Another Friday means it’s time for the next episode of Zipline, the official Zipper Interactive podcast. This week, Brian Soderberg, Zipper’s President and Co-Founder, talks about the studio’s past, present and even hints at its future…
Zipline Podcast, Episode 18
39.5MB | 43m:06s
Subscribe to Zipline on iTunes
You can discuss this episode by clicking this link.
If you’ve been following MAG lately, then you already know that we kicked off our new beta program this week and jam-packed it with content. One of the most popular aspects of the beta so far are the maps from our upcoming 96-player game mode, “Escalation. As a special “thanks” for those of you that have been testing our new game-type — which will be included as part of a DLC pack scheduled for later this year, by the way — we have created three unique video flythroughs of each battleground to give you the views of the land that are normally not possible in-game.
We hope you enjoy the footage, and look forward to your continued help with our beta.
We’re happy to report that our MAG Beta is quite a success in its early days of existence and we’re even happier to announce that we’re already bringing one of its most useful features to the retail game.
Starting next week on August 31, we’re giving players the option to create and maintain multiple characters in the MAG universe! Though players are limited to one character at a time in our current setup, our new multi-character option gives you up to two additional slots to house your alter egos. This means that, for the first time ever, you’ll have the ability to float characters on Raven, SVER and Valor at the same time and never have to worry about leaving one team to try another. Of course, you can always choose to use all three slots for characters from the same PMC if you want, but that’s entirely up to you!
So how do you get these extra slots to work? It’s easy – From August 31 forward, two additional slots will appear on the character log-in screen with links to the PlayStation Store. For $0.99 (US) per additional slot, you can click the space of your choice and unlock the extra character. Your new subscription will last for 30 days from the day you purchased it, giving you a full month to try out your extra warrior. And don’t worry if you don’t renew one month, and decide to come back later – even if you don’t use your additional characters from month to month, he is never actually deleted – just asleep until you come back to claim him again in a future subscription.
Note: Though the two additional character slots will appear in North America on August 31, the characters themselves may not be immediately available for purchase until later in the day following the normal PlayStation Store update.
We hope you enjoy the added freedom that our extra character slots potentially provide and look forward to fighting with and against you once again!
Want to discuss the new Character Slot additions? Click over to our official thread about it now!
Our Developer Profile series introduces you to the many faces of Zipper Interactive. From designers to artists to programmers to audio engineers to producers, you’ll meet the creative minds that make Zipper what it is (and maybe learn a few surprises along the way).
This week we go straight to the top and get the scoop on Brian Soderberg, President and Co-Founder of Zipper.
Job Title: President, Co-founder
Years at Zipper: 15
Years in the Industry: ~16 officially. Prior to starting Zipper, I dabbled in games for the Atari systems on the side while I was working in the defense simulation and research industry. When we formed Zipper we first focused on PC games, then moved to console games when we joined forces with Sony.
Favorite Zipper Game: SOCOM, with MAG a close 2nd. The most recently released Zipper title tends to be my fave. =)
Favorite Non-Zipper Game: Well, as a golfer, I’ve put the most time into Hot Shots Golf (I’ve finished every version on PS2, PSP and PS3). =)
Motto: Quality over quantity.
What is it that you do specifically, and can you walk us through your typical day?
From a high level, two things:
1. Helping set the overall course for Zipper strategically. We frequently update our “5 Year Plan”, attempting to adapt quickly to the ever-changing video game business and development areas.
2. Addressing “issues” that come up on a day to day basis at Zipper. As I’m sure you know, video game development is an organic & hectic process; there are always several things that require attention. We are continually trying new ideas to make development go more smoothly and make our games better. Our latest iprocess change is to do the majority of our development with cross-discipline “Strike Teams”, where small teams (of artists, designers, and programmers) are physically co-located to make sure all areas are addressed quickly and efficiently based on the strike team’s collective goals. This is going quite well, but any change is tough and requires careful management.
How did you get into the industry?
Back in college I was hooked on standup arcade games, starting with Asteroids, Galaga, Donkey Kong and dozens more. When I got a job in the Boeing 757 Flight Controls Group, I spent my lunch hours in the nearby bars playing arcade games. Later, while working at Loral on military simulators, I started a game group within the company. Shortly after that I quit and started Zipper to do computer and video games.
What are some other games or projects that you’ve worked on in the past?
My first game, a one man effort, was developing “TimeBomb” for the Atari console, then 400 and 800. It fit in an 8K cartridge by a few hundred bytes. =)
Followed by the Zipper releases:
1. DeathDrome – PC
2. Recoil – PC
3. Top Gun – PC
4. Crimson Skies – PC
5. MechWarrior 3 – PC
6. SOCOM 1, 2, 3, Combined Assault, Fire Team Bravo 1 and 2 – PS2 and PSP
7. MAG – PS3
8. SOCOM 4 – Coming soon…
In the beginning, I did quite a bit of programming and project management. Around the time of SOCOM 2, I started to do much less programming and focused on the management side.
What’s your proudest moment?
I would say 3 things in this order:
1. Finishing SOCOM 1 – this was a huge title, our first with Sony (our new publisher at the time) and we were attempting many new things for Zipper, as well as firsts for the industry. I was super proud of getting this completed and then enjoyed the positive feedback from the SOCOM community.
2. Finishing DeathDrome – since this was our first Zipper title. It was a good game, but it had a stealth launch, which is never a good marketing approach. =)
3. Finishing my first personal game project, TimeBomb, that I actually received a check in payment for. We won’t mention how small the check was. =)
Is there anything you’d like to say to the fans?
I’m super excited to get SOCOM 4 complete and out to our fans. It’s been great to get back to working on this fantastic series and I’m really looking forward to the launch and the feedback from the community.
Also, thanks to ALL of our fans of SOCOM and MAG. We love hearing from our community! We do listen, and having the SOCOM & MAG players give us feedback really helps us when we’re working on our current game development effort as well as when we’re charting our longer term 5 year plan and beyond!
Don’t forget to click this link and leave your questions to Brian for this week’s Zipline podcast!
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Extra MAG Character Slots Now Available
As we announced last week, today is the day that players who want to expand their personal collection of MAG soldiers can increase their army.
Gamers who log in this afternoon will discover two additional slots below their original default character. For $0.99 (US) per added slot, players can select the extra character they want to unlock and create a brand new persona. These supplementary character subscriptions will last for 30 days from the day they’ve been purchased, but don’t fret if you decide not to renew one or both of them immediately. Once your extra characters have been created, they reside safely dormant on the MAG server until activated for subscription once again.
Note: The additional characters slots will not immediately be available for purchase until the regular PlayStation Store update; if you don’t see them for sale right away, try back again later!
We sincerely hope you enjoy this additional functionality to the MAG universe. Enjoy!
Want to discuss the new Character Slot additions? Click over to our official thread about it now!