TVGB: Alex, how did Hail to the Chimp come to be? Who came up with that idea?
AS: We kind of have a unique… I think it’s unique, staff up here. We all basically pitch games to each other in a consistent format and we do it pretty regularly. Hail to the Chimp started as this idea for making a social game, a party game where it’s like four players and one couch, with this twist that it has this team-up mechanic. So that was really the initial idea — let’s make a game that’s multiplayer, but you can play it with four people and one couch. And if you cooperate, you get this big advantage even though it’s a competitive game. It wasn’t until we had been working on it for a while that we decided to give it this theme where the animals that are running around are actually competing in an election. That was kind of a secondary thought. The idea came out of our process of every three or four months we get together and pitch games to each other.
TVGB: Is the title Hail to the Chimp a nod to The Simpsons, or is that just a coincidence?
AS: It was really a coincidence. We had been working on that title for a while. Somebody told me there was an episode of The Simpsons that had that reference in it. So whatever, if you’re going to steal from somebody, steal from somebody that’s good I guess.
TVGB: When you guys are working on these games, is the overall atmosphere in the studio a lot more cheery and laid back as opposed to a game that’s really serious in nature and attitude?
AS: Just the opposite.
SC: ( laughs )
AS: Our creative focus here is to try to brainstorm and riff off ideas that we think are funny. So from that perspective there are definitely some lighthearted moments. But you know, it’s not easy making videogames these days, especially on PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 that are just complicated platforms. You have to figure out how to make things work over a wide area network and all that kind of stuff. There’s also lots of tension involved in that process. It’s kind of like having kids. You experience a wide range of emotions that are extreme on each end.
TVGB: Did you experience any particular tension when trying to develop on the PS3 or was it just as smooth as the 360?
AS: I must say it was easier than we expected. Getting the game up and running at a good frame rate was strenuous work, but in some ways it was more difficult than we expected. We had a certain amount of time to get the game running over Xbox LIVE, and a lot of the work we did there we couldn’t replicate on PSN, so we had to do some of that work twice. I guess it wasn’t as bad as we feared, but it was harder than we hoped.
TVGB: If in the future, you’re planning on doing things on the Wii. Are you thinking about implementing the balance board or maybe making you own peripheral to go along with the game?
AS: My dream is to make an implemented Wii remote beer stein. And I think the gameplay possibilities with that are endless.
TVGB: I hear there was supposed to be a beer pong game coming out for the Wii.
AS: Yeah I heard about that. They stole my idea.
TVGB: Do you guys have any ideas for handheld consoles? Maybe even the iPhone?
SC: At Shorts we talk about the iPhone every now and then. And it completely fits our mold of the type of platform we want, which is a platform where we can make things downloadable and completely focus on gameplay. We play around with the iPhone quite a bit. The way we look at it is when we have an idea that matches perfectly with the iPhone then we’ll put it on there.
TVGB: So you think it’ll be a pretty reasonable gaming device to develop for?
SC: Oh yeah clearly. It has the power for sure. And it’s got people that are very passionate about their iPhones and are interested in putting stuff on them. So yeah, we think it’s a pretty neat platform for games.
TVGB: What games are you two looking forward to playing in the coming months?
AS: ( whistles ) Man, in the coming months? I’m not sure. Do you know?
TVGB: Oh yeah. With E3 coming up. Maybe some Resistance 2 or Gears 2 ?
SC: Putting that into perspective, Alex and I have young kids. So a lot of our games start with word LEGO. I’m playing a lot of LEGO Indiana Jones and a lot of Mario Galaxy because I have a four-year old. So I think a lot of our gaming trends have been changed by much smaller people.
TVGB: Maybe you could pick up Hasboro Family Game Night whenever that comes out. You could play Connect Four or something.
AS: Yeah maybe, I don’t know. The kids really like Cooking Mama. I heard there’s a sequel to that coming out?
TVGB: That’s right there is. Alright guys, if you could sum up Wideload Games and Wideload Shorts in two words or less, what would those words be?
AS: Only two or less?
TVGB: That’s right.
AS: Funny awesome!
SC: Funny awesome cool!
TVGB: Those are some good words. Well you guys are a lot of fun. Thanks a lot for sitting back and chatting with me.
AS: You too.
SC: No problem man.
