March of the Mytran – StormRegion’s Gabor Komor

Known for the stunning Codename: Panzers series and its supercharged spin-offs in Rush For Berlin/The Bomb, the sadly now-defunct Hungarian studio StormRegion’s first and last console outing is soon to be released in North America.

 Mytran Wars, already released in Europe, is a bright and colourful turn-based strategy game for the PSP, and one of fine heritage.  Coming from a development house that specialised in tactical PC titles, StormRegion was determined to bring to the portable scene a deep and content-rich experience; one that offered an entirely new intellectual property for gamers to explore as well as well-conceived and watertight strategic formulae.  4X.Scope is lucky enough to have been granted an interview with Gabor ‘Tassuriel’ Komor, one of the lead designers on the Mytran Wars project.  In the following article, valuable insight is offered on the trials of bringing StormRegion’s mech-based turn-based strategy to both the PSP and the world.

Fleet Commander – Positech Games’ Cliff Harris

Keeping the dream alive as one of the more prolific and professional of the one-man ‘bedroom developer’, Cliff Harris has dropped out of warp to let readers into the wonderful world of Gratuitous Space Battles and beyond.

Better known as “Cliffski”, Harris has been in the gaming industry in varying capacities, from working at Elixir studios to A.I. programming for Lionhead Studios’ 2005 title The Movies, as well as prior employment as a boat builder, guitar teacher and stock trader.  Bringing to the table a different attitude to most, Harris stands by guidelines in production and community contact many of the big studios simply bypass, lending the Positech Games  experience a more homely, friendly and noble encounter.  Today, Cliffski shares with us some of his observations and experiences in being an independent developer and the life of Gratuitous Space Battles thus far. 

Distilled – The curious case of The Club

Bizarre Creations, the development team behind Metropolis Street Racer and the Project Gotham franchise, took the underlying concepts of a shooter – twitch and reward – and created The Club.  Strangely, few were receptive to the fusion of racing sensibilities with run-and-gun action.

When Criterion detoured from their Burnout series to create Black, a similar story to Bizarre Creations in a studio specialising in top-tier racing titles turning to the shooter genre, the initial premise was a first-person action game that rewarded creative and stylish kills with points and a system not unlike the various iterations of the chain/combo feat system found in their racing games.  However, somewhere along the development trail, the combo system in Black was dropped – much to the chagrin of many expectant fans.  The Club does the exact opposite.  In place of a  forced story or Po-faced attempt at justifying the violence, the game sidesteps these unspoken prerequisites and finds itself in a realm of pure, unadulterated gunplay.  The curious problem is the polarizing effect The Club received upon release; when given a shooter in its purest form, stripped back to achievements and a cast of deliberately over-the-top characters, a majority of the gaming public shied away. 

Unashamedly Great – Squadron of Shame

Throwing the spotlight on underappreciated games is no solo exercise.  4X.Scope illuminates a miniscule genre-biased sliver of the vast stockpile of underdog gems.  A multinational force to be reckoned with in unearthing those forgotten and misrepresented titles is The Squadron Of Shame.

The rise of both the internet and gaming on a relative equilibrium has coalesced in an explosion of sites – both commercial and informal – on the gaming industry.  This very site can be viewed as a result of the boom.  One of the more exciting and innovative products to have resulted – other than simply transcribing print journalism and its inevitable erstwhile colleague, the  editorial, onto the web – sees the seemingly archaic radio broadcast reinvented as a fresh, invigorated piece of digital media known as the podcast.  While there are any number of official productions by the large gaming sites, much of the best content online is user-created.  No better example of this is Chris Whittington and the crew with their Squadcast.

It’s Blitz! – The Return of Blitz1941

After briefly gaining cult international popularity then disappearing back to the Korean peninsula – where many good MMO games roost – Mowelsoft’s World War II armoured vehicle all-in brawl is set to roll back into the international arena.

Now under the control and administration of EFusion MMOG as TwoWar.com, who also manage the European version of NavyFIELD, Blitz1941 is set for a closed beta release sometime during the next few months, and fans could not be more happy.  For those who experienced those fleeting few months back in 2006, the news of this tank  en-masse MMOG returning has been an answered prayer due to the sudden disappearance of Blitz1941 three years ago.  But for those not familiar with the title, the fuss needs examination. 

High Flyers – Interview with Erik Measure

Nimbly Games’ Altitude is a thoroughly enjoyable arcade multiplayer title that deserves a lot of attention.  It is undoubtedly one of the favourites at 4X.Scope for its sheer drop-in fun-factor. 

One half of Nimbly Games, Erik Measure, has kindly allowed the interview crosshairs to be levelled as he talks candidly about the beginning, middle and future of Altitude.  From its roots as a reinvention of an Intellivision game to being a popular game around the globe and around the clock, Erik gives a peak into the Altitude arena and all that it entails – from balance to design to what’s next.

Sunburned Gaming – Interview with Guy Blomberg

4X.Scope is honoured to have Guy ‘Yug’ Blomberg in the crosshairs for an interview on certain games, certain trends and the future of both local software development and Australian games journalism.

Australia can punch about its weight in most entertainment mediums, having shown great prowess in a number of films, in music, with art and with game development.  Growing out of big-name titles like Super International Cricket and other domestically-popular games, Australia has become a burgeoning  hotspot for game production.  AustralianGamer.com’s PR and Creative Director Guy Blomberg has offered an in-depth insight into the brave new world of where the medium is at in Australia today. 

The Xenomorph Speaks – PSP No Go

Once more from the bowels of snark and spite GigersALIEN stalks forth, this time in reaction to the recent unveiling of the Sony PSP Go at the 2009 E3 convention.  What follows is a vicious snapping of jaws at the audacity of Sony allegedly trying to pull the wool over consumer’s eyes.

The PSP Go!  Woohoo.  Sony’s new revision of the PSP was shown at this year’s E3 for all to go ga-ga over.

Thunderous applause.

Nerds’ hearts skipped a beat.

iPhone lovers drooled.

$250 dollars.

I puked.

To the Summit – Mountain Sheep after Super Hind

After the tireless effort put in by the small Finnish company to get their debut PSP title Super Hind into the hands of PAL-region gamers, the road ahead gave Mountain Sheep some exciting choices.  Even in the face of a global financial meltdown, Timo Vihola and his team learned from their experiences and have come up with something new.

As stated in the previous Mountain Sheep story on the trials and tribulations of getting their terrific Super Hind title from a concept to a tangible commercial product, a small developer faces incredible challenges when undertaking a project.  As yet, Super Hind remains unreleased in both Japanese and North American  markets.  Timo Vihola, co-founder and creative director of Mountain Sheep, as well as being a good friend of 4X.Scope, has granted a wonderful insight into where a small development house can go after a a major production and what was learned along the way.

Sunday Punch – The Cold War of DEFCON: Everybody Dies

Introversion Software – makers of Darwinia, Multiwinia and Uplink – create crisp, stark digital playgrounds.  While each of their games evoke differing responses in gamers, DEFCON: Everybody Dies is one that, more often than not, chills players to the bone.

While the threat of thermonuclear war has been superseded in society’s eye by climate change woes and, more recently, the global financial crisis, it still remains a sobering phenomenon.  Some games have tackled it, with a Call of Duty 4 level having the player experience the last gasping moments of a soldier dying in the wake of a nuclear detonation.  Konami’s Metal Gear franchise has mostly concerned itself with the malignancy of nuclear arms proliferation.  Massive Entertainment’s World in Conflict showcases the stunning devastation of a tactical nuclear device in action.  There are other games that treat the concept of thermonuclear attack as a Hollywood-style fireworks extravaganza, or simply as a precursor to start a post-apocalyptic adventure.  DEFCON, however, has the ability to give the player goose bumps and evokes a clammy sense of dread.