Max and the Magic Marker has quickly become a fan-favourite on the WiiWare system since launching in Europe back in February and the US in March, but has now expanded its wings and spread across to Japan as well, courtesy of Marvelous Entertainment. Eager to keep the Max-loving going for a bit longer, Cubed3 caught up with the owner of Press Play, Ole Teglbjaerg, to discuss the game in more detail, as well as talk about his companys future plans.
Adam Riley, Senior Editor at Cubed3: Can you please explain who Press Play are, and what your background in the Videogame Industry is?
Ole Teglbjaerg, Owner of Press Play: Press Play is small game studio located in central Copenhagen. It was founded by Rune Dittmer and Mikkel Thorsted and I in summer 2006, with the ambition of making Flash games. We had just finished university, and thought it would be fun making games. We then spent a few years making a lot of small games, and we became quite good at it. Then the idea for Max & the Magic Marker came up. Since then we have worked on Max, while still doing other games for various clients to keep the company afloat.
AR: Where did the idea for Max and the Magic Marker come from?
OT: At the time (Christmas 2007 and early 2008), we were seeing more and more games implementing different kinds of drawing mechanics, the best known probably being Line Rider and Crayon Physics, and they definitely inspired us. Mikkel then build a quick prototype in Flash, combining a platform mechanic with a simple drawing mechanic and it was really fun. Since then it has evolved a lot, but the original drawing is pretty much the same.
AR: How long did development take and how large was the team that worked on it?
OT: Since the original idea it took two years to release. The team working on it varied largely in size, sometimes being two or three persons and in other stages of development there were 10 people working on it. It all depended on how much work client-work we had to do in order to survive.
AR: What made you choose a small, ginger boy as the main character?
OT: We wanted Max to reflect how most of us remember ourselves, when we were ten years old. Apart from the red hair, I think I was pretty much like him when I was 10 ” at least I like to think so.
AR: Were there any problems squeezing everything in with the 43MB limit? Is there anything you left out that you can talk openly about?
OT: Building for the Nintendo format has been a challenge for us, being a fairly inexperienced team, and of course we have had to adjust the game to the platform and the limitations of it. But it is very hard to point at something specific and say that it would have been different.
AR: Did you originally plan to use the Unity engine for the game’s physics, or was it implemented later in development to make the game more realistic?
OT: The choice of engine was not planned from the beginning. All we knew was that we were not going to make this in Flash, but we had no idea where we would end up. We met with a couple of engine providers, and decided to go with unity. They provided the functionality we needed, and since Denmark has quite a small game development community, we already knew some of the guys working on it. David Helgason the CEO from Unity had been in our office a few times on fridays. So from the beginning we had very good communication with the Unity-guys.
AR: There is a definite sense of familiarity when playing Max, with some saying it reminds them of Scribblenauts and others saying it feels like an extension of the idea behind World of Goo. What are your thoughts on this, and what would you say makes Max stand out from the crowd?
OT: Were very proud to be mentioned with these games. I guess people think about Scribblenauts because of the freedom the game provides, and the many ways each challenge can be solved.
Regarding World of Goo, I think the similarity is not so much about the actual game, but they have definitely been a great inspiration for us. Theyve really showed that it is possible to have commercial success without being tied up to a big publisher, and I think they are a great example for other developers.
We havent really been focused on standing out from these titles. But I think our core concept and the implementation of the drawing mechanic in itself is quite unique and the same goes for the visual style and soundtrack, so standing out has been a natural thing for Max & the Magic Marker.
AR: Are there any differences between the WiiWare and PC versions, apart from the obvious control ones?
OT: No, the two are almost identical. There are some differences, but they are minor. My suggestion would be to go for whatever you like most.
AR: Did you ever consider including a two-player element, where one person controlled Max and the other controlled the pen and drawing parts, so parents can help children out during the adventure?
OT: Yes, and we actually think playing like that is quite possible as the game is now. This weekend I had a great time playing like that with my nephew (age 6), and we have been getting a lot of response from people who have enjoyed playing like that.
I guess we could have supported that even more by splitting the two controllers, but it was never really an issue.
AR: How about the prospect of online play, perhaps a ‘race to the finish’ mode?
OT: Multiplayer game modes are definitely something we would have liked to do. I think we might add a simple high score to the next version of our online demo, just to see how people respond to it. On the other hand, the as Max came out in the end, it is really more about experimenting and finding cool solutions to puzzles than just speed running through the levels.
AR: Advertising games on WiiWare is often seen as the service’s biggest problem, mainly because games are almost hidden away in a maze of menus. What do you think Nintendo could do to help promote games on the service more?
OT: Thats a really good question, but in my opinion the first thing they should do would be to look at how other successful console download services work, and then copy… I dont know much about how the games which have been promoted with demos, such as Nyxquest and Bit Trip have been profiting from it, but in my opinion it really seems like demos is the right way to go. We want that too…
AR: How are you planning on promoting Max to ensure as many people are aware of the WiiWare version as possible?
OT: Being a small developer with hardly any budget for marketing, our best chance is to talk as much as possible to the media. Aside from that we have made the free online demo and a new one is coming up shortly. We have been lucky enough to win some awards and that fortunately makes us more interesting to the press.
AR: Are you pleased with how Max has performed since release? How well is the WiiWare version doing compared to PC sales so far?
OT: Ohh, thats one of those questions I cant say much about yet… sorry…
AR: Marvelous Entertainment recently announced it will bring Max to Japan. Did you approach them about making a deal, or vice versa?
OT: I was in Madrid this summer to take part in a conference arranged by Nintendo and a University there, when I met Yoshiro Kimura, the director of Little Kings Story in the hotel restaurant. He is a really nice and funny guy and at some point later in the evening I showed him a demo video of Max on my phone displaying the core mechanic. He liked it a lot and promised to show the game to his publisher Marvellous. They then invited us to join in what they call World Game Parade, and now its coming out in Japan.
AR: When will the game launch there, and will you be changing anything to suit the different market?
OT: The release was just confirmed to april 13th. Regarding gameplay the whole point of World Game Parade is to bring some non-japanese games to the Japanese market, so not much will be changed.
Aside from the language the only differences I can think of are in the way rewards are given in Japan fx. For completing a game within a time limit. For some reason they really like stamps there, where we in the western world prefer medals. Its kind of funny when you think about it.
AR: Team Meat is adding several characters from various Indie projects to its Super Meat Boy game. Would you like to see Max included?
OT: Sure, but we havent talked to them. We met them in San Francisco at the media summit, but including Max was never an issue.
AR: What are your thoughts on Indie teams supporting other smaller developers via this ‘cross-promotion’ technique? Would you also be keen on including other games’ characters in your next project?
OT: I think its a good idea, and maybe well do it too next time around.
AR: Have you already started your next game? Can you reveal anything, even a small teaser detail?
OT: Actually we have two projects in the pipeline at the moment, and we havent really decided where to put our effort yet. One of them is a physics based 3D tank shooter with the working title Hard Plastic. It sounds quite clich but its really fun.
The other is an arcade style top down platformer. Right now its called Cyclop Tripod, but its very early in the process right now, so that might change. Both concepts are products of small prototypes which have evolved over a long period of time.
AR: Looking back, now Max and the Magic Marker is finished, what would you say is the aspect you’re most pleased with, and what do you think could have been improved?
OT: Overall Im quite proud of the final result. I think we nailed the drawing mechanic and the game design pretty good. On the negative side, we have a lot of ideas that didnt make it to the game. Also I would have liked to have more boss fights, there is just something awesome about smacking someone bigger than you, and its just too bad that there is only one.
AR: Will we see a Magic Marker sequel at some point? Or is Max and the Tilting World more likely?
OT: We really hope to get a chance to make use of all the ideas that didnt make into this version. Competitive and co-op multiplayer game modes would be great and its definitely something we are working on.
AR: Will Max become the main mascot for Press Play, featuring in your other projects?
OT: There is no doubt that Max has a special place in our hearts and its going to stay like that for a long time. However I dont really see where Max fits in with tanks, flamethrowers, and heat seeking missiles.
