“Startup firm Aristen has revealed FxStudio Creativity Suite, a cross-platform special effects sequencing solution for games – Gamasutra talks to founder and ex-Monolith staffer Toby Gladwell about the tool’s mission and its first deal, an integration with the Gamebryo platform.”

I haven’t been updating this site properly because I accidentally installed Team Fortress 2 on my PC. Which is a bit like accidentally installing crack into a pipe, and then smoking it.

“There is an online virtual world with a 3D client. Similar to Second Life, the world consists of several islands upon which users can explore and socialize. Users can create items using several provided tools (StyleMaker, Painter ToolKit and Builder ToolKit) though it takes time and costs money to have these placed in the world (through a submissions process) though from that point on users are able to sell these items freely to other players, receiving ‘Therebucks’ in return — which can be exchanged for US dollars in the world’s banks.”

I have forgotten to mention basically all of the interviews I’ve performed for Worlds In Motion, for some reason. So here they are:

Q&A: Marc Theermann On Weblin’s Virtual World Future
Q&A: Abandon Interactive Entertainment’s Ottilie Talks Freaky Creatures
Q&A: virtuMedia’s Jankowski On Polish MMO Timik.pl
Q&A: FlowPlay’s Morton Talks ourWorld Online Environment

Hmm, less than I thought – Well, that’s all the ones I remember, anyway!

“Space-based PC MMO EVE Online is five, and in this wide-ranging interview with Gamasutra, CCP executive producer Nathan Richardsson looks at the game’s progress to date, gameplay comparisons with starkly different market leader World Of Warcraft, the lack of female players in-world, and much more.”

I haven’t yet played EVE, as you may be able to tell from my interview – because unlike most articles I’ve read about EVE, it isn’t so steeped in the world it’s impossible for an outsider to understand. I think, anyway.

I will play EVE in future, however, as I’m sure to do it at some point for the Worlds In Motion Atlas. I’ll have to enlist the help of Jim Rossignol!

P.S. You should buy his book!

“The Russian market is booming, and Russia’s largest publisher, 1C (Space Rangers, IL-2 Sturmovik) knows the market better than anyone. As the company prepares its first multiplatform titles, Gamasutra talks to 1C sales director Nikolay Baryshnikov about the current climate and the company’s international expansion.”

This interview was performed before the official announcement of multiplatform titles, hence the fact it isn’t entirely related. Had I known, I’d have asked more questions about Captain Blood – mainly to find out if they knew about the classic (and strange) Infogrames game.

“Gamasutra talks to studio head John Kavanagh about the launch of the developer’s first American presence, the Wii casual market and his own return to the industry: Kavanagh began his career as a programmer at Atari, and later worked with Eidos as publisher, working with brands including Deus Ex, Hitman and Thief, and ran their US studio, Crystal Dynamics.”

This is a really neat little interview, I think, with the man who was sent to Ion Storm to clean it up. We don’t talk too much about it (or rather, I cut most of that out of the finished piece) but if you have any interest in reading more about it, I think Geoff Keighley’s piece is pretty unbeatable – Kavanagh turns up here.

“With in-game advertising a much-hyped but not entirely proven concept, Gamasutra talks to Exent Technologies CMO Yoav Tzruya about how it’s using its AdMuse technology to place ads in existing games like Call of Duty 2, taking the pulse of the still nascent business.”

Yep – another Q&A!

“Bay Area-based Planet Moon (Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Battle Of The Bands) is one of the quirkiest devs out there – Gamasutra talks to COO Aaron Loeb about the struggle to debut original IP in the game biz, why interest in the PSP from publishers is ‘definitely coming back’, and an upcoming story-led ‘huge, super-secret project’.”

Yep, I’m doing a lot of interviews! This is another great one, though. A refreshingly honest (and amusing) fellow, this Aaron Loeb.

“Developer D2C Games (founded by Madden veteran Scott Orr) has announced SPOGS Racing for WiiWare, and Gamasutra talks to Orr about why his firm picked Wii’s downloadable service over the others, and why he thinks the PSP platform is “a sleeping giant” in terms of possible sales.”

I liked Orr’s willingness to talk about his history in the game industry. It’s strangely thrilling to talk to someone involved in the development of Eagle Eye Mysteries, a classic “edutainment” title that’s similar to the Phoenix Wright games (sort of.)

“Veterans of the Medal of Honor and Fallout franchises have created new U.S. developer WhiteMoon Dreams, working with “a major Japanese publisher” on a new title – Gamasutra talks to the firm’s principals about the 12-person developer’s lean, mean philosophy.”

A new Q&A!

“CD Projekt’s PC RPG The Witcher has been a notable and perhaps surprising hit in the PC market – Gamasutra catches up with PR/marketing VP Tom Ohle to talk about the challenges of publicizing it, the state of PC gaming, and the place of PR in the current age of blogs and news aggregators.”

I think this is a really great interview (if I don’t say so myself) examining part of the industry people don’t tend to examine – the place of PR and marketing – along with some chat about the PC industry.