Originally Posted by Hackenslash

STARTUP Filipino game development company Virtual Titania Amusement Software (VITAS) Development is set to launch Bangu-Bang Mania! in January 2007, initially for online closed beta testing until its commercial launch.

This will be the company’s first foray into the cutthroat video game development business and its game Bangu-Bang Mania! will also be the first online casual game developed by Filipinos for Filipinos.

VITAS vice president and project director Antonio Rainier "AR" Umali explained that Bangu-Bang Mania! is a three-dimensional fighting game set in two-dimensional arenas. Its players are all robots, some of which will be bipeds, quadrupeds and hovercrafts.

The robots are "upgradeable" and their parts ideally can be bought as players keep winning. Umali said each part would have different looks and styles, as well as attributes that can increase the robots’ overall fighting capabilities.

"There can be up to six players in a single match and they can team up, too," Umali said.

Umali said he and some of the other programmers in VITAS were inspired to create Bangu-Bang Mania! after playing Super Smash Brothers, a Nintendo GameCube game.

Umali added that the development was inspired by Japanese animation, which explains the anime-like design of the robots.

Target market

VITAS president Dr. Rainier Umali (Antonio Rainier’s father) said they would start with the closed beta test of the game first, then move to a commercial launch depending on how well received Bangu-Bang Mania! is by the Filipino online gaming community.

Umali said VITAS will serve as both the developer and publisher of the game. "We intend to sell this game to other markets also this year but our main goal is to make Bangu-Bang Mania! a hit in the Philippines."

"The company is intent on making people aware that Filipinos can produce world-class online games. We’re basing our targets on a report that there are at least three million online gamers in the Philippines. We only want to hit one percent of that," the elder Umali said.

Startup

Dr. Umali said it was difficult to develop an online game, much less start a company involved in gaming. However, seeing a potential growth in casual games in the Philippines, he built VITAS Development with his son in March 2004.

Along the road, VITAS hired young programmers and digital artists from different schools. So far, the company has 12 people: four game designers, four 2D artists, one 3D artist, a sound engineer and a lead programmer, with AR leading the group.

Incidentally, Dr. Umali’s main business is franchising clinics. "This was a sudden change for me but I believe in the business and the potential of creating online casual games."