Game creators face the might of Kong

Thomas Reimann (left) and Peter de Vocht of Binary Star believe their game, Homeland, offers original graphics and gameplay. Picture / Paul Estcourt

LOS ANGELES - Giant billboards for Peter Jackson's game version of King Kong greeted the crowds who flocked to the chaotic E3 videogames expo this week.

But in a small booth in another hall, New Zealand game developer Binary Star was also looking for attention - in the company's case, industry contacts who may help it win its first big sale.

Binary Star was showing off a working demo and artwork from Homeland, a dark, futuristic game that has been built from the ground up by a team of New Zealand developers and programmers led by Binary Star founder Thomas Reimann.

The tiny Takapuna-based game developer is spending upwards of US$10,000 ($14,000) to grab a small sliver of floor space, but the contacts Binary Star picks up at E3 and the feedback from gamers and other developers will prove invaluable.

"You can make a great game, but if nobody knows about it, well ... " Reimann trailed off, shrugging.

Binary Star has been working on Homeland for three years, and says it has another two ahead. But now is the time to try to attract a publisher.

"We want to sell this as soon as possible," Reimann said.

Binary Star is developing Homeland primarily for the Xbox platform, and says the work done on the game already will be transferable to the new Xbox 360, which will be well-entrenched by the time the game is finished.

In Homeland, new gameplay techniques give players extra flexibility and points of view. A character acting as a media officer appears on-screen to propel the story forward, a technique Binary Star has opted for rather than lengthy and elaborate cut-away animation sequences.

A huge amount of work has gone into developing the gaming engine underpinning Homeland, but Reimann is more interested in selling the game as a package rather than the technology behind it.

"Homeland is the thing we want to sell," he said. "The engine is worthless without a crew and the knowledge of how to use it."

Although E3 featured dozens of games adapted from movies, Binary Star was taking a different approach.

"Trying to be a movie is the wrong thing for a game," Reimann said.

"The problem is that games are non-linear."

But a strong storyline was essential to making a good game, and Binary Star had been developing its Homeland script for years.

"I need story; an imaginary world. A lot of these games are too shallow," he said.

Reimann also worries constantly that a game will arrive on the market that is uncomfortably close in style to Homeland. But he believes the game has enough originality to withstand competition from other sci-fi shoot-em-up games.

"The look and feel of the graphics and the gameplay are massively different from what's out there."

Binary Star has grown to 22 people as development of Homeland intensifies. Despite challenges in putting together a team of skilled gamers in a small market, the company has no intention of moving development overseas.

"New Zealand is really good and really bad for game development," Reimann said. "There are a lot of creative people there, but there is no skills base whatsoever. I've had to 'upskill' every guy who works for me."

Development of Homeland has been paid for by angel investors among Reimann's family, despite the little certainty at this stage of finding a buyer for the game.

Reimann knows the risk of the fickle gaming business, but is determined to sell his creation.

"It's go for broke."