FAQ: Martyn Brown

Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Martyn Brown and I run a consultancy that supports and accelerates independent studios and publishers. In these modern times, start-ups need all the assistance they can get, so my team and I aim to provide all the things they likely never thought about.

What are you working on right now?
We’ve been working with New Star Games for a while now and also the brilliant team at Exient, who recently did Angry Birds GO! As well as that, I’ve been working with a number of indies and advising a number of companies. Lots in the pipeline.

What was the first video game or product that you ever worked on in the industry?
I developed a game back in 1984 on the Spectrum, it got released and even reviewed in Crash!.That makes me very old. I consider my real industry beginnings with Team17 when we published Full Contact, Alien Breed and so on.

What was the most recent video game you played, and did you enjoy it?
The last major title I played through was The Last of Us. I loved it. Incredible, really.

What was the first video game you ever played, and did you enjoy it?
I’d say one of the Pong games on a home system in the mid 70s. I was mesmerised by it. I got into trouble for standing on an 8-track tape when I was messing with it.

What is your favourite game ever, and for what reason?
Probably the Civilization series; I spent hours on it, engrossed. And I love that my sons play Civ V religiously.

How many hours a week do you spend playing video games?
Actually, I just have quick bursts on mobile stuff these days, so I’d say six-to-eight hours.

What area of the games industry needs more ‘investment’?
I think the support and nurturing of new studios and start-ups. The corporates need more intellectual investment in mobile, before they experience what happened to the dinosaurs.

What do you enjoy about the video games industry today?
That it’s a level playing field on mobile. There’s opportunities for all, after the dark period of closed systems and the snobbery and arrogance that went with it.

What disappoints you about the video games industry today?
That some of the mobile stuff is so incredibly cynical. And that corporate publishers make such blundering errors time after time.

Of all the games you have worked on, which has been your favourite?
I’d say the first Alien Breed, the first Worms game. I love both games in equal measure for different reasons.

What game that you were not involved with would you most liked to have worked on?
There’s hundreds, it’s easy to forget that there have been so many brilliant games. Civilization, then.