Inside Star Trek: Shattered Universe
When TDK Mediactive joined the video game publishing ranks, they knew they had a long road to travel if they were to become a major player in the video game publishing market. The only way to accomplish that is to have a high quality stable of games and to be able to market them appropriately. When they picked up Star Trek: Shattered Universe from Interplay, they knew they had a potential hit on their hands but they had to figure out who could deliver the goods. That’s when Starsphere Interactive was brought aboard to develop Star Trek: Shattered Universe for TDK Mediactive. I had a chance to ask Henrik Markarian a few questions about his background, his game development company (Starsphere Interactive), the Star Trek: Shattered Universe game and more. Henrik provided some very interesting information and even some great advice to those looking at getting into the game development industry.[an error occurred while processing this directive]DGD: What is your educational background and some of the projects that you’ve worked on before founding Starsphere Interactive in 1997? What prompted you to start your own operation?
HM: I hold a Bachelor’s of Science in Electrical Engineering; however, as I was fascinated with video games, I started to learn computer programming on my own, while pursuing my degree in EE. After I graduated, I got two offers: one from a “traditional” engineering company and another from a computer game development company. I took the programming position and never looked back.
In the years that I’ve been developing software, I’ve worked on numerous projects on several platforms (going as far back as the C-64 to the latest next-gen video game platforms.) Some of the most notable projects that I’ve been lead programmer on include (in chronological order) the “Miracle Piano Teaching System” for the NES, “Wing Commander” for the SNES, “NCAA Football” for the SNES/Genesis, “Chessmaster 3000” for the PC, and the line of “You Don’t Know Jack” products on the PSX.
As far as what prompted me to start a development studio, like most other things in life, the timing was right in 1997. I was managing a small development group in Southern California for a Bay area publisher, and when the publisher folded its entertainment division, the timing was right for our group to strike out on its own. Running a development studio is a challenging and difficult proposition, but at the same time it’s very rewarding to see your finished product on the shelf.
DGD: Why are you developing “Star Trek: Shattered Universe” just for the Sony Playstation 2 and not the other consoles or even the PC? Would high sales volume for the PS 2 version make a port to the other platforms viable?
HM: First of all, I’m glad to report that “Star Trek: Shattered Universe” will also be developed for the Xbox console. In general however, the question of which platforms to support is a complicated matter that depends on several factors. Aside from the obvious issues that play a part in the selection process (market leader, existing technology, licensing restrictions, etc.) there are other, less obvious matters (ex. the publisher may not want it on a particular SKU if they already have too many existing SKU’s on that platform.)
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