A game based upon games – Kairosoft’s Game Dev Story is one of the most addictive releases on Apple’s handheld and a must for any self-respecting gamer.
As gamers, we often forget just how much effort has gone into providing us with anything from six to 200 hours home entertainment from our videogame library, with very few developers getting the name recognition they deserve for their efforts. To think that the world of videogame development could actually prove fertile ground for one of the most addictive iPhone releases in Game Dev Story is one of the biggest surprises of the year, and one that causes us to doff our cap in Japanese developer Kariosoft’s direction.
Game Dev Story may not strike you as the most intriuging premise but bear with us – boasting Earthbound SNES-style sprites, Story casts players in the role of a budding CEO and president of a startup games developer. Your mission: world domination. With a tiny office and little cashflow, players will have to take their miniature staff to the top of the videogames industry, with everything from awards shows, trade conventions and fast-moving console generations to take into consideration.
Not a word of a lie – this reviewer booted up a game of Story at 9pm last night and didn’t sleep until 3am, and yes, I had another extended go before attempting this article, for ‘research purposes’. We’re not quite sure if ‘unputdownable if an adjective or not in the JOE office, but it certainly applies here.
Don’t worry about the guy who appears to be fire – it just means he’s working very hard
Beginning your game in a modest office, players will have to smartly choose their first titles and consoles – PC games have minimal fees compared to the initial licensing costs for consoles, though they have a smaller in-game fanbase. Consoles themselves are cleverly based on existing and historical releases – look out for the Intendo Virtual Kid and the Sonny Playstatus.
Genres and types will also have to be considered, with more options available as you level up your existing develoment team or hire the top guns on the job market for reach field – Robot Shooters may work for your Super IES fanbase, but nobody really wants to try your Audio Visual Baseball-themed effort.
Once you’ve set your idea in motion, you must decide how you wish to devote your team’s resources – are you searching for quality or speed? And don’t forget to have enough in the coffers when March rolls around to pay your loyal workforce. When your first begin, an inadequate staff will means you may have to outsource your graphics or sound design to outside experts.
Barring an office blackout or the excruciating news that a similar title has pipped your release and killed any prerelease hype, nothing should stand in your way when you have your title ready to ship. A few seconds later and it’s time to see if your hard work has paid off – have the critic become fans and where has your titled charted?
In my own experience, all it took was one huge eventual hit until I quickly became the Game Dev Story version of Activision – trundling out yearly updates to my million-plus selling franchises. Who can blame me though when my High School-set Online RPG has so many millions of fans on the Intendo DM and Intendo Whoops?
Once your title has recieved rave reviews it can enter the in-game Hall of Fame and allows the player to work on sequels, although if your sequel suffers poor marks then you’ve blown your chances of revisiting the series for good. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I really must get cracking on the fourth installment of the EmPuComGames’ 28 million-selling Samurai Adventure series – after 18 years in business the Global Games Award Grand Prize must surely be mine!
Game Dev Story is available to download from the App Store for €2.99.
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