Everyone's been playing around with the recently-released creature maker for EA's Spore. Even the developers at Infinite Interactive, most famous for the casual/hardcore title Puzzle Quest, have been funnelling their talents into crafting weird and amazing beasts. I2's Aaron Styles sent me a link to the studio's forums, where you can check out its wacky/cute/bizarre creations.

Before you ask, no, nothing looks like a penis. The Wormageddon gets close though.

You can grab the Spore Creature Creator yourself from the New Zealand EA Store. I know, I know, don't ask.

I2's Spore Creatures [Infinite Interactive, thanks Aaron]

With the iPhone SDK out and about, quite a few developers and publishers are seriously considering Apple's mobile phone/happy-fun-gizmo as a gaming platform. I mean, why wouldn't you when it can make all those pretty, pretty colours?

Rainbow-like appeal aside, we've read what EA, id Software and Sega think about gaming on the iPhone. But what about our local guys? Sumea threw a few mobile and iPhone-related questions at Tantalus, Firemint, Infinite Interactive and Sidhe to get their opinions.

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Gamasutra has uploaded an informative post-mortem for Infinite Interactive's Puzzle Quest. CEO and designer Steve Fawkner is basically a master at mixing casual and hardcore gameplay, so if you're keen to learn a few of the ingredients of his magic recipe, this is a good place to start.

The article also has some great insights into the minds of casual gamers. Take this, uh, gem, from the end of the piece:

* Some of the standard RPG conventions were absolutely mystifying to casual gamers, such as matching purple gems to level up.

I know I don't blink an eyelid at terms like "level up", "skill points" or "man girdle", so it's hard to imagine how a casual gamer would feel faced with such esoteric concepts.

There's loads more on how Infinite pitched the game and the challenges it faced with different platforms, as well as the steps the developer took with the original prototyping.

Postmortem: How Puzzle Quest Saved Infinite Interactive [Gamasutra, via Sumea]

Yesterday I whined a bit about the lack of original announced titles coming to the iPhone. Specifically, very specifically, I called out Infinite Interactive, asking why they haven't jumped onto the iPhone bandwagon yet.

We all know the world can't get enough Puzzle Quest... well, at least I can't get enough of it. And the thought of being able to play the very touch-perfect puzzle RPG on my iPhone gives me goosebumps. So after my little hint didn't result in any immediate announcement of an iPhone Puzzle Quest or Galaxtrix, I took matters into my own hands and emailed Infinite Interactive to see what was up.

Janeen Fawkner, producer on the game was quick to respond:

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The developer behind Puzzle Quest is looking for talent. Yes it is. A junior artist and an assistant producer, if someone were to hold a gun to my head and demand I be specific.

You may remember we chased down Infinite Interactive's head honcho Steve Fawkner for an interview not so long ago. Not only is he switched on, he knows a thing or two about making games. Good ones. I know I've spent billions of days playing Warlords in its many incarnations.

Billions.

So, if you've been studying to get into the industry, or have some experience in the areas described, then this might be the opportunity you've been looking for. If you happen to live in Victoria, then you've already cleared one major hurdle. I'm guessing the next would be getting an interview. Or a polar bear.

Infinite Interactive - Employment [Official site, via Sumea]

D3 Publisher of Europe has appointed Vivendi's former UK managing director and VP of Europe Adam Roberts as their new managing director. *yawn* He will be in charge of sales, marketing, and operational functions across all PAL regions. Exciting stuff! *scans the press release* Wait, what's this?

The company will also be releasing video games based on Aardman's popular Shaun the Sheep character in 2008, alongside the eagerly-awaited follow-ups to the best-selling Ben 10 and Puzzle Quest.

*twitch* Follow up to Puzzle Quest? More Puzzle Quest for me? I mean, you guys can play it too I suppose, but not as obsessively as I will. Why are they burying this amazing news in the middle of a ho-hum manager appointment press release? No offense to Mr. Roberts, who I am sure will do a bang up job, but D3 needs to get their announcement priorities straight. More Puzzle Quest!

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Update: Tantalus CEO Tom Crago has replied to Malcolm King, adding some much needed clarification and accuracy to the original article.

Yesterday, journalist Malcolm King posted a rather scathing opinion piece on the state of the Australian games industry over at the Courier Mail. Many of the statements made in the piece went against what I know to be true.

If the Internet were an online forum, King's editorial would be considered an excellent attempt at trolling. So it pains me to write a reply, but to have a piece such as this in the open, without rebuttal, would be a disservice.

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At Game Connect in November last year, Infinite Interactive CEO and Puzzle Quest designer Steve Fawkner mentioned that the developer was working on a free, web-based game.

We recently caught up Steve and asked if he could provide us with an update on how the game was going:

In this game, codenamed Warlords-Online for the moment, you create a Warlord character and play puzzles to gain gold. You then use that gold to help your character conquer the World of Etheria. All this takes place in an internet environment where other Warlords are trying to help their chosen races conquer the world too.

Fawkner says it's a present to everyone who's supported Puzzle Quest and the Warlords series of games over the years. I have to say - it's a tasty sounding gift.

We also asked him a bunch of questions regarding Puzzle Quest, the Australian games development scene and balancing hardcore and casual gameplay.

Hit the jump to read the interview!

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Infinite Interactive plans to launch an online web-based game as a companion to its popular Puzzle Quest title, CEO and lead designer Steve Fawkner revealed today.

During his talk "Widening your Audience: Casual Games, Hardcore Appeal" at Melbourne's Game Connect event, Fawkner let slip that the developer was working on a new project. But it wasn't Galactrix as I had first guessed.

Launching in around a month's time, the game will function in a similar way to that of Neopets. Although Fawkner was light on the details, he did mention that players will be able to buy armies and conquer a "world map" using gold pieces, gained by submitting your scores from - I'm guessing - Puzzle Quest.

Fawkner also mentioned that the game would be free of change, would link in with Infinite's future releases and will be for the PC version of Puzzle Quest, at least for the time being.