TVGB: The game runs on your Infyrno engine. What are the benefits of using an in-house engine and what does this particular engine allow you to do with the game?

CS: One of the benefits is that we know it inside and out and if there are any problems with it it is so easy to figure out and fix. For us creating our own engine saved us time over using someone else’s, not to mention it’s cheaper in the long run. Our engine is definitely scalable. We’re actually using on a Wii project that I can’t really talk about. We did cater it towards PVN but that’s not to say you can’t use it for other genres. We’re going to build upon the tech we created for future games and make it as robust as we need to. There’s no telling all the true benefits of using our own engine.

TVGB: How did you come up with the two extra factions Zombies and Robots and are there differences between playing with each faction? With different characters in each faction?

CS: Pirates and Ninjas are of course the default sort of faction and originally we were only going to include those two teams. But we wanted to add more value to the game and Robots are sort of gaming icons and so are Zombies, so it was easy coming up with those. Each team is quite different from each other. Ninjas are faster and jump higher and have more stamina but their throws are a lot weaker than lets say the Pirates who are a bit slower, and robots are much slower and more powerful, the most powerful. The zombies are sort of a cross between a Ninja and a Pirate, not quite as fast and not quite as strong.

TVGB: You talk about the game not playing like traditional dodgeball. How do “large free roaming arenas” work in dodgeball? Are the rules changed a bit from the classic game?

CS: There’re no rules other than you can’t, of course, go out of the boundaries of the course. Each arena is roughly 30 meters by 30 meters. It’s very open you can go anywhere and throw from anywhere. It’s kind of like Powerstone but with balls instead of items and melee attacks. Targeting is automatic so if you have a ball you auto target the nearest opponent so all you have to do is throw the ball well.

Each person has access to multiple throws. The regular throw which is basically a run and throw is the first. If you stand still and throw the ball you get a homing throw or if you jump and throw the ball at just the right moment you do a power shot which can’t be caught or deflected so it can only be dodged. Dodging is done by the right analog stick and if you catch balls and it regens your health a little bit.

TVGB: So characters have special moves? How do they work and what is your personal favorite?

CS: I like the Ninjas. One of the Ninjas can cloak himself and while he’s cloaked he’s invulnerable for a short period of time. Another Ninja character can throw shurikens out and those will stun opponents. Each character has their own special ability and it’s heavily geared towards the team that they are on.

There are certain characters that I gravitate towards that I use their specials that can irritate players and its fun to use them well. I think that’s the best thing in multiplayer is that some of the characters in the game have really cool specials that are really offensive in nature and can mess up people’s game plan. Stealing the ball is just great fun and it pisses the opponent off.

TVGB: It sounds like you’ve got every possible multiplayer option ever. How big a roll did multiplayer play in the game’s development?

CS: Because we had to do our own engine we had to build the multiplayer from scratch so that was challenge in itself and then of course working it out with Microsoft was a little time consuming but nothing out of the ordinary. Then of course simulating all the situations players can get into was actually quite challenging but all in all it was actually a smooth process. It meant a lot of nights with QA and figuring it out but it was just the normal stuff that occurs during development.

I think online tends to be where it’s at for this game. I think the whole game is just quite unique and different from the other LIVE Arcade stuff. Matches can actually last a decent while, there’s quite a bit of strategy involved but it isn’t like other LIVE games where you just feel like your dying again and again. I think online is where people will be having the most fun with the game. It’ll be interesting to see the strategies involved in the game and the favorite teams that come out. It’s a very different dodgeball game as you’ll find out.

TVGB: There’s a story mode behind the game? Will it finally explain how Pirates can actually battle Ninjas despite the vast differences in their general location and time periods?

CS: Each team actually has its own story mode that take place between the beginning and end of each match. The way, actually, the story is broken out is that it’s all based on team size so that initially two vs. two will be available and then you go through the rounds and build up the team until finally you’re at 4 vs. 4. Pirates and Ninjas are initially only available too and then you unlock the rest. So all in all the total time for the single player is 5-6 hours if you just blaze right through it and didn’t die.

In our world the game does actually explain how the two sides are fighting. It’s very tongue in cheek though. It’s very humorous. It’s not to be taken seriously, its just having a little fun with the whole internet thing. We sort of created our own little world and our own little back story and we are planning on doing future PVN games with a few of these characters. I have a few personal favorite characters myself that I’m looking forward to seeing coming back. We had a friend of ours do some writing for us and he did a really kick ass job.