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AusGamers: Hey guys, we're down on the Tokyo Games Show show-floor. But we decided not to go to any of the Tokyo Games! We decided to find The Behemoth and we're here with Tom Fulp, who's one of the co-founders and a Senior Programmer on Alien Hominid and Castle Crashers -- two of my favourite games. Tom, you guys are here [Tokyo Games Show] every year, do you get much of a reaction from the Japanese audience, especially on the public days?

Tom Fulp: Yeah, the public days are really big for us -- we get big lines of people playing. So we're really excited for this year because we have Castle Crashers coming out on PSN hopefully next month [Since Launched in Australia on November 3rd 2010, but Japan still coming], so we're really excited to get them amped up for that.

AG: So where are you guys actually headed now. Obviously Castle Crashers was a huge success --I've been playing some of the BattleBlocks there and it's really, really cool -- and you have this established art-style and this Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network heritage. Are you guys going to move onto something bigger and better down the track at all? Sorry, I don't want to say better, because those games are still really good!

Tom: Right now we're pretty attached to XBLA and PSN so for the foreseeable future we'll be dealing with that, because we like being able to self-publish; we like the platform and being able to use the tools that we've developed. So I'd say for the foreseeable future to expect that style and that platform.

AG: Do you have many projects in the pipeline for that style?

Tom: Right now BattleBlocks is the only big one that's in the works. We have a lot of little things that we talk about but nothing as fully-committed yet.



AG: And how big is the team?

Tom: I guess there's twelve of us now at Behemoth including our test team.

AG: Do you have an office and all of that, or do you just work from home every once in a while?

Tom: We have an office in San Diego and then some of us are based in the Newgrounds office in Philadelphia.

AG: So obviously, breaking into the Japanese market will be a huge factor in growing the Behemoth brand. Do you guys have big expectations for that once it launches?

Tom: We're hopeful. As far as Xbox is concerned in Japan we've done really well. We have a really solid percentage of Xbox owners who bought the game [Castle Crashers]. So if we get that sort of percentage on PS3, it would be huge. So we'll see how that does. But so far the fan response has been great. We've got a lot of fan-art and people come by [the booth] and bring little paper-craft and stuff like that. So we really like how the fans here show their appreciation like that.

AG: Now I mentioned before that guys have such a unique art-style. Is that drawn from anywhere in particular? It's pretty unique, it kind of carries that pretty cute, but still much feel to it.

Tom: Yeah that's just Dan's style [Artist Dan Paladin], he's always just had that style. We've considered having other styles in the mix in the future, but right now it has been predominantly Dan's style.



AG: Being able to focus on small projects like you are, and being self-published: what have you guys learned from the early days of Alien Hominid right up until now? What's the philosophy going forward for you?

Tom: We like stuff that's really fun that people can play with their friends. With Castle Crashers, we're surprised by how many people play it with their girlfriends and with their kids. And one thing about Castle Crashers is that you can have a kid that doesn't know how to play it well, but you can sort of lead the charge while he comes along for the ride. We've had other people say that it's saved their marriages and stuff like that so we kind of like that and we want our future games to be similar. Where they can be challenging for hardcore gamers and you can also still enjoy it with your kid or your girlfriend. We definitely just want to keep it fun with friends and family.

AG: Now the IPs are awesome and the characters are really cool. Are you guys planning on moving beyond video games? Are there any talks of like an awesome cartoon series or something?

Tom: We talk about it, but never gotten anywhere yet. We've never actually pitched anything. We think Castle Crashers would be great as a cartoon series, but we'd just need to make some time to pitch that at some point.

AG: We we're talking about XBLA and PSN, but are you guys planning on moving to Steam a little bit more readily?

Tom: We get asked that a lot and we haven't done anything with it yet. I'd say some day in the future it would be nice to, but nothing's in the works right now.



AG: Okay, and have you had much of a chance to check out the show floor? Any particular favourites right now?

Tom: Yeah I've been looking around. I'm excited for Vanquish; it has that Gears of War style, but I love all the bullets everywhere and the robots and stuff like that. That Asura's Wrath game that's coming out looks really cool. I guess those are the two big ones that I'm most excited for. I really like that one that Studio Ghibli is doing the art for [Ni no Kuni: Shiroki], it really looks like living anime. But I guess those are the big ones.

AG: So BattleBlocks next for you guys, kind of abroad. Castle Crashers here, well abroad also. So that's it for the foreseeable future?

Tom: Yeah, that's it right now.

AG: Well thanks so much for your time Tom, we'll leave it there.

Tom: Thanks.

AG: Cheers.