TGH writes:
"It usually takes a small army to create the video games that we play, and, most of the time, all of the focus gets put on the game itself, and not on the people that came together to make it. Our Dev Box interview series takes a look at some of the unsung heroes that have committed their lives to entertaining all of us. In this week's expanded Dev Box we are letting Hidden Path Entertainment's Co-Founder and CTO Michael Austin provide us some insight into who he is as a gamer, and how he ended up working in the game's industry.
Name: Michael Austin
Title: CTO / Co-Founder
Company: Hidden Path Entertainment
Job Description: When you run a small company, you do everything.
First title worked on: "Amped"
Most recent title worked on: "Defense Grid: The Awakening"
What game has most influenced you, and why?
After playing games for 30 years (yipes!) it's hard to pick one out. In my early years, I think it was the original "Zelda." It was so different from the other types of games-you could go anywhere, explore, it had secrets to find.. a huge step up from "Asteroids" and "Tank." I think the games that come closest to my dream game were "Morrowind" and "Oblivion" - I love the feel in a game that you can go anywhere and play it however you want.
What are you playing right now?
I've been playing a lot of "Defense Grid," trying to get on the high score lists (and not doing as great a job as I should, since I was the lead designer J). I also..."
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