FT: clickBOOM was there, out of the blue, and conquered the Amiga games
market almost instantly. |
cb: Well, it started with Capital Punishment, and almost two years of
work on it prior to its release. So, it's not so sudden as it may
seem. |
FT: What is Your secret ? All the long years since Commodore`s death,
we heard that PC-games were too difficult and too expensive to port.
Now, MYST has proved them wrong, but how was it possible for You to do
what others never did ? |
cb: There is not much secret really. It's just a matter of doing
things right. Conversions too difficult? It depends on the team's
skill. Conversions too expensive? It depends on the publishers
ability to pay for it, and more importantly sell enough to return the
investment.
I wish an answer was as simple so I can put it in one sentence.
However, as I said, there is no secret, it's a powerful combination
of vision, organization, development and promotion. |
FT: MYST was Your first port, and the result is one of the best Amiga
games ever. Now the crowd yells for more! |
cb: Thanks. It really is a great game, and Amiga port looks and feels
great.
What about RIVEN, the sequel to MYST ? Any chance that this, too,
will come sooner or later to our Amigas ?
Rumours say that it is already being worked on....
It is still too early to know the final Myst sales, as it appeared on
the market less than two months ago. However, if sales continue to be
good as they are now, we will definitely want to convert Riven.
Furthermore, we are collecting registration cards from Myst, and a
very important question there is "Name 1 game you would like to be
converted to the Amiga". At the moment, Riven is number 1, and if it
continues to be that way, it will mean that Amiga owners of Myst
loved it and would like to see Riven. Great thing about Riven is that
it's not just a sequel, it's a whole new world, and it would be a
great challenge to develop it, and a great game for Amiga users to
play. |
FT: The Conversion Wishlist on Your homepage revealed that most people
would like to see an Amiga-version of "Monkey III".
Is it possible ? Any chance that LucasArts will let You port it ?
|
cb: Obviously we created Wishlist because we wanted to know what Amiga
users want. Since they want Monkey Island 3, we will see what we can
do about it. Is it possible? Why wouldn't it be? Anything is
possible. The question is not will Lucas Arts "let us" port it - the
major mistake everyone makes is thinking that another company will
"let you" convert something. Of course they won't. It's not a matter
of writing an email to them and saying "Hi, I would like to convert
your game to the Amiga. Will you let me?", it is much more complex
than that. It took us 6 months to finalize the agreement for Myst,
and another 6 for Quake. |
FT: Is all the effort You take to give the Amiga these games rewarding
for You ? Are Your sales satisfying ? |
cb: At the moment, we are very satisfied with Myst sales, and response
for Quake preordering is great, so it seems we have found the right
recipe. |
FT: The Amiga`s market situation seems to improve. At least, it looks like
it is becoming more and more stable.
That is what AI and others think.
What is Your position ? Do You see a future for the Amiga, now that even
APPLE has problems ? |
cb: If we didn't see future in the Amiga we would definitely not risk
with the biggest conversions ever! :) It's as simple as that. There
is still potential on the Amiga market, and things have drastically
changed since one and two years ago. |
FT: 1998 looks promising.What are YOUR plans ? More ports in sight ?
Any original clickBOOM games in the making ? A sequel to Capital
Punishment ? |
cb: Well, clickBOOM wouldn't be what it is if we didn't have surprises
for the Amiga users. So, naturally, we will surprise them more in 98.
We started wit Quake early in the year, and there are 10 more months
for surprises.
More conversions? Maybe.
More original games? Maybe.
A sequel to CP? No.
Thanks a lot for Your time :-)
|
