Hanuman: Boy Warrior Maker Speaks

Hanuman: Boy Warrior Maker Speaks

Samir Makwana, Mar 26, 2009 1400 hrs IST

Game was entirely developed in India

Sony Computer Entertainment Europe launched the Hanuman: Boy Warrior game for the PlayStation 2 platform. Hyderabad-based Aurona Technologies developed Hanuman: Boy Warrior, and it is the first completely India-developed game for PS2 with localized content. The game is also Sony's first Indian mythology-based PS2 title, and that too, with an option to play in Hindi.

As reported earlier, Hanuman: Boy Warrior is about the journey of Hanuman to free up life forms that have been turned to stone by evil forces. Targeted at 'gamers' aged between 6-16 years, Hanuman: Boy Warrior will retail for Rs. 499.

Talks about Hanuman: Boy Warrier started from DevStation '08 Mumbai - the first-ever game developers' conference for the PlayStation platform. Aurona Technologies started work on the development of Hanuman: Boy Warrior in April 2008, and it took a good 10 months to reach the gold master.

At the game launch, Atindriya Bose, Country Manager-PlayStation, Sony Computer Entertainment, said, "Hanuman is our very own classic hero and is ever-popular across India and with Indians abroad. The launch of Hanuman: Boy Warrior has marked a very significant milestone in the Indian game development industry and also signifies the importance we attach to the Indian market and the Indian game development industry."

At the launch, we talked to Santosh Pillai, CEO, Aurona Technologies, about the developmental journey for Hanuman: Boy Warrior on PS2. Here are excerpts:

TT: Why did you choose Indian mythology for a PlayStation 2 title?
SP: We have created the console game to capture the hearts and minds of India's current and aspiring game players and their families. Indian mythology has more richness in terms of story-telling and events. Whatever you'll see on the screen is our perception of Hanuman as a Boy Warrior. Besides that, we also specialize in arcade racing games, action-adventure games, and more lifestyle games, like on dance.

TT: Was developing for PlayStation 2 console challenging?
SP: Game consoles offer immersive gameplay, which is at the heart of this fascinating game. Thanks to Sony PlayStation's Mumbai and London teams, for the support, our game development phase is finally successful today. Hanuman: Boy Warrior has been developed with a strong team of about 48 developers that include specialists in all areas, like Level Design, 3D Modeling, Sound Effects, Artificial Intelligence, etc. From conception to reaching the gold master, it took us about 10 months of hard work.

TT: Would there be any Bollywood movie based game for PS2?
SP: Bollywood production houses today have very stringent production periods. The production is finished off in a couple of months (thanks to technology), which used to take years earlier.. But that's not the way games are developed. Game development takes a good amount of time, right from the conception stage to hitting gold. Unless someone starts off a movie project with a console game in mind, it becomes a rushed-up job.

TT: Getting skilled Indian game programmers for the console must have been tough?
SP: Indeed, the number of game development companies involved in developing games for game consoles is only a handful. And accordingly, trained, skilled manpower for console game development is very limited. For our game, we sent game developers to Sony's London studio to work on different projects and get the required skills for console game development.

TT: Will we see any action or open-world genre lifestyle games from Aurona?
SP: As said earlier, Aurona specializes in the development of racing, action, and lifestyle games. We're looking to experiment on other genres like action as well. Not to forget, gaming is still not looked upon as entertainment in India. We're ready to develop open-world and more complex games whenever there's enough commercial viability in India. Also, such projects require a lot of special skilled professionals and funding, of course. If we get publisher support on such projects, we'd love to develop such games.

We also managed a quick chat with Atindriya Bose and asked what's in development for PlayStation 2 in the Indian game development scene. Here's what we heard from him:

"In the coming months, we'll have two serious quiz-based Indian PS2 games developed by Bangalore-based Candella. One of them caters to the medical and engineering background aspirants, while the other will cater to the IAS and IPS aspirants.

A action game based on the Mumbai gang wars will also hit the PS2 platform. Also, Game Shastra is developing a game based on rural Indian games like kabaddi. This game would be developed for PS2 and PSP as well. Hence, now onwards, we'll get to see cross-platform game development sprouting in India."

Until these games come out, we'll wait to see whether the Hanuman: Boy Warrior game for PS2 is able to recreate the magic of the animation movie Hanuman. Yes, Hanuman is the Indian 'God of War.'

Hanuman: Boy Warrior Maker Speaks

Game was entirely developed in India

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