Wellington's Sidhe wins gaming award

Sidhe Interactive's downloadable game Shatter on the PlayStation 3 won the best downloadable game award at the recent Games Developers Association of Australia awards, held in Melbourne.

Shatter was the Wellington- based company's first self-funded title and is a Breakout-style game featuring a soundtrack from musician Jeramiah Ross aka Module. Sidhe's co-founder Mario Wynands took time out from his schedule at the ACD to talk to Gerard Campbell about what the award means to the company.

Q: What does taking out the best downloadable title mean for Sidhe in terms of international recognition?

A: Shatter has already been the recipient of critical praise and awards from the press internationally, but recognition from the Australasian industry is particularly meaningful. Australia has a long history of game development, so to be listed up there amongst the best is a great honour.

Q: Obviously from the rave reviews about both the game and Module's soundtrack, you knew Shatter was something special, but just how special did you think?

A: We knew when we shipped the product we had a good game on our hands, but we certainly didn't expect the level of response that we got. Both critically and financially the game has exceeded our expectations, and we continue to be pleasantly surprised by the response.

Q: Do you think that the success of Shatter will further cement the strong development industry developing in New Zealand?

A: With Shatter being a success that is digitally distributed, direct to consumers, funded independently, and without the involvement of a traditional third party publisher, I think we have reinforced the idea that we can make emerging business models in the games industry work from New Zealand. We have a lot of great content being developed in New Zealand that is already delivered digitally via console, PC, and mobile, and I think we'll increasingly see successful titles emerge.

- © Fairfax NZ News