PALGN: Can you tell us a little bit about your role within Torus Games?
Kevin McIntosh: I'm a Producer at Torus Games, which involves a number of tasks. In a nutshell, the Producer is the person solely responsible for delivery of a product. They're typically the first people on and the last ones off a game. The Producer has to balance the delivery with customer expectation and budget, while ensuring that the team is aware of what needs to be worked on day to day. There are elements of project management, business development, creative guidance, etc. Everything about the project lands on the Producer's shoulders, from resourcing of hardware and staff through to working out the project pipelines. It differs within different developers, but it's a very rewarding role.
PALGN: Can you tell us a little bit about the history of Torus Games? How the company began and what was the first title that Torus developed?
KM: Torus first began in April, 1994. It was formed by ex-Beam Software staff with a vision to create their own original title. One of the first licensed titles Torus worked on was Lost Vikings and Stargate. Torus then started to climb the ladder and worked with Acclaim on Killing Time for PS1 and Sega Saturn. Since then, the company has been going from strength to strength. We've created a balanced team with solid tools that allow designers more freedom to create fun instead of it resting in the programmer's hands. Some of the titles that we've developed over the years include Hello Kitty, Space Invaders, Carmageddon, Duke Nukem and Fantastic Four.
Carmageddon: Who didn't love this?
PALGN: As an Australian developer, do you sometimes find it hard to publicise your games worldwide because you’re so far away from the two big gaming markets, Japan and America?
KM:The distance has worked against us in the past in securing the bigger projects. Publishers feel more secure knowing that a developer is local so they can visit easily and step in to fix a project. However, having proven ourselves reliable on projects over the years, we're finding that the professional publishers are working with solid developers rather than local developers. The publisher always looks after the publication of the titles in the various markets, so we don't come into the issues of releasing our games in those regions.
PALGN: Can you tell us a little bit about the last game Torus completed, Curious George?
KM: We finished development on Curious George for the US market last year and it was released for Xmas 06. This year we localised George into seven languages for release in Europe and Australia. It's a cool platformer based off the movie that allows the gamer a variety of moves and challenges across the game. This year we've been working on Spider-Man for DS/GBA, Shrek Smash N' Crash Racing for GCN/PS2/PSP/GBA/DS and Backyard Football for GBA.
LeMans 24 Hours
PALGN: Torus seem to develop a lot of licensed titles, is this something that was a conscious choice by the company (due to the lesser financial risk)?
KM: This is typically because these are the type of projects that are offered to us. We have also developed original brands such as Classified: The Sentinel Crisis (Xbox) and Ashen (N-Gage). Within any license, there is usually room to move to allow for some original design and creative use of the characters/environment.
PALGN: Carmageddon TDR 2000 was developed with Torus’ 3D engine; would you like to see the series return in some way or another in the future?
KM: After completing TDR 2000 there was discussion about continuing the franchise to take the gaming to the next level. Torus would certainly be interested in developing another Carmageddon game with SCi - there have been many advancements in Torus' technology and in gaming platforms over the past few years that would allow some unique gameplay features.
PALGN: Is Torus currently working on the development of any next generation games?
KM: Torus is currently working on a RPG title and a racing title for next generation platforms. Torus currently supports approximately nine platforms, from mobile through to the Nintendo Wii.
PALGN: Do you think the company will continue to focus on handheld titles, or do you think the focus will change to the next generation of consoles?
KM: Torus has always developed both handheld and console games. However, with our sophisticated tools, we can release 5-6 handheld titles in the same time as it takes to develop a PS2 game, so the perception is that we do more handheld. We find that it's safer to support all platforms to sustain any dip in project availability.
One of the first V8 games.
PALGN: What handheld games is Torus currently working on?
KM: This Xmas, Torus will be releasing Spider-Man: Battle For New York and Shrek Smash N' Crash Racing for the DS and PSP respectively. They're both excellent platforms in their own right and we'll be supporting both of them.
PALGN: On a personal level, outside of Torus titles what other games do you enjoy playing?
KM: I've been playing a lot of online games lately to look into short, sharp gameplay and understand what hooks people in. All the casual games that are really taking off right now. Others in the office are right into the Battlefield, World of Warcraft and Final Fantasy online games. Other guys have got Xbox 360s and are getting into Project Gotham and Saint's Row. Personally, I'm looking forward to picking up my Wii when it turns up.
Curious George
PALGN: Finally, are you able to tell us a little bit about what to expect from Torus in the next twelve months?
KM: We're in a really strong position at the moment and we're hiring the right people. We're growing, but only when we find the right people to join our team. We're being careful about who we let into our team. In the next 12 months you'll see a number of titles from Torus on the Wii. We have two in development, with at least two others in discussion. You'll also see us supporting other platforms, but those are still being worked out at this stage. We'll continue to support all platforms, our tools will become stronger, our games will become richer and hopefully at the end of the day, so will we.
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PALGN would like to extend its thanks to Kevin for the interview. We'll keep you up to date with what Torus Games are working on as we find out.
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