xcom

Company Representatives

Jóhann Haukur Gunnarsson: CCP

For me this is the golden turn based strategy game. I still play it, even though I have finished this game so often I’ve long lost count of it. The suspense when you wait for your turn as the AI opponent stalks around is immense. The research effort, the amount of content, the strategy behind where you place your bases and what countries you strife to defend give this game a lot of depth. Replayability is an often coveted word, but few gameshave as long lasting value as that game did, and still does. And ahh, I also fondly remember the various ways I could cheat in the game by editing its save-files.

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Company Representatives

Michael Jorgensen: Zombie Studios

In a world, filled with “easy-mode” games, where the player is rewarded for every action, XCOM is the counter. Even the EASY mode for XCOM would make Patton or McArthur sweat. Time is almost always working against you. You are constantly fighting, scrambling to get things done, hurrying to unlock secrets, acquire more & better weapons, acquire more & better personnel, build more bases, etc. And the consequence of failure, is the END OF THE HUMAN RACE!

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Interviews

Interview – CoLD SToRAGE (Tim Wright)

I’ve done a lot of fast paced racing or shooting games. Recently I’ve had the chance to write some music for younger children’s games, so that was fun. I’d love to write music for a horror game, something really dark and terrifying. It’s not a genre I’ve really had much to do with, so I think I’d really love the challenge of writing a score that gives people an adrenalin rush (like the Wipeout tracks) but for a different reason.

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Computer Games

Master of Orion

The game consists of you taking turns (non-simultaneous) with your rivals, managing your planets’ development, research directions (allows multiple research projects at a time vs 1 in later space empire games, which I think that’s unrealistic), your spy projects (they can sabotage, steal tech, be sleepers), your diplomacy (make alliances, actually never do almost, and trade tech, start trade deals, threaten and demand tribute, end and start wars), and conquer conquer conquer. You can orbitally bombard planets to dust basically or be smart about your killing (because later the weapons can literally scorch all populations out of existence, even one ship) and enslave, I mean welcome the conquered population to your empire.

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