Monday, May 9, 2011
By: Matthew Doucette
I rarely post our interviews, as many are so generic, but this one by The Thoughtful Gamers was great and very detailed. Enjoy it. It explores many questions we have not answered before:
The Thoughtful Gamers interviews Matthew Doucette of Xona Games.
Interview Comments (links added by us):
Awesome interview. Honestly, some of these are types of questions you don't normally see in interviews with game developers.
I watched the youtube link of the Score Rush Insane play... Uhm, yeah, INSANE! But it makes me want to get back on my 360 (which I haven't played in months) and try out the game. Seriously. I might just do this..
Magx: You guys did a great job. Not only were the questions really, really good, they were worded so damn well. This was a freaking professional quality interview....even better, in fact.
Xona: You guys sound like the kind of developers this industry needs: passionate, honest, focused, real gamers who love the craft and see it as a passion first, business second.
I just checked out xona.com and looked at the Duality ZF trailer... LOOKS AWESOME!
It was interesting to read: "The toughest aspect of game development is transforming the hobby into a business. We are still struggling with this. Hobbyists have it easy. I use to wonder why hobbyists can accomplish thing so much faster than a business, but now I understand. I respect businesses and their problems so much more now. It's easy to hate on Microsoft (and now Sony). I defend them now." Especially the final sentences about Microsoft and Sony, it's very analogous to politics, management, basically everything with some kind of structural hierarchy where those at the bottom believe themselves superior to those at the top but have the luxury of not being under the same conditions and circumstances that those ruling experience. It's a great conscious-raiser when one is placed in the position of power to realise just how difficult it is to manage a large corporation or an entire country!
It's fascinating to see just how video-gaming can be just as good a vessel for enlightenment as literature and art.
@ Jason and Matthew - I honestly have great respect for you guys (and other indie developers like you). Mainly because I know how tedious and time consuming making games can be. Also because of the passion you put behind them.
Very interesting interview. I especially liked you speaking on the difficulty of maintaining a business presence. It's definitely a lot harder than most people think it is!
What is clear to me, however, is that these guys make their games out of their love for the genre. Which is something that a lot of developers seem to lack nowadays. If anything, I wish there were more people, like the guys in Xona, working in the industry.
Wow, these guys sound like they really do love gaming, and aren't init for money, at least not solely for money. They sound passionate, and that's awesome. I'm definitely going to check out their games.
Source: http://magx01.blogspot.com/2011/05/thoughtful-gamers-interview-xona-games.html.
About the Author: I am Matthew Doucette of Xona Games, an award-winning indie game studio that I founded with my twin brother. We make intensified arcade-style retro games. Our business, our games, our technology, and we as competitive gamers have won prestigious awards and received worldwide press. Our business has won $190,000 in contests. Our games have ranked from #1 in Canada to #1 in Japan, have become #1 best sellers in multiple countries, have won game contests, and have held 3 of the top 5 rated spots in Japan of all Xbox LIVE indie games. Our game engines have been awarded for technical excellence. And we, the developers, have placed #1 in competitive gaming competitions -- relating to the games we make. Read about our story, our awards, our games, and view our blog.