The former Take-Two executive Gary Dale has been named as CEO of Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds today. “Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business,” said David Jones, co-founder and creative director of Realtime Worlds. “As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth.”

Dale himself adds that “The Company is on the verge of launching products that will change current conceptions of what MMO games are about.” Realtime Worlds is currently working on All Points Bulletin, an “urban action” style multiplayer online game. See the full press release after the jump, and marvel in its PR-speak glory.

Realtime Worlds Names Leading Video Game Industry
Executive Gary Dale as new CEO

Former Take-Two Exec Assumes Helm of Innovative Interactive Entertainment Company on Verge of First Online Game Launch

            BOULDER, Colo. – April 27, 2009– Realtime Worlds, Inc., a leading independent video game developer and publisher, has chosen respected interactive entertainment executive Gary Dale as its new chief executive officer. A video game business expert with more than 25 years of executive experience, Dale will oversee the day-to-day operations and drive strategic direction of Realtime Worlds and its products, commencing with the highly-anticipated urban-themed online game All Points Bulletin.
“Having worked with Gary earlier in his career at BMG Interactive, I am deeply impressed with his management style and profound understanding of the entertainment business,” said David Jones, co-founder and creative director, Realtime Worlds.  “As RTW transitions from being a traditional developer to an online publisher I could not be happier that Gary will lead us through this exciting phase of our growth. His years of experience at companies such as Capcom and Take-Two will prove invaluable in ensuring we meet our goals of becoming a world leading next-generation online publisher. My focus going forward will be on ensuring we continue to deliver quality innovative experiences as with our debut title, Crackdown.”
“Realtime Worlds is one of the most innovative game companies in the world,” said Gary Dale, CEO, Realtime Worlds, Inc. “The Company is on the verge of launching products that will change current conceptions of what MMO games are about. I can’t imagine a more exciting opportunity than to join this talented and creative team as we prepare to deliver such ground-breaking and high quality online entertainment to gamers around the globe.”
A seasoned professional with considerable publishing, business, marketing and operations experience, Dale most recently served as the chief operating officer and executive vice president of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. In this capacity, he focused on optimizing the sales, marketing and distribution business, coordinated new opportunities in emerging genres and markets and served as the corporate liaison for the publisher’s various labels. Prior to this role at Take-Two, Dale was chief operating officer of the company’s Rockstar Games publishing label.
Previously, Dale served as the European managing director of Capcom Co. Ltd., a Japanese interactive entertainment company. He was also the CEO of Broadband Studios, a subsidiary of Take-Two focused on the creation of broadband interactive entertainment software and technology.
Earlier in his career, Dale held various executive positions at BMG, including senior vice president of International Marketing at BMG Music, and president of BMG’s Interactive Software and Video Division. In addition, he’s held marketing and executive positions at some of the most renowned companies, including Nabisco, Duracell and Walt Disney Company’s Buena Vista Home Entertainment, where he served as vice president of Asia Pacific and vice president sales and marketing for Europe.

About Realtime Worlds
Founded in 2002 by Creative Director David Jones alongside gaming industry veterans Ian Hetherington and Tony Harman, Realtime Worlds is one of the largest and most successful independent game developers in the world. With an exceptionally talented staff of more than 230, the company’s experienced teams have a tremendous history of creating some of the world’s bestselling video games, including the global hit franchises “Lemmings” and “Grand Theft Auto.”
In an exclusive partnership with Microsoft Game Studios, Realtime Worlds launched its first title, Crackdown, on Xbox 360 in early 2007. The debut game broke records for demo downloads, sold approximately 1.5 million copies, and won multiple awards including prestigious BAFTA and Develop Industry Excellence awards.
With offices in Boulder, Colo. and Dundee, Scotland, Realtime Worlds is currently working on All Points Bulletin, a multi-player online game in the urban action genre.
For more information on Realtime Worlds, visit www.realtimeworlds.com.

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All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Infogrames CEO David Gardner reveals that the company may forge on ahead under the Atari banner.

Regarding the possible rebranding, Gardner says:

I’d like to consider that, I think that would be the final mark of the transformation from Infogrames to Atari. We have a new board of directors, a new management team that’s less than a year old – so yes, it’s really continuing.

We like to think of Infogrames, instead of being the tired, old company, we like to think of it as the best-funded, best-branded, most energetic start-up in the history of computer gaming.

This transformation will apparently see big budget titles take a backseat to online titles, which president Phil Harrison believes can succeed due to the increasing quality of in-browser flash games and ubiquity of home broadband for digital distribution.

“We are absolutely a start-up,” says Harrison. “We’re just a start-up with 25 years of history.”

Source: GamesIndustry.biz

Atari has today confirmed that Phil Harrison, originally of Sony Computer Entertainment, has joined mother-company Infogrames as president. Read what he has to say about the move after the jump.

Phil Harrison resigned from his presidential position at Sony’s Worldwide Studios last week, creating an uproar on the inter-webs as to where he’d possibly go next. Gamesindustry.biz revealed dubious information that Harrison might be moving to Atari to reinvigorate the company’s software business. This is precisely the case.

“This is the perfect time to join Infogrames and help shape the future of Atari – one of the industry’s legendary brands. As the game business moves rapidly online I believe we have an outstanding opportunity to create amazing network game and community experiences for players the world over,” said Harrison.

Harrison will be working alongside new CEO David Gardner, who welcomed Harrison with warm words:

I am pleased to welcome Phil to Infogrames. He has an outstanding reputation in the industry, as one of the key leaders behind the success of PlayStation. We have been seeking an opportunity to work together for some time and I am certain he will be able to make a significant contribution to the publishing strategy of the Group.

Drawing upon Infogrames’ strong financial foundation, Phil will have the means to attract new talent, develop studio and online capabilities, and drive forward our publishing activities. I want to work with people that understand fun for consumers and fun in the company culture. We’re going to have a lot more of both around here with Phil!

Harrison’s online expertise (he’s the brain child of Gamer 3.0 – Home, LittleBigPlanet, Singstar) is sure to help with Atari’s new online direction; this interest is explained by Gardner:

The business and the industry is moving online on a global basis. It’s moving at different speeds in different countries, but it’s pretty clear to me that the whole way that people are going to want to buy their games, play their games, interface with their games is network-centric.

Commenting on this appointment, Michel Combes, Chairman of the Board of Infogrames had this to say:

Having spent their entire careers in the video games industry, David Gardner and Phil Harrison bring their vision, their passion and a proven track-record of success in this arena to Infogrames.

Phil Harrison is a great business developer, with an outstanding ability to innovate great products in the games industry. He brings with him an impressive track record from Sony, one of the leading technology, media and entertainment companies in the world. We are delighted that he has decided to join Infogrames at this transformative moment in its history to spearhead our publishing, game development and studio activities.

Good luck to Harrison, as he’s sure to be missed at Sony Computer Entertainment. If anyone can bring Atari back, Phil can. SEGA next please!

Source: Eurogamer

The Sam and Max episodes have proven that regular episodic gaming can work, and that there’s still room for comedic adventure games in the market. Telltale Games sells their episodic games through their website, and their games are also available on Gametap. We spoke to Telltale’s CEO Dan Connors about the Sam and Max community and what makes Sam and Max work as episodic comedy.

Q: Episode One of Sam and Max Season Two comes out in November. How far along is the rest of the series?
A: Episode Two is very close,Three we’re about to drop voice in, and Four the design is done. Five we’re about halfway through the design.

Q: Are you involved in the fan community, the people who are anticipating the next season?
A: Yeah!

Q: What are their impressions of Ice Station Santa based on what’s been released?
A: People seem to be really excited about it. We’ve definitely got people living at our site now who are anticipating the next release, which was always a big goal for us. Last season was all about “how do you release a bunch of episodes, how does one episode link to another,” now we’re in this “how do seasons relate to each other?”

What we’ve always set out to do is create an experience where there’s a Sam and Max world online that you can come back to and be part of every month. Our dream is that that continues to blur between game releases and other Sam and Max web experiences and Telltale web experiences.

Q: When you say other Sam and Max experiences, do you mean the online community?
A: Yeah, like community, and ways to connect the community to the game, and take advantage of the fact that it is an online product. There’s no limits to what you can do. Well, obviously there’s limits, but there’s so many things to try. And it’s not like right now we’re under somebody’s thumb, kind of telling us what we can and can’t do.

We’re really interested in seeing what people are interested in, and what they’re responding to, what they’re really liking about it and what they don’t, so the community shows you that kind of stuff. Which is cool, when you have a community they tell you what they like. It seems like they’re liking what they see, because really it’s just going to be more Sam and Max and even crazier, wilder situations.

Andrew explains to Dan that yellow paper is easier on the eyes

Q: How have people responded to the adventure game aspect? Have you ever thought of taking those characters and putting them in a different type of game?
A: Well, we want to evolve adventure games to something that is much easier to use for everybody. Sam and Max is a little bit of a double edged sword. It was an adventure game, there are a lot of people who want it to stay an adventure game. And those people are the ones we can count on no matter what to come back and enjoy the experience. So if you think about who the consumer for Sam and Max is going to be, the adventure game makes a lot of sense.

Now using that mechanic and taking the best things about Sam and Max– the fact that they’re outrageously funny, the characters are a riot, the situations are a riot, so running around with a gun shooting at all of them wouldn’t necessarily deliver that. But the adventure game mechanics can be evolved in a way that the world is more alive and more active.

What we’re really thinking of now is the passive nature of an adventure game. You walk into a space, and you have to make something happen. You have to click on something to happen. What we want is the world to be more proactive towards you and come at you. If you walk into a room in a first person shooter, people don’t stand around waiting for you to do something. You’d get your ass blown off, and you move.

So that’s a driven experience, and that’s really how we want to evolve Telltale Games in general. Now, dramatically doing that to the Sam and Max audience that we have, love, and allow us to be funny and creative and come up with great characters, it’s a very sensitive thing. It’s not something we’re going to just drop on them.

Q: So would you be open to a spin-off series that is more action-oriented, or in a different genre?
A: No matter what genre we do, it’s still going to be about the characters and the story. If we do something like The Flint Paper Capers, I see it being closer to a CSI type of experience than a Max Payne type experience.

One of our mottos early was, in a Telltale game, if you’re going to shoot someone, you’re going to have a good reason. So vision-wise, the company’s vision is still to get to that point where there’s real connection between the player and the AI characters in the world. The Sims and Railroad Tycoon are both types of games we look at for inspiration. Even Façade and the more experimental stuff.

Q: Why did you choose to put Episode 4 for free on Gametap?
A: Because we think it’s a great episode. It’s topical. It’s going to be on our site in a couple of weeks too, as kind of a hey, here comes the new season, check out the best of last season. So we’re going to make it available to as many people as possible, and we know free is a great enticer. Right now, from a market standpoint, the first episode sells the most by far. People come in and they start on the first episode. Shouldn’t shock us or anything.

Q: But you don’t consider that to be the very best?
A: I don’t think anybody in the studio considers that to be the very best. It’s funny because it’s the best reviewed, and it won adventure game of the year, but that was just because it didn’t suck. I think more people can relate to [episode 4], swing on by and check it out, get introduced to Telltale Games, and say hey, this is pretty cool.

Q: Will making episode 4 available encourage people to review the rest of the series, or do you want to push them forward into season 2?
A: Our hope is it’s going to be something that gets people interested to go buy season 2. By four we hit our stride, and we weren’t stressed out about finishing it and wrapping it up. It was just sort of the perfect set of circumstances.

Q: Any plans to go back and refine the first season?
A: I think the first season is going to stay as it is, and if people want to start from the beginning, that’s great. We’re still incredibly proud of it. And it’s going to be part of the evolution of the series no matter what. Like you watch the first season of the Sopranos, and they weren’t exactly in their stride, but you look back at it later.

Dan is proud of the first season and its part in the evolution of the series

We took everything we learned from the first one and put it in from the ground up into Season 2. From the arc of the story, as far as type of puzzles people liked and didn’t like, as far as what the frustrations were for people. Everything we learned in Season one, we’re starting Season two with.

And then it was funny watching the production team kind of get their groove again, in the design and everything else, and watch the story flesh out. I think by three or four again this season it’s going to be kind of the best stuff. One is also outrageouslly funny, especially since it’s a Christmas spec ial. Having the ability to do that is something we’ve always wanted to do with episodic games.

Q: Where would you like to see the characters end up eventually? Are Sybil Pandemik and Abe Lincoln’s Giant Stone Head going to have little half giant headed babies?
A: You know, the sky’s the limit. You can see what the beauty of Sam and Max is. It’s like, you set up some ridiculous situation and ridiculous ideas come out of it. If there were six little Lincoln baby heads and they had a biting problem, and they were biting Max in the ankles, whatever… anything can happen. And that’s the beauty.

Q: What can you tell us about the new character, the waitress at Stinky’s diner?
A: Her grandfather originally owned it… and there’s definitely something fishy going on there. You still have a lot to find out about it, because the designers always kill me for giving away their secrets.

The waitress at Stinky’s is the granddaughter of the original owner,
and her story will be explained in Season Two.

Q: What are you doing to evolve the technology of the adventure game?
A: We’re doing a lot. We’re really focusing on understanding where the player is in the world. The engine is checking in with the player, saying have you done this before, how many times have you clicked on this. With that feedback, we then can tell the characters how to respond to that player. So it comes back to that bringing the player back to the world alive.

If I’m standing in the store not looking at anything, Bosco will say “What’s wrong with you?” and he should really recognize it. Understanding the player’s intent can be tricky because you never know when they’re going to go out back and have a smoke or whatever, but there are certainly things you can pull from it. Help direct the player, but don’t direct them when they don’t want to be directed.

If someone just wants to play a game that’s not just running around shooting, they want to get introduced to Sam and Max, they want to laugh their ass off, they don’t want to get frustrated. So we need to give them a directed experience. Immediately their first instinct is to not want to solve a problem. So we’ve got to recognize that and immediately make them feel like they are solving problems but they’re being helped enough. All those nuances.

So you’ve got the game telling you you’ve done this, that, and the other thing. We’re incubating that right now. And a lot of the other stuff is about the production proccess. Five episodes in six months is not easy. And we got better at doing it in the last one. By the end we were good at doing it and of course the designers made things three times more complicated. So it still took just as long. So they pushed, we optimized, they push, we optimized.

You’ll see our characters will be acting better this year, added animations, better use of animations. Just everyone has more animations to choose from and we’re selecting them better, and there’s better blending between them. Holistically, everything’s less rough. It’s going to be a good season.