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As much as gaming is getting bigger, bolder and in many ways better all the time, it’s also in permanent danger of stagnating. We live in an era of safe bets and sequels, wherein a handful of tentpole developers and franchises hold up the whole damn tent, and as great as their stuff usually is, the same great stuff can only stay great for so long.
Every so often we need a big injection of brand new fun, and thankfully we seem to be gearing up for one of those right this very second. Whether all-new teams, new dream team groupings of talent from previous devs or established thumb-pleasers who are now really getting into their stride, this new guard of game-makers is brewing a healthy new pot of fun right now, and over the next year or two we’ll all be drinking deep from it. Here are the up-and-coming devs who are going to be making your screens grin with joy very very soon.
Hello Games
They are:
The most brand-shiny-new team on this list, Hello Games is a four-man crack squad of fun-mongers with a collective history spread over a broad selection of your favourite games. A tight team of friends who’ve honed their trade making games for the likes of EA, Criterion, Kuju and Sega, they’ve now struck out on their own with the sole intention of bringing fun, creativity and charm back into gaming in a big way. You know, those things that made us all love video games in the first place, before the grim-faced space marine slapheads marched in and painted everything with a clotting splatter of blood-red emo.
They've already done:
Between them, Hello’s team has previously worked on the Burnout series, Black, Virtua Tennis 3, Sega Superstars Tennis and Geometry Wars: Galaxies.
You should care about them because:
Let’s face it, the things that Hello is promising through its mission statement of making you “so excited you’ll cry rainbows” are exactly the things we need a hell of a lot more of in gaming right now. With that sort of thinking, a solid gold track record creating jubilant digital Good Times at their previous companies, and a gleeful collective reverence of the glory days of the SNES and Mega Drive/Genesis, these are clearly good people doing good things. We can’t tell you exactly what those good things are right now, but as soon as the time is right we will do so with a deliciously excitable ferver.
Twisted Pixel Games
They are:
A small but slick and damnably idea-packed company founded in 2006 who specialise in clever and characterful games for Xbox Live Arcade. Founded by three long-time video game veterans-for-hire, Twisted Pixel has not a jot of respect for the foolish idea that downloadable games have to skimp on either scope or quality, so far hammering out two XBLA games with full-fat content and dripping with sweet, creamy production values. Tightly designed, hardcore experiences that anyone can enjoy, Twisted Pixel’s works play like a dream and are funny as hell, and if you haven’t checked them out yet, consider this your marching orders.
They've already done:
The Maw and Splosion Man.
You should care about them because:
Twisted Pixel started out strong with 3D adventure The Maw early this year, and rapidly followed that up with the absolutely glorious cavalcade of 2D invention that is Splosion Man (a game with which Dave H and Matt developed a swift and all-consuming obsession this summer).
With its games getting more ambitious and more fun with every release, the next one, Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley, is an ungodly exciting prospect. The trailer is packed with the now trademark Twisted Pixel personality, and although few gameplay details have been revealed, Gunstar Heroes has been mentioned as an influence. BLOODY GUNSTAR HEROES!
Next: Combat witches and drive-by shootings.
