The Daily Herald-Tribune from Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada • 56

I tsKmutrtiWtaia mgMBsMSEEM Unreal success of made-in-Canada game means big sales big name thought this was just mind-boggling that I could make that much money from this tiny little thing I was doing in my spare time" he said He started work on the Unreal game in 1994 Both the company and sales have grown although the process wasn't always easy In the gaming world it takes time to finish a product When profits finally mil in they are eaten up by taxes and the cost of creating the next game not to mention taking on new staff when expanding it's hard getting the best people We grow very he said The Unreal franchise will continue to flourish although the name belongs to Epic something Schmalz clearly regrets haven given up years ago Still his company has the rights to the next version of the game And by then hopefully he will have a new title out in the maricet with him owning all the rights He knows the marketplace is flooded by games But quality still sells a developer you can't suck" he said have to be good at what you do says a good game as long as it's marketed properly is going to sell" Xbox has started to beat the drum for Unreal Championship Unreal Tournament 2003 is already a hit And that probably means a healthy commission for a local Ferrari dealer His office space is spartan and he talks more about the prowess of his employees than his own skills Schmalz says he spends half his time doing what he docs best creating games while the other half is now spent running the business It appears he knows what he is doing He has given key people at Digital a piece of the action ensuring he retains his top talent while perhaps paving the way for time away from the business or an early retirement For someone like Schmalz Freedom 55 sounds 15 to 20 years too late Schmalz founded the company in 1993 after experiencing success in the early '90s with a shareware pinball game Essentially he built a computer pinball game that featured 12 different pinball tables and released one of them for free Anyone who liked it could buy a fuller version The concept allowed Schmalz to skip middlemen and other costs It also gave him the pleasure of knowing if people fames Schmalz liked the game buy it many times now You could put crap in a box and if it's got a great brand name people will buy it" he laments He was 22 and started the game in the final months of a mechanical engineering degree at the University of Waterloo Schmalz had always been interested in video games from his first Apple computer He loved playing games and trying to recreate them He was 12 when he started programming his first creation on the Apple It was just a hobby but throughout university hie sold a couple of basic adventure games for $1200 and $2000 Then he sold a shareware game called Solar Winds and made about $60000 Neil Davidson THE CNMDNN PRESS Somewhere online around the globe a computer gamer who goes by Dirtcatcr had the scalp of his life in Unreal Tournament 2003 Dirteater had just dusted James Schmalz the man behind the hit PC game Gamers like Dirtcatcr have helped the 33-year-old native of Walkcrton Ont fill his garage with a Mercedes and Mazda RX7 thanks to worldwide sales of the Unreal franchise in excess of 35 million units Unreal Tournament 2003 the latest release by Schmalz's Digital Extremes is going to add to that fleet looks like this game is going to do pretty well so I think I've got a Ferrari in my future" Schmalz says matter-of-fact- iy- Schmalz founder and creative director of Digital Extremes is a made-in-Canada success story Unreal is a futuristic first-person shooter You choose a gladiator-like character from a list that ranges from aliens to humans and head to one of a string of exotic worlds to do battle Then you start fragging foes Not surprisingly the game is rated for mature players Unreal Tournament 2003 the successor to 1998's Unreal and 1999 Unreal Tournament was the best-selling PC game in the world for the first two weeks of its release in October In its first month Unreal Tournament 2003 has sold more than 800000 copies worldwide No doubt the cash register will keep ringing when Unreal Championship comes out later this week for Xbox with the game touted as one of the cornerstones of the Xbox live gaining system that makes its debut Friday Not bad for someone who sold his first game during university a decade ago for some $2000 empire now stretches to two divisions and some 40 employees Digital Extremes is based in London Ont while the new offshoot Brainbox Games home to Schmalz these days is in downtown Toronto Brainbox is working on an Xbox project but Schmalz isn't saying what Digital will also tackle a new game after employees get a much-needed month's vacation following the release of Unreal Championship for Xbox While young and evidently well off Schmalz comes across as a proud businessman rather than know-it-all CEO Ratchet Clank makes for an enjoyable ride through the galaxy Neil Davidson IK GNMDMN MEK The galaxy is under threat An evil dictator is on the loose It's up to you to save the day It's hardly a new premise but everything else about Ratchet Clank for PlayStation 2 is fresh and fun This is one entertaining ride through the galaxy Ratchet is a young mechanic who lives on a backwater planet with dreams of space adventure Clank is a tiny robot who teams of Chairman plans to escape his polluted planet by building a new one trashing other worlds in the process Ratchet and Clank meet up and are soon on a quest that takes them from one world to another Insomniac Games best known for its Spyro the Dragon titles have created an action-platform title that is beautiful to watch and a hoot to play It is also easy to get into The learning curve is silky smooth with hints provided when needed Along the way you can pick up a mind-boggling array of weapons and gadgets The suck cannon is like a howitzer hoover vacuuming up foes white the Glove of Doom releases mini search-and-destioy robots A slingshot allows you to swing from one perch to another like a space-age Tarzan white a heli-pack adds a new dimension Hover-boards and hydro-packs await In all there are 1 8 worlds and more than 35 gizmos to explore It's like being a Jetson but armed to the teeth Adding to the entertainment factor is that when you stall on one planet you can go back and explore another The game designers have filled the landscape with nooks and crannies that can take several visits to uncover As you encounter new characters you unlock new challenges and find the way to new worlds Things get more difficult down the road but the game keeps its appeal A smooth save mechanism also means gamers don't find themselves forced to go back over familiar ground You can control both characters although you start with just Ratchet with Clank along for the ride Ratchet Clank also succeeds because it comes equipped with a sense of humour The slogan for the game which is rated for teens is time to rip the galaxy a new one" One small beef There is no manual for the game which instead comes with instructions on the back of a poster Kids may like it but those who prefer a booklet are out of luck The good news is that the game practically plays itself so you won't need to consult the fine print.