January 14th, 2009 by Arjan Olsder Posted in Interviews | No Comments »
Yesterday we informed you about a new mobile games developer called BulkyPix. Since there wasn't a press release, and the website is still pretty much blank, we contacted CEO Vincent Dondaine to do a small interview.
[Arjan] First off, when did you start thinking about BulkyPix?
[Vincent] It started last year when Vivendi announced that we will merge with Activision. As in the past I worked for other game compagnies which made big layoff plan. I started to think that may be we will not fit in the new Activision strategy in 2008. It was just a feeling. Mid 2008 colleagues and me began to think that it could be a great idea to setup a new company in case we were layed off.
[Arjan] When looking back at the acquisition/merger with Activision, what do you feel about the way that Vivendi Games Mobile treated their employees?
[Vincent] It's always difficult to see his compagny closed when you worked so hard to grow it but business is business. What I can say is that Vivendi is doing all they can do to help people to find new jobs, create new companies and give trainings to employees before lay off. (See http://www.talented-people.org/)
[Arjan] You have started developing games for the iPhoneOS platform. Traditionaly, Vivendi released mostly J2me titles. Why this choice?
[Vincent] Our team last projects were Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D and Virtual Villagers, both for iPhoneOS. It gaves us a rock solid experience on this new market and the feeling that things are moving on mobile gaming platforms. With iPhone and iPod Touch, we have a great and unified platform on which you have enough space (hundred's of megabytes) and power to create the exprience you have in mind.
[Arjan] Is there any chance that you will also be working on other platforms like Windows Mobile and Android?
[Arjan] Can you tell me a bit more about your team?
[Vincent] We have assembled a dream team of 10 people. The best programmers, graphists, gamedesigners and producers I know. They are all experienced in the video game industry. All are hard workers and used to work together. It's our strength. Together, we worked on more than 70 games on both console and mobile.
[Arjan] Your first mobilegame will be called "Hysteria Project" and has a great teaser video. Can you tell us a bit more on this upcoming game?
[Vincent] We were impressed by what you feel when watching the Blairwitch Project movie. In Hysteria Project you will feel psychological stress without explicit violence, the strong point of the movie. When you start the game, you will have to discover why you are where you are…
[Arjan] Will the game be a one off sale, or are you looking at (for example) adfunded strategies to generate an income?
[Vincent] It will be an episodic game. Short episodes but totally intense for a low, accessible price.
