Canberran game developers

Electronic game development isn't something that people think of when they picture Canberra, the quiet city home to tribes of public servants and university students. I would say that hardly anybody knows that Canberra plays host to a couple of successful internationally recognised games developers.

Micro Forte

This company was created by the now-CEO John de Margheriti in the 1980s and developed a series of games for EA. It branched out with other titles, garnering international critical and popular success with Fallout Tactics: Brotherhood of Steel. It was a buggy and unforgiving isometric tactical game in the Fallout universe. It put players into the role of a squad of initiates in the Brotherhood of Steel. Players outfit their squad before the mission, complete primary and optional objectives, and advance their squad members in rank.

I loved the game -- Micro Forte captured the feel of the Fallout setting perfectly, from the wasteland setting itself to the arrogant Brotherhood characters. The game itself, while being a little buggy, allowed all options for completion, from stealth to frontal assault, and didn't skimp on the difficulty, which is a major failing (in my humble opinion) with today's games.

You can buy Fallout Tactics in stores, occasionally, but the best place to find it is Good Old Games, a website dedicated to preserving the classic games of the golden age of game development.

It should be mentioned that John de Margheriti didn't just found a games company, he also founded one of Australia's first and most respected game development training organisations: the Academy of Interactive Entertainment. Students can gain certificates in 3D animation and software development, and there are campuses in Melbourne and Canberra.

Please join me in a round of applause for one of Canberra's local heroes, if not one of Australian national treasures, John de Margheriti. I haven't covered anywhere near all of his acheivements, which are many and varied, and despite all of his success he remains a driven worker and a genuinely nice guy.

2K Australia

Chances are if you've been anywhere near gaming for the past few years you will recognise this developer. Based in Braddon, 2K Australia (formerly Irrational Games) was formed with offices in Boston, and spread to another office in Canberra after the release of System Shock 2. Yes, that studio.

Anyway, after a couple of well-received games (including the superheroing time-travelling Freedom Force vs the Third Reich and Tribes: Vengeance), they found massive success with Bioshock in 2007, and after some inter-studio wrangling the lightning struck twice with Bioshock 2 in 2010. They're currently working on Bioshock Infinite, which is looking very sexy indeed from the trailer and screenshots.



So well done to both of these Micro Forte and  -- they truly show how great Canberran companies can be, both independently and as part of a larger group, and I reckon they're definitely one of Canberra's best bits.

Yours truly,

The Everyman