A truly british indie

I guess I never realized how much of a product of our childhood we are until today. I looking for a domain name for us to use to decribe a bunch of titles that might be described as "warlike". Anyway, I was doing the godaddy shuffle (you know, enter name, gone, look for suggestions, test test test repeat). What do I find? www.actionbattle.com is free!

"Man", I thought, being semi-hippy-like in nature. "I'm having me that".

So I purchase of said URL and decide to google for something that was annoying me. I knew that Action Battle was in the back of my mind somewhere, so I enter the search terms Action Battle and what do I find?

Well, it just so happens, that there is an old british comic called ACTION. Here it is..



see sites: www.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/contents.htm
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Action_(comic)

And wouldnt you know it, there's also an old british comic called BATTLE. Here that one is..



see sites: fanboy.frothersunite.com/battle.html
bestofbattle.sevenpennynightmare.co.uk/contents.htm

Let me tell you a story here.

When I was a little kid, my brother (couple of years older than me) used to buy these comics. Of course, I got the hand-me-downs and I absolutely loved em! In fact, for one reason or another, we used to both get a LOT of comics. I guess it kept us quiet. He often went for the stupid sporty ones (Roy of the Rovers style). But I was always a bit of a warmonger with my tastes. Of course we used to get the "softer" comics and annuals like the Beano and the Dandy. But my heart was in two camps. The "WW2" camp, with comics like Battle, Warlord and a few others I've probably forgotten. Then there was my other main one the "2000ad" camp, which barring the horrible stallone portrayal, has some of the best characters ever. That and its spinoff "StarLord" which at the time was a bigger format and colour glossy, and started off with a bunch of plastic toys on the cover, plus the delicious "Tornado" which ended up being subsumed back into 2000ad itself.

Lets put this whole thing into perspective here. We were HARDCORE comic fans. I mean, "day 1 with the free gift" type fans. Of course I was a bit younger, so I couldnt buy the day 1 stuff myself. So bro got all the free plastic toys and stuff. But I avidly consumed each and every episode of each and every comic I could get coming my way.

So what does this have to do with games I hear you say??

Well, let me enlighten you. Because it comes from the darkest of dark places within my mind. It comes from within the neurons that form the pathways that make me, well.. me.

So look back in the fog of time, myself and Rog are thinking about which game to make. I remember Red Baron being that certain type of game, something with that magic pixie dust that makes it work for me. Banter about names aside, with my marketing head on, I come up with the name Air Ace.

Air Ace.. now at the time, I was thinking of alliteration and snappy two word name type thoughts. But somewhere in those dark electro-plankton-like neuroreceptors, I mustve been guided by some greater force. Because no sooner had I godaddy'd for AirAce.com and been disappointed and decided to go with AirAceOnline.com instead (its and "online" game, geddit?). Well, I did the usual google thing.

What did it show up? Yes, you guessed it.



www.bookpalace.com/PicLibs/AirAce/index.htm

Now this isnt really an accident. I mean, I had read those comics some 20+ years before! Those were some of my favourites. Especially on long trips, where the smaller form factor and more pages made for some brilliant reads! Hell, I can remember these comic books as if they were yesterday.

What I'm thinking, is that for all the games I'm developing now, or hope to develop in the future. They have a certain feel and style to them that when I think now, was formed from the early days of my childhood in a way I'd never appreciated before. Things that entertained and interested me then are the things that entertain and interest me still it seems. Oh sure, I've learnt to be a bit more sophisticated in my choices, but I think fundamentally, my games will always have a certain hint of "British Comic" about them. In fact, there more I think about it, the more I want to embrace that. Its what makes me distinct as a game developer and human being. Plus those things were bloody good reads!

So I hope you can begin to imagine what games we have coming up in the years to come, I'm sure they'll have an affinity with someone! Especially those who were into comics as children! In a way I feel sorry for kids these days, as the world has become a bit more complex and sophisticated since those early comic years. These days kids get iPods and mobile phones, not comics and crappy plastic gifts, but I feel that its thier loss. Because the fantasy of those comics challenged you but was still fantasy. Maybe videogames have simply replaced comics, but have somehow become mired in the process? I dont know.

BTW: Not that its all brit-mania mind you, I loved japanese and american comics too. I was a big green lantern and JLA fan, plus I was into dial H for Hero and pretty much all that was DC (none of that marvel tosh for me).

Thanks for reading and Borag Thung!