Design, illustration, animation, creative direction… you really are a one man shop, Michael. How did you become so talented?

Wow, now I don’t think I want to answer this one as it will make me sound as though I agree with your compliment (*laughs*).

As far as being able to dip my toe into different creative disciplines, I think this was born through my ridiculously overeager enthusiasm for just about everything creative. If I see something that I haven’t tried before and I can see other people getting great results from it, I feel as though I’m missing out. I then end up on a mission to try my hand at it. It’s kinda that simple I think. I also think that if you go headlong into something with a passionate (and stubborn) outlook then good things seem to sprout from that. I never like settling for anything half arsed, and am a stickler for detail, so if something doesn’t look good enough, I know I need to put more work in until I’m willing to put my name to it.

A lot of the work you do is related to the video game industry– are you a pretty big gamer?

My games collection stands in the hundreds, I have over 30+ games consoles, 4 arcade machines and over 30 original arcade PCB’s… so you could say that, yeah (*laughs*). I’ve been collecting retro games since they were modern games.

Literally since the age of about 10 (maybe younger actually as I was obsessed with my Donkey Kong 2 game and watch) I have been totally engrossed in the world of games. I don’t think one day has passed where a game hasn’t featured in my daily life either being played, thought about, read about or dreamt about. The games industry is my own personal soul food. I draw so much from it, it’s unreal. I was bullied throughout school for being a gamer (back when it wasn’t cool to be a gamer) in trouble off my teachers for only ever making my personal projects games related and always getting ear ache from my art tutors for drawing commercial games characters because “there’s no future in that rubbish boy, now go draw that flower pot!”.

So yes, games are, for want of a better term… my life.

What are a few of your all time favorite games (past or present)?

Being predominantly a retro/retro arcade gamer this list will look quite old to most, but there are some modern day classics in there too…

1. Street Fighter 2 Champion Edition (and just about every 2D SF2/3 title ever made)
2. The Darkstalkers series
3. Just about everything published under SNK
4. R-Type
5. In the Hunt
6. Final Fight
7. Ghouls n Ghosts
8. DoDonPachi Resurrection
9. Super Mario World
10. Aliens vs Predator (The old Capcom arcade game, not the modern incarnation)
11. Golden Axe
12. Vanquish
13. Halo (the original)
14. Killzone 2
15. Medal of Honor (the very first one, man that was amazing back in the day)

You attended university to become a graphic designer, but your real passion is illustration. How did you go about making that transition after school?

Well I was VERYlucky in that my degree course was an openly titled ‘Design’ degree and after your first year you could tailor your course to play to your strengths. So, by my 3rd year I’d channeled my degree to illustration and photography. In all honesty, my course was very weak and my tutors were VERY old school (let’s just say that you got seriously chastised for using computers by the head of design!) but in my last year the dark clouds parted and ray of sunshine shone through… Pete Beard.

Pete was a classical cartoon illustrator that was still highly active as a trade freelancer and came in as the new head of design… what a god send. He was in touch with the industry (he used to work for Cosgrove Hall!), knew just about all there was to know, was insanely talented and just LOVED anyone that had a passion for illustration… it was a magical last year. With his spectacularly wonderful guidance I left Uni with massive drive to become an illustrator and within 8 months landed my first dedicated role. Thanks Pete, you’re a legend! With all that said, it took me a further 8 years until I finally broke into the games industry…remember when I mentioned passionate and stubborn?

As an illustrator, who are some of your biggest influences?

In all honesty my biggest influences make up quite a small list, but my goodness do they inspire me beyond words… the legend that was Frank Frazetta, the man was, is and always will be a fantasy god; the alive and kicking John Howe; the epic Paul Bonner; the insanely crisp lines of Genzoman and just about every artist that is employed under the Udon label. These guys have such a breathtaking grasp of mood, colour, tone and texture that they will always give me something to strive toward.

Earlier this year you and Chris Wilson co-launched your very own indie games company, Joystick Generals. What inspired the decision to begin developing your own games?

Making our own games has been a dream since the beginning and it was just a passing conversation that made it happen. In all honesty, we are both so busy with contract work that our ventures have ground to a halt. This is such a shame, but the way of the world I guess.

I’m personally stepping out into a voyage of self discovery in 2012 and dedicating 2-3 months into building a huge game concept that has been a lifelong dream of mine. The aim is to outline the story, world, characters and gameplay basics. This is all in a view to pimp out the concept to some of my games industry friends/associates to see who’d be interested in taking it further. I’ve already had a huge amount of interest in my early talks with couple of companies, so watch this space.

With things coming to a halt, are there any other games planned for release this year?

I’m afraid not as our contract work has totally soaked up 2011, it’s a real shame.

Super Turbo Action Pig was a great little journey and one we enjoyed thoroughly. It drew in just over 750,000 installs in its first year so it did pretty darn well. There is a lot we wanted to add into that game via updates (levels, weapons, and a full campaign) but again, contract work took precedence this year. Hopefully 2012 will see the dawn of a new game!

What have you found to be the most difficult aspect of game development?

Reality (*laughs*). I think every game starts out as an epic, and then slowly but surely gets chopped back more and more due to time restraints. We had SO much planned for Super Turbo Action Pig, but time just took over in the end. I’m sure most dev’s will understand this.

You’ve definitely created a niche for yourself in mobile games as a full service studio. Can you walk us through a typical project like this– where do you begin?

I always start with the brand, first and foremost. This is the point where you create the overall image, atmosphere and tone. This is usually done in tandem with the character design so that one can influence the other without either one being an afterthought. In so, I always present both of these aspects together in one presentation to my clients. Just showing a character isn’t enough, its just a character, and doesn’t form part of anything or anywhere. Presented with the brand and an overarching colour palette, it creates a degree of unity and allows the client to see the roots of your vision.

Once this is settled and signed off, we move onto the rest of the game, which generally comes together pretty smoothly from my experience. Things like the website and promotional material come together very organically at the end of the process. I say organically as these elements are all made up from the game assets, colour palettes and branding. This means that all the visual groundwork is done and that the website naturally grows out of this world. By the end of the whole process you have a thoroughly congruent experience where each element feels like part of the other.

What are a few of the essential characteristics that make for a great game character?

There is only one in my opinion. The character needs to immediately evoke an emotional response, be it “awww, isn’t he cute,” “wow, he’s pretty mean” or plain and simply “man that’s cool.” So if the player/user/viewer can attach a personal emotion to the image, they are immediately connected to it in one way or another. That connection is essential as without it the player feels nothing and is unlikely to look further. If you can tap into a person’s emotions then, in my opinion, you’ve made a true connection.

If you could frag any video game villain, who would it be and how would you do it?

Robotnik, as lets face it, he’s a big overweight bunny boiler. He needs to spend an hour in a locked cell with Final Fight’s Haggar, as lets face it, what’s scarier than an hour in cell with an angry moustachioed bodybuilder wearing nothing other than trousers, braces and brandishing a massive pipe.

Thanks for your time, Michael, really appreciate it. Frag on!

Boom! Thanks for the interview Rondal, keep up the good work!