Texas Hold Em Tournament Interview
July 22nd, 2009
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Texas Hold Em Tournament, 500 Wii Points
Gunslinger Gaming had the recent honor of having an exclusive interview Paul Gold of Digital Leisure, the makers of Nintendo’s popular WiiWare game entitled Texas Hold Em Tournament. Below is how the interview went.
GS: Before we get to the questions in regards to Texas Hold Em Tournament, we would like to thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. We at Gunslinger Gaming have been immensely enjoying this WiiWare title.
Paul Gold: You’re very welcome! It’s great to see communities coming together to play some online Hold’em.
GS: Please introduce yourself to our members. What is your role at Digital Leisure?
Paul Gold: Well as an indie developer we all take on many roles, but my primary function is that of supervising producer for our game titles.
GS: How did the decision to create a poker related game for Nintendo’s WiiWare come about?
Paul Gold: Me and a couple of the guys at Digital Leisure have always enjoyed playing no limit hold’em poker since the craze started a few years ago, and it just felt like the perfect game for the WiiWare service. There are so many passionate poker players, from the novice to expert, and a worldwide online forum with leaderboards just brings out that competitive edge.
GS: How long was Texas Hold Em Tournament in production?
Paul Gold: Texas Hold’em Tournament was in production for about six months from the first line of code to release.
GS: For a WiiWare title, 500 points is a rather inexpensive price tag. Was the price a goal from the beginning of the process or was that decided after production?
Paul Gold: We decided early on that the price tag would be 500 Wii Points. As we’re all gamers ourselves, we always look for good value with a lot gameplay, and we think we’ve delivered on that with Texas Hold’em Tournament.
GS: Gunslinger Gaming is a community for casual, mature gamers, and many of our members have downloaded Texas Hold Em Tournament. Are you finding a certain age demographic downloading the game more than others?
Paul Gold: We honestly don’t know who is downloading the game unless they contact us as you have. But regardless of age, if you’re a fan of no limit hold’em this is the perfect title for you. Plus, with Mii support included, people of all ages love bringing themselves to the tables.
GS: Texas Hold Em Tournament may be a tougher sell for international Wii owners due to “Texas” being in the name. How has the international download count compared to the North American region?
Paul Gold: Actually the Europeans love their poker as much as the North American
Play other poker fans from around the world.
audience! We released in Europe late March, two months earlier than North America, and have been in the Top 5 for many regions since release. In fact we’ve received countless emails from German, Dutch and UK gamers who absolutely love the game.
GS: Compared to other projects, how is designing a title for WiiWare? Were there challenges unique to WiiWare?
Paul Gold: There are always unique challenges when designing products, but overall it was a great experience. Nintendo has a fantastic support group.
GS: Were there any features to Texas Hold Em Tournament that Digital Leisure was hoping to include but couldn’t for whatever reason?
Paul Gold: We would have loved to throw in a few more features like Wii Speak, but I think WiFi, Leaderboards and Mii support there is plenty in there already.
GS: How about a Nintendo Wii poker game? Does Digital Leisure have any plans to expand on its success with Texas Hold Em Tournament?
Paul Gold: Well we have certainly been discussing internally all of the possible ways to expand on the success of Texas Hold’em Tournament and a full WiFi based Nintendo Wii disc title is something that could be green-lit in the future.
GS: What other game related projects is Digital Leisure currently working on?
Paul Gold: We have a lot of titles on the go for both WiiWare and DSiWare. However, a highlight in our upcoming lineup is ‘Copter Crisis‘ — As a member of the elite Helicopter Rescue Squadron you’ll be assigned to respond to any type of emergency anywhere at anytime. As the most recent member joining this elite rescue squad, you’ll have to complete training missions and get yourself comfortable with the latest in helicopter rescue technology. Once the Captain thinks you’re ready, you’ll be tasked with executing rescue missions all around the Black Wolf Canyon. Your Wii Remote becomes the control stick as you guide your copter along the canyons while avoiding falling rocks, severe weather conditions and even anti-aircraft fire!
GS: Again, we at Gunslinger Gaming thank you for your time in answering our questions. We look forward to your future endeavors and will be playing Texas Hold Em Tournament in the meantime.
Paul Gold: You’re welcome! Thanks for all your support!
Categories: Gaming, General adult, clan, GS, Gunslinger Gaming, Gunslingers, Hold Em, Interview, mature, Texas, Tournament, WiiWare