An Interview With Paul Bellezza of The Odd Gentlemen

Not long ago I wrote a review of the Xbox LIVE Arcade title, The Misadventures of P. B. Winterbottom. Recently, I got a chance to ask some questions about the game and gain some insight into The Odd Gentlemen, the studio that developed this quirky adventure. Below is the Q&A I had with Paul Bellezza. Paul is listed on the site as Producer/CEO & Janitor. I guess being multifunctional is a plus in The Odd Gentlemen.

I have read that the idea for P. B. Winterbottom started as a student project at USC. Can you tell me more about that?

PB: The project was a graduate thesis project of our creative director, Matt Korba, at the University of Southern California's Interactive Media Division in Los Angeles. Matt originally obtained his undergraduate degree in Film, and wanted to bring his love for old silent films into games.

...Click for full interview

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Lazy Raiders (XBLA) Review

• Game: Lazy Raiders
• Developer: Sarbakan
• Price: 800MS Points ($10.00)
• Release Date: 2/24/2010

I’ll be honest; my first impression of Lazy Raiders was horrible. It was not that the game was bad, but my shallow mind had different expectations based on only ever seeing a few screenshots. I expected a game of exploration with direct control over the character, but Lazy Raiders is exactly the opposite. Lazy Raiders is a clever puzzle game where you control the maze and use that to guide your character to its goal. Once I accepted this fact, I found Lazy Raiders surprisingly fun and challenging.

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An Interview With A Man Named Dan [He Dizzles]

I was lucky enough to gain an audience with Daniel Macias, who you may know from such podcasts as Obviously Oblivious and the BAESTCast [also an employee of Pixar Studios], to discuss his trilogy, which he has never openly discussed until this moment. I must say that it was a great experience and I believe most people will quickly find themselves intrigued by what they read in this interview. Now sit back, relax, and teach yourself a little something about a trilogy that aspires for greatness. For clarification purposes, my questions are in bold and Dan’s responses are not [obviously].

First, who are the main characters of your trilogy and what is the general story of said trilogy?

DM: The story revolves around Xavior, and a character later introduced in a very bad ass way, his antithesis, if you will [Gabriel].

At the core, it is a case study about love in its many forms (want, need, loss, unrequited, etc) and its effect on people. One of the tag lines for the film is "What would you do for love?” which leads to the ad campaign for the film. It will center over ambiguous questions that we can all relate to.

My goal is to engage the audience in a way that is unique to every person. One question can mean something to someone while entirely something different to another person. I want to tap in to the idea of how complex life really is. These two characters are driven by some interesting motives; it would be a nightmare if the majority of the people side with one "side."

...Click below for the full interview.

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Toy Soldiers (XBLA) Review

• Game: Toy Soldiers
• Developer: Signal Studios
• Price: 1200MS Points ($15.00)
• Release Date: 3/3/2010

It’s rare to find an Xbox LIVE Arcade title that feels like a steal at $15, but Toy Soldiers is indeed one of those games. Toy Soldiers is a tower defense-esque strategy game, but at the same time, it is something completely different. The familiar theme of defending against a specific number of enemy waves is still apparent, but now you can actually take control over towers, tanks, and airplanes.

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Scrap Metal (XBLA) Review

• Game: Scrap Metal
• Developer: Slick Entertainment
• Price: 1200MS Points ($15.00)
• Release Date: 3/10/2010

Scrap Metal doesn’t bring anything new to the table; it is Micro Machines in HD with more of a focus on weapons and upgradable vehicles. Seeing that Scrap Metal is brought to us by the developers of N+, the great Slick Entertainment [though the N series was created by Metanet Software - who co-developed N+], you can expect a bit of frustration while playing, but sadly it is not rewarding frustration. It doesn't help that the game is free of exploding ninjas.

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The Xbox 360: Teaching the Youth About Marijuana

It is a well known fact that video games are to blame for all the world’s problems. If someone shoots another person; it was because of video games. If kids join together to perform an underage orgy; it was because of video games. If you have Aids; it was because of video games. These statements are obviously all true and I have proof that Microsoft is teaching kids the wonder of marijuana in the recently released Risen for the PC and Xbox 360.

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The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom (XBLA) Review

• Game: The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom
• Developer: The Odd Gentlemen
• Price: 800MS Points ($10.00)
• Release Date: 2/17/2010

The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom is a new independent game exclusively for Xbox LIVE Arcade [as of right now]. Winterbottom follows the escapades of a mischievous, time-bending pie thief. Winterbottom is the warped brain-child of developer, The Odd Gentlemen. It was originally created as a USC student project and now it is one of the first downloadable games published by 2K Games.

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Memorable Gaming Moment 2004: Final Fantasy XI

In 2004, the game I remember more than any other game is Final Fantasy XI on the PS2. FFXI was originally released for PC and PS2 [in Japan] in 2002, but it took much longer for it to make its way to the States, especially the PS2 version. The game came bundled with the 40GB hard drive, which was required to play the game, and it was $100 when released. We bought two copies on day one as my wife [at the time] had been thinking of playing it since and several coworkers were getting it as well.

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BioShock 2: Sinclair Solutions DLC

BioShock 2has only been out for two weeks and yesterday, 2K Games announced that there will be new DLC available in March. For those of us who loved our return to Rapture, this is exciting news. The new DLC is called “Sinclair Solutions Test Pack” and it will focus on multi-player. For many people, including myself, the multi-player addition was an intriguing feature of BioShock 2. Would it be good? Was it just slapped on? It ended up being a welcome surprise and the online element was done well and fun to play. Whether it's the thrill of becoming the only Big Daddy or the creepiness of making a Little Sister squeal, the multi-player was well done.

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The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom's Music

You probably know that The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom recently came out on XBLA. The game definitely has its own style and it’s pretty fun as well, but if you’re like me; you were immediately humming along with the fantastic music. I’ve been looking forward to this game for a long time, but I managed to fall in love with the music so fast that I would just leave the game running so I could have it playing in the background. I enjoyed the music so much that I went off looking to see if it was available for download anywhere at all and it was quite the adventure.

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