Q-Games
Q-Games is a small to medium games developer based in Kyoto, Japan. It has a mixture of foreigners and Japanese nationals on staff and works closely with both Nintendo and Sony.
Foundation
It was founded by Dylan Cuthbert [1], who previously worked at Argonaut Software and helped create Starglider and Starglider 2 for Argonaut Software, then X and the first Star Fox for Nintendo. He also developed Star Fox 2 to completion before heading off to work at Sony America to make Blasto on the PlayStation. After this Dylan moved back to Japan to work at Sony Japan, where, in early 1999, he developed the Duck in a Bath technical demo (Ducks demo) that showcased the PS2's power to early developers and publishers [2]. Following that, he developed Piposaru 2001 (Ape Escape 2001) and then left Sony to start Q-Games Ltd. in Kyoto in September 2001.
History
The first few years were spent accumulating staff and developing behind-doors technology projects for a number of clients including Sony and Microsoft. At E3 2004, they showed two graphic technology demos [3] [4] for the PlayStation Portable and then internally began development on two games, one for the Game Boy Advance and one for the Nintendo DS. These titles have since been announced as Digidrive (part of the bit Generations series of puzzle games for the Game Boy Advance) and Star Fox Command respectively. Both have since been released.
PixelJunk
PixelJunk is a series of downloadable games for the PlayStation 3. They will be available for download and purchase on the PlayStation Network Store worldwide. PixelJunk games are presented in 1080p full HD. PixelJunk made its worldwide debut on July 11th 2007 at E3 2007, held in Santa Monica, CA.
The concept behind the PixelJunk series was to take innovative, creative, funky ideas for games and create something fun and reasonably priced for PlayStation 3 users. Work on games developed under the PixelJunk label is carried out by small teams over a few months.
The first game in the PixelJunk series will be PixelJunk: Racers. The game will debut worldwide on the PlayStation Network Store in August 2007.
PixelJunk: Racers is a slot racing game which can be played by up to 7 players on the same console. Players choose from 10 tracks and over a dozen distinct play modes, rendered in 1080p. Players control the action from overhead as the race unfolds. The track can get crowded - some races can feature up to 80 cars on the track at any one time. The controls are simple: switch lanes left or right and accelerate. The accelerator control is analogue, which makes controlling your car's speed a challenge at first, though later this becomes an indispensable part of the gameplay.
Other Projects
As well as games development, Q-Games still develops technology directly with Sony Japan for the PlayStation 3. The PS3's XMB (Cross Media Bar) interface, background and music visualisers were developed by Q-Games and they are credited with 3D Graphics Technology in the About PS3 section of the PS3's OS.
Sources
- Chris Kohler's book Power-Up: How Japanese Video Games Gave the World an Extra Life - Chapter 6.
- An Interview on Gamasutra.com with Q-GamesTemplate:En icon
- Dylan Cuthbert's profile on N-Sider.comTemplate:En icon
- Dylan Cuthbert video interview on the 1-UP Show Template:En icon