Q&A: Gaming
Posted by: Creative Times, Creative Times
on December 03, 2008 00:00
CREATIVE Times talks to three very different companies all working within the gaming industry.
Carl Pugh
Head First
Tell us about what you do.
I’m Creative Director of Head First – an advertising and design agency based in Manchester’s Northern Quarter (and in New York). We are responsible for creating the advertising and packaging for some of the most successful video games around. Both on- and off-line we are charged with defining how a game is perceived and in making it a stand-out product, time and time again.
How did it all start?
Head First began life ten years ago when a group of us decided to move from being an internal team which provided advertising and design for a major games publisher. We took all our knowledge and experience and let it loose on every other global publisher of games with the result of continued growth and some of the most popular video game brands being developed by us. We felt there was a need to produce creative that was more strategic than the ‘guy-with-a-gun’ approach typically taken. Eliciting an emotional response was, and continues to be, a core goal of any work produced by Head First.
Who gave you the best piece of advice you’ve received? What was it?
I should say something either witty or profound here, shouldn’t I? I’ll avoid both and just say that having never really listened to much advice I’d best not offer any.
Tell us about a project you’re particularly proud of.
The next one. I can’t say anything about it but it will be released next year and will be one of the biggest hits of the year. How could it be otherwise with our creative strategy behind it? I’m also proud of our New York office which is growing our remit by expanding into sports and other forms of entertainment. We’re already seeing some exciting work produced in those markets.
What’s next for you?
Getting across the message that, in its tenth year, Head First is key to creative strategy whatever the product. We have such a detailed understanding of the massive games buying audience – what interests them and what motivates them to make a purchase – that it is time we brought this expertise to other markets to offer them a point of difference in their marketing strategy. Given the way we are applying our knowledge to sports, films – even the recruitment industry – I think this is a very exciting proposition.
Rick Vanner
The Game Creators
Tell us about what you do.
I’m the Financial Director at Game Creators. We’re a small company so I wear many hats including the management of new titles.
Our main business is developing and publishing PC game making tools for indie and hobby users. Flagship products include Dark Basic Professional, FPS Creator and The 3D Gamemaker.
We have also developed learning to drive products for the UK’s #1 publisher Focus Multimedia.
How did it all start?
The business was set up in 1999 by founder Lee Bamber. I used to work with Lee at a previous company and joined forces with him in early 2000. Lee had developed “Dark Basic” in his spare time and managed to get some grant money to get him started. The Internet was in full swing and making it possible for the company to sell products direct to customers.
Who gave you the best piece of advice you’ve received? What was it?
My approach has been to observe what does and does not work and learn from it. I have found that experience will show me the lessons I need to learn, and I need to be awake to these lessons when they come up. For example, the last company I worked for was doing really well until it tried to do new things and expand, it then nearly went bust as a result. I would highly recommend a book called “Good to Great” by Jim Collins, it’s full of great information and advice on how to run a successful business.
Tell us about a project you’re particularly proud of.
“FPS Creator X10” is a game making product for the masses. At the time, our company was the first in the world to make a Direct X10 Vista product. It was very exciting to work on due to its R&D nature and we got to work closely with NVIDIA, the world’s largest manufacturer of graphics cards.
What’s next for you?
We have recently been working on a Facebook game creator called Social Arcade. We entered it into Facebook’s bFund competition and were recently chosen with 24 other apps winning $25,000. We’re now in the middle of stage two of this competition with a chance to win $250,000. Social Arcade lets users play, share and create games within Facebook, it’s an exciting new platform for us.
Jode Steele
Verbal Vigilante
Tell us about what you do.
I am a media composer and one half of Verbal Vigilante Music. We write, record and produce original music for film, games, TV and animation projects. In 2007 we won Channel 4’s 4Talent Award for our soundtrack work. What I love about being a media composer is the variety of projects we get to work on. Whether it be a high impact film score, a quirky animation soundtrack or even audio for a mobile game, it’s all about collaboration and realising the artistic vision of the client through our music.
How did it all start?
I set up VVMusic in 2005 with David Wainwright after leaving the University of Central Lancashire, where I studied New Music and Media. We cut our teeth writing music for many short films, animations and multimedia projects. At the start we got work purely through word of mouth and as the number of projects grew, so did our profile. This gave us the opportunity to pitch for and work on bigger and better things.
Who gave you the best piece of advice you’ve received? What was it?
It was from Andrew Dubber, a leading expert in music and digital media practices. I was chatting to him at a music industry master class and he highlighted the importance of knowing your place within the industry. He said “If you know which rung of the ladder you’re on, you know how far you have to climb to reach the top”. I liked the analogy and think it’s an important thing for those working in the creative industries to bear in mind.
Tell us about a project you’re particularly proud of.
Recently we’ve been working with developer Globi Games in partnership with Infolab 21 at Lancaster University on some innovative mobile games. We produced the music and sound for the puzzle games Tilt Mania and Msomnia. The project is unique in its use of viral distribution and it will be exciting to see how this develops.
What’s next for you?
We’re currently composing the music for the soon to be released iPhone game “Defraxion” which is being developed by Northwest based Black Bull Studios. It’s like the classic breakout games such as Arkanoid but with some great 3D graphics and fantastic music! Away from games we’re just about to start work on our second feature film soundtrack and also begin scoring an animated Christmas special with Linda McCarthy of Tiny Elephants animation.
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