ManicGamer Interview RockHippo Productions
ManicGamer was lucky enough to recently interview the legendary Flavio Caracas from Rock Hippo Productions.. heres how it went 
MG: Within Rock Hippo, how many members of staff make up your team?
FC: Our head office in Canada currently staffs close to 30 people and growing, especially as we look to expand our lineup of games this year.
MG: MicroVolts and Brawl Busters are two great titles, very innovative and playable. How were they originally pitched and conceived?
FC: We are always looking to introduce games which bring something fresh to the table. Specifically, we aim to deliver games with great gameplay mechanics and visual styles which appeal to a broad audience. We don’t want a cookie-cutter experience for our players, so we do a lot research before deciding on which games to release.
MG: How long from the original conception, to the finished product for Brawl Busters?
FC: Initial development started over 2 years ago, but our games are in constant development as we release new features and updates regularly. One could say that our product is never actually “finished”.
MG: What was the biggest problem you had to overcome; in respect of the free-to-play market and getting the game noticed?
FC: In the past, many players and even the press held preconceived notions regarding the quality of F2P titles, however recently that has started to shift. Several high-profile titles have moved to the F2P model, which creates competition for us but also serves to dispel some of those preconceived notions. Our strategy has always been about letting the quality of our games speak for itself.
MG: Who are your target audience for both Microvolts and Brawlbusters
FC: Our games definitely appeal to both core and casual players. We make it very easy for a casual player to get into our game with intuitive controls and easy to navigate game interface. The core players will appreciate the effort that goes into game play balance, high quality content, and network optimization to provide them with an experience that exceeds their expectations.
MG: If you could have created another game that’s already out, which one would it be and why?
FC: To be honest, I can’t really think of an individual game that fits the criteria. It’s much more exciting to me to imagine the kinds of games that haven’t been created yet, and the future impact they’ll have in our industry.
MG: What do you do to relax, do you play games yourself? If so, what’s your current favourite?
FC: I do play games to relax, but sometimes find myself getting competitive, or making mental notes and the relaxing part goes right out the window. Of course, other than my daily dose of PC gaming with Brawl Busters and MicroVolts, I’ve been checking out some of the big titles on all the home consoles. I would say my favourite genres right now would be sports, fighting, and action RPGs.
MG: Following the success of both current games, what’s your next project?
FC: We actually have multiple projects in the pipeline for 2012, however at this time we have no announcements to make.
Brawl Busters is free-to-play and can be downloaded from www.BrawlBusters.com.
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