Recently we had the opportunity to sit down and chat with Mike Taramykin of Hypnotix, and Andy Wolfendon of Boston Animation. Both of these gentlemen work for Simon And Schuster, one of the worlds largest entertainment publishers around the globe. Our Editor In Chief, Kevin McGinnis, had the pleasure of getting to pick their brains a little about their two Gamecube titles, “Outlaw Golf” and “Darkened Skye.”

As for all of us here at the Café, we extend the greatest thanks to Mr. Taramykin and Mr. Wolfendon for their participation. Simon And Schuster has been a real blast to work with, and speaking for all of us, we do hope that we have the opportunity to work with them further in the future.

Without further ado, read on and see what they had to say (We think you’ll quite enjoy it.)

Q: So, why Skittles brand candy for inspiration for Darkened Skye?

Andy: Well, Pez had already been taken. Actually, we'd been working with Mars on M&M's games around the time we wanted to make an action-adventure game. Through a series of discussions, it became clear that the Skittles demographic was the same one we were interested in. And the fantasy element of the TV campaign fit perfectly, too, with our game concepts. So, it was sort of a natural thing for us to work together on Darkened Skye.

Q: Where did the ideas for the more outrageous parts of Outlaw Golf come from? Golf is usually such a civilized game.

Mike: Most of the ideas came from a bunch of “what if” scenarios that we all think about when we play. Although Golf is certainly thought of as a dignified sport, that’s not always true of the people that play it, and we decided to have a little fun with that notion.

Q: If you could meet one person in the videogame world, who would it be and why?

Mike: Summer, from Outlaw Golf and Volleyball. Then again, that’s why we created her in the first place.

Andy: Of course I'll have to lie and say it wouldn't be Lara Croft, so as not to seem too obvious and banal and predictable. So I guess that leaves...um. Gee, lemme think. Hmmm. Er. Ahmm. Hold on a second. Ah, cram it - Lara Croft.

Q. If you plan on supporting the GameCube in the future, do you have any current plans and would you mind sharing a few with us?

Mike: We are currently developing Outlaw Golf 2 and Outlaw Volleyball with plans for a GameCube release.

Q: Which is your preference, console or PC gaming?

Mike: Mostly console, although I play a lot of PC titles to get my on-line fix. Though I suspect that will be changing soon.

Andy: I think for many of us in the games business it's gone way past taking sides. Most of us play both and enjoy both. Personally, if I want to dig in and log some serious game time, I tend toward the PC. If I want a nice half-hour fix, consoles are more appealing. But there's so much crossover and muli-platform development now that the two worlds are not so different anymore. I'd rather play a good PC game than a so-so console game and vice versa.

Q: What made you decide you wanted to work in video games?

Andy: Psychosis.

Mike: I was never a good football player, and my guitar playing is average at best.

Q: Of the consoles that you have worked on, what do you find is the easiest to get the best results out of?

Mike: My personal experiences have showed the Xbox as the “easiest” and “Most powerful” system to develop for. So we have gotten the best results from our Xbox projects.

Q: What is your idea of the perfect gaming platform?

Mike: That’s tough to say. But I guess that would be an Xbox with a 2 GHz processor, 512M of RAM, an 80 Gig HD, and the same network adapter, all neatly tucked into a box about the size of the GameCube.

Q: If the opportunity ever arose, would yourself or all of Simon and Schuster consider going first or second party to a company?

Mike: Sure, why not?

Andy: Sure, why not?

Q: Do you plan on utilizing the new force of online gaming in any coming titles?

Mike: Yes, absolutely. Both Outlaw Volleyball and Outlaw Golf 2 will take full advantage of on-line gaming. This will include various downloads (such as costumes and levels) as well as special tournaments (complete with groovy prizes.)

Q: Does it concern you that Darkened Skye might not be taken seriously because it is based on the Skittles commerical?

Andy: We worried about it a bit at first, but right from the start we knew that all we could do was make a really fun and entertaining game and hope that that would speak for itself. And we think it does. In some ways the game would not have been as funny or interesting without the Skittles. The humor that's the hallmark of the game really grew out of our sense that we couldn't take ourselves too seriously with candy as our source of all magic.

Q: How do you guys plan on getting the casual gamer to be interested in it? What does it bring to the table that no other game has before?

Andy: We think Darkened Skye really shines for the casual gamer. It's definitely deep enough for hard-core gamers, but we really had the casual gamer in mind as our primary target. DS is very accessible. It puts together a lot of elements from action, adventure and RPG games in way that's not only fresh but fun, entertaining and easy to get into. Playability and entertainment are the keys. The magic system is new and elegant. The humor and attitude put the game in a class by itself.

Q: How does the GameCube version of Outlaw Golf compare to its predecessor on Xbox? Any advantages or disadvantages to it being on GameCube?

Mike: The 2 games are basically the same. The only noticeable difference is that the Xbox version takes advantage of the available vertex shaders to create realistic grass. The Xbox version also has a slightly greater variety of spectators due to its additional RAM. The gameplay however is identical on both systems.

Q: Are you afraid that too many people will see Darkened Skye as a Zelda clone, with it being a 3rd person free-roamer, or does it fall more toward the RPG end of the spectrum, in the vein of Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind?

Andy: We see this as Zelda meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer, with all of Buffy's attitude, sly humor and self-awareness -- a powerful hero who's a real person. But we're different from Zelda in so many ways - humor, attitude, realism level, magic system, complexity of puzzles - we're not worried about being a "clone." Our mix of adventure, action and RPG elements is unique.

Q: What are your five favorite games of all time?

Mike:
1. Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast)
2. Wing Commander 1 and 2 (PC)
3. Rainbow Six (PC)
4. Joe Montana Football (believe it or not but I played it on the PC)
5. Gran Tourismo 3 (PS2)

Andy:
1. Starflight (PC version)
2. Thief: the Dark Project
3. Zelda: Ocarina of Time
3. The Monkey Island series

And last, but not least

Q: Pepsi or Coke?

Mike: Pepsi, for now.

Andy: Boxers.

Once again, we thank Simon And Schuster for their participation. We are ever grateful for such an opportunity. Cheers, fellas.