infinity Blade franchise has already made over $30million, almost all of which would be going to Epic because there's only Apple to pay and not manufacturers, distributors, retailers and so on.

Personally I think your mobile is the most important piece of tech in most people's lives. It's the thing we always have with us pretty much the whole day and as a result it's just so much more convenient as a gaming device and so much more part of our lives. This year will be the year of mobile games being played on your TV - you can already do this with Apple TV and the latest iPhone and iPads and I predict we'll see a lot more of it.

Guess who's in the suit?

You know the thing I've always enjoyed most is meeting and spending time with the developers. I've got to do that a lot in various roles and at my last job at THQ I was working directly with the two Australian studios to handle some of the global marketing for their games and sitting right there with the teams in the studio. When THQ shut down the studios I knew I wanted to keep working with developers and that was one of the motivations for setting up Surprise Attack. And it's still the most rewarding experience, just meeting developers and getting to be part of what they do.

6. What has been the most negative experience of working in the games industry so far?

Well being made redundant was pretty shitty but now I look back on it as one of the best things that could have happened as it pushed me out into this new space and gave me the motivation to really do something by myself rather than as one cog in a huge machine. You know I think the worst thing is when a game you love just doesn't sell. I did a little bit of work bringing Psychonauts to market in Australia and that was heartbreaking, to see it get perfect 10 scores and sell next to nothing. You put a lot of yourself into the games you work on and when they don't work it's pretty depressing.

7. How do you see Australia as a market when compared to the rest of the world?

It's about 4% of the worldwide market so not that significant in the big scheme of things but still of a reasonable size. It's a pretty tech savvy country though and there are a lot of early adopters here. I think the fact we're so isolated geographically means that the gamers here, the media and the publishers and distributors do have a very specific culture and attitude and it's all pretty positive. It's definitely been a great market to work in the last 7 and a bit years. With what I'm doing now it's an incredible market because there are literally hundreds of developers going indie here and many more joining their ranks out of the games courses each year. We're a nation of indie developers and I think that's going to stand us in great stead during some pretty revolutionary years that are ahead of us.

8. Got an inside scoop you can share with us on an ‘up and coming hidden gem’ from one of the Indy Developers you are currently working with?

The next game we're launching is the Final Edition of Bean's Quest, an awesome retro 16bit platformer on iPhone and iPad. It launched last year but this final update will double the size of the game and complete the original vision of the developer. It's from a three man team out of Melbourne called Kumobius and a great example of the way mobile games can bring back old genres and still add something fresh and new.

The basic concept is that an evil wizard has stolen your girlfriend and turned you into a mexican jumping bean. You're constantly jumping and just press left or right to move the character. It sounds simple but it's appropriately punishing for a retro game and the real challenge is in getting through each level in as few jumps as possible.

9. What are your favourite games and why?

Oh god, where to begin! Theres about 31 years of gaming to cover but all time favourites would include

Elite - just an incredible game that put a whole universe inside such a basic piece of technology
The first Civilisation, which I lost hours and hours and hours to when I was at school and just totally blew my mind it was so unique and new

A lot of PlayStation games would make my top list. I guess that was the machine where I was really playing as an adult. Those would include:Parappa the Rapper, Resident Evil, GTA, Metal Gear Solid, Bushido Blade (that is a real gem if you can find it - I particularly liked the fact someone could have cut away your legs but you could still make one final leaping slash from your knees and beat them)

I also loved the original Time Crisis in the arcades, it pretty much got me through my first year exams at uni. I lived about 20 yards from a bar that had it an I'd take breaks from revising to go have a quick go and then back to the books for another hour.

The first Halo (see a trend here - I'm not much of a one for sequels), which I almost finished in a weekend or pretty much non-stop playing. It was such a polished, balanced game with impeccable controls and a perfectly paced story.

Splinter Cell, which was so revolutionary at the time and so amazing to look at, The opening of that final level climbing around the cliffs and then having to take out the guard dogs was such a great gaming moment

I loved Crimson Skies and Midtown Madness 3 on Xbox Live. Neither was particularly great in single player but the online multiplayer was awesome

Normally I hate racing games but Burnout 2 would make the list - that moment where you're going so fast you can barely see what's coming at you and yet somehow you survive, it's got to be one of the most exhilarating racing games ever made

Disgaea would have to be in there. I sunk hours into that and it has to be one of the best stories and best voice acting in a game

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for similar reasons - I think I spent about 150 hours or so with it before I finally got stuck and put it down. It's a truly amazing game, not least because you need to spend about 30 hours with it before it really gets good

Loco Roco and Loco Roco 2 are just pure joy

I guess on the HD consoles the real standouts for me have been:

Metal Gear Solid 4 - which is just phenomenal production values and so huge. I made the mistake of completing it at around midnight and I think when the final cutscene had finished and I got to bed it was around 2am. And I still had no clue what the hell any of it had been about. That's batshit crazy but totally amazing.
Batman Arkham Asylum - just the epitome of translating a character to game form and it nailed the combat so perfectly. An immensely satisfying game
Uncharted 2 - it's such a roller coaster and I have to take my hat off to them for taking the most cliche-ridden seen-it-a-million-times-before gaming story and somehow turning it into a shining example of how to do story in games.

Right now I'm addicted to Dungeon Raid and Super Crate Box on iPhone and basically anything Kairosoft put out is guaranteed gold. Game Dev Story would almost certainly make the list too. Just for the sheer meta factor of playing a game about making games.

I could go on...

10. If you could meet any gaming character in real life, who would it be and why?

I think it would have to be Solid Snake. I could ask him what the hell it all meant and where he keeps the cardboard box.

Are you ready for this Surprise Attack?