28/07/2003 Interview with Izam from AFZANE.
Tell us a bit about AFZANE- when it was created, how many people are involved etc.?
AFZANE was created right after I graduated from University back in July 2002. I was a freelance Flash developer during my years in Uni and having a pocket PC made me overly excited when the Flash player was first released for the pocket PC. The excitement died down when everyone realised that Flash is slow on pocket PC. After some trials and testing I realise the key to this is optimizing your Flash games. Only then will it work great. Everything else started from there. AFZANE began dishing out the games in November 2002 to test people's response to it and so far it has been overwhelmingly positive. AFZANE is currently a one-man entity i.e. a sole-proprietor and is looking for partners to bring AFZANE to the next level.
What's your role within the company?
I currently handle everything from game programming to artwork to website and marketing. Seems like a load of work but it has been real fun.
What made you decide to start creating games for the Clie range and why use flash for your games?
I have to thank Eric for this. He is a clie NZ90 user who emailed me asking me when the pocket PC flash games will be available for the Clie. I didn't have a Clie to test so he's been a good chap to help me test the games on his clie. All the games are currently in Flash so I only need to tweak a few things to suit the clie's screen. Flash is a great game development platform where everything such as artwork, game logic etc can all be done within the program. Plus the fact that Macromedia is working hard to get the Flash player onto as many mobile devices and even phones is really encouraging for mobile flash developers like me.
Personally I think using flash has had some major benefits and your games so far have been graphically excellent and the sound is superb. Do you have plans to create non flash games for the Palm OS range?
Yes there are plans in the pipeline to create native non-Flash Palm OS games, but that will only happen when I get a Palm game programmer on board.
What's been your most successful product so far and when can we expect to see Croco Bridge, Alien Treasue Quest etc.?
The most succesful so far has been Monkey Menace and Towering Inferno for the Clie. The other games will be out as soon as I make an update to their gameplay and graphics so that I can release for both Sony Clie and Pocket PC at the same time.
Do you own a PDA and if so, which one and why?
I have a HandSpring Visor and an Ipaq pocket PC. Will get a clie NZ next. HandSpring is a cool PDA back then where it was one of the first PDA where I can slot in a camera to take pictures. I also have a pocket PC back then to try out the multimedia capabilities, and fortunately the Flash player came along and the rest is history.
What's the best book you have ever read?
The best book I have ever read is Flash The Future by Ian Chia and friends. These guys are some of the best in the industry who leads the Flash development for mobile devices. Their book has been a great help and inspiration. Non-PDA book? I'd say Tolkien's Lord of the Rings. Yes I know its a bit jaded but I feel its a great classic and the use of language and poetry is incredibly beautiful..
What's the best feedback you have received for one of your games?
Your games look so awesome!"
What are your hopes and dreams for AFZANE?
My hopes are for AFZANE to expand its games to other mobile device platforms and to keep producing high quality games people enjoy playing.
Anything you would like to add?
To everyone who has a mobile device: Keep on gaming!
If you want more information on the games talked about here please visit AFZANE. Many thanks to Izam for taking the time to answer my questions.