One of the newest video games on the Xbox 360 gaming system is coming from Yarmouth, N.S.
Twin brothers Jason and Matthew Doucette grew up playing games together such as Mario Brothers and Pac-Man. They began programming their own games when they were in Grade 3, and in junior high they placed in top spots in national math competitions.
Now the 34-year-olds have made a dream come true by becoming game developers at their new company Xona Games.
Their first game — Duality ZF — recently placed in the top 10 in a Microsoft competition for independent game developers.
That means it's on its way to the Xbox 360's downloadable game section. The finished product should be available in about a month for millions of people to potentially download.
The game will cost between $2 and $5 to download. The Doucettes said they’d be happy if they break even on the project, which would happen if a few thousand people bought their creation.
"We just want to survive for now. Hopefully, with each new game we make, it will be better and we'll have a bigger fan base, and we'll get more sales and eventually make a living out of it," Jason Doucette said.
Duality ZF is a scrolling shooter, also known as a "shoot 'em up." The player moves a small ship around thousands of bullets while facing an enemy fleet. The brothers made the game so four people can play together on a single screen, with each person controlling two ships — one with each thumb.
"It's about the skill of the player," said Jason. "It's you and your buddy's skill together, added up, how good can you get. And there's something amazing about that."
The Doucettes said they made the game based on some of the first arcade games they played and hope to make more games based on that concept.
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